KJB Pony Adventures

The lull between Christmas and New Year has turned into hyper about late night parties and celebrations to say goodbye to old and to welcome the new. This New Years Eve J and I will be celebrating by spending time with B, baking unicorn cakes, and eating nibbles while watching the fireworks on TV (J doesn't like crowds and fireworks out in the open). Resolutions have been voiced and impossible goals set undoubtedly to be unreached. New Year resolutions should be all about doing good unto others and  finding your happy. I saw this meme on Facebook which summed up how I am going to look at going into 2019: Success. How do you define success? Becoming the head of a work position? Jumping the highest jump at the stables? Having a grand prix pony/horse?  Being married and having 2.4 children? Having the shiniest car? Attending the best premiers, restaurants and bars? Having the most followers on Instagram? (speaking of which feel free to follow our adventures on Instag

Happy Christmas everyone from KJB Pony Adventures. What an amazing thirty two days it has been since owning Boston. We got some lovely horsey pressies today and have loved spending time with family. The best part was my auntie, my horsey idol, visiting B. Not only did she visit him, she liked him (she is quite hard to impress I think). She mucked him out in record time - I could learn so much more from her. I value her opinion so much. I hope you are enjoying the festivities as much as we are. Seasons greetings from us all, KJB xxx Tshirts from my auntie and a new hat silk for J. Country Style Gillet from my auntie. Just a Unicorn reading a book about the wild mustangs of New Zealand. For The Love of Horses by Kelly Wilson was a gift from my brother. B on Christmas day. Our gignger tom Charlie on Christmas day. J with the yard cat outside B's stable on Christmas morning in his Christmas onesie.

Today was horrendous! When I got to B stable and J already to ride we noticed that his rear end was running like a tap of brown murky water. B had a serious case of diarrhoea. This is not good for horses. His straw was completely wet. I asked for advice at the yard and it unanimous. We needed a vet. Through tears I called out as emergency the fantastic vets at the   RVC came to see B and could see the problem immediately. I dried my tears and helped the vet steady B as he tried to take his temperature. B didn't appreciate being prodded and poked. He reared and bucked. his adequately sized stable felt small and claustrophobic. I feared for the vet. I feared for me. I feared for B. 4 things I've learned today: 1: vets use the same size thermometer on horses as they do guinea pigs. 2: B does not like the vet using any thermometer no matter how small! 3: I learnt a new word today; Colitis 😢 4: Joseph will make a great vet one day (photo of Joseph chec

Olympia - The International Horse Show of London Olympia – A History By Carole Mortimer It is June 1907 in West London . Carriages, motor coaches and pedestrians, all heading toward Olympia Way, crowd Hammersmith Road and Kensington High Street. Every ten minutes a train disgorges more excited passengers at the nearby Kensington Station. Outside the large exhibition venue of Olympia there is a queue of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen and their excited families. The first International Horse Show to be held in London has opened its doors to the public. Once inside The Great Hall visitors gasp at the flamboyant floral decorations. Large arrangements festoon the chandeliers and displays of trees, palms and potted hydrangeas adorn the balconies. There are even trees and banks of flowers in the arena. In the Royal box an elderly King Edward VII accompanied by Queen Alexandra, smokes a large cigar. His heir, George, Duke of York and his wife Princess Mary and their young childr

The last few days I have been on Poo Patrol! Yes you read that right. I have literally been look at B's Poo to ensure it is of the correct consistency. Not too hard and not too runny. Recently it has been the latter. We have noticed that of a weekend B's stable is considerably sloppy. It's messier than usual even when turned out in the sand arena and we are working with him. As it transpires after a bit of detective work B has been biting another pony. Mortified we realised that he only does it on a Tuesday. Thinking that this could be due to a reduced turnout the owner has said he can go out more often. An esteemed member of the yard suggested trying grass pellets to help with the sloppy state of his stable and to help with his mood (to knock the biting on the head - even though he is being a horse). It seems to be one thing after another. We now have this amazing (and expensive new saddle by Kent and Masters ) and yet we haven't been able to ride

Every parents fear is when your child does something wrong and especially when they do something wrong to another child. It is exactly the same for a horsey parent. Today we found out B was that naughty child. I knew he had that mischievous look in his eye! The cheeky little so and so was out in the field with who I thought was his friend and unfortunately he has bitten his friends neck. So much so that it drew blood. Now I understand horses nip and its their natural defence/playful rights of the herd etc. But it's still not nice to hear your horse has hurt another. I cannot put my finger on why he would do it. We all wracked our brains (as it happened the same time last week - we just didn't know it was B at that point). It seems to happen on a Tuesday when they're turned out. We figured it must be the lack of turn out on a weekend, despite best efforts to keep horses active and exercised at the weekend. B was lacking in something. Turn out freedom?

Sadly a friend left the yard today to be closer to her home. A friend I shared our shed with and who I went to for advice and a general yarn about life in general. While I wish them well on their new adventure I am sorry to see them leave. As there is a new stable free that means that there will be a new arrival coming to the yard. Since the stable Boston is currently in is bigger than the now vacant stable my friend has left the new arrival will be needing to move into that. We knew this stable was a temporary one so we are now moving into our friends old stable which even she admits is a little dusty. So like all expecting mothers it's time to get my rubber gloves on and start preparing the nest for my baby. Speaking of rubber as the weather is now staring to turn colder I have invested in some rubber matting. Purchased from ebay sellar deltamart_0  at a reasonable price this rubber matting will help take the chill from the concrete floor away from Bostons limbs when lyin

I've never been one of those people who is shy in coming forward when asking questions. Especially when it's something important and close to my heart even if inside I tremble with fear of being a failure and being laughed at. However up front I am with queries about B I feel a bit of a fraud that I am not 'good enough' to have him. I known in my heart of hearts I'm more like the horse Whispere (not talent wise but in being gentle, stuying the horses behaviour, adjusting my body language to fit the horse etc.) Whereas I find I am being told to show B I am the dominant leader. I need to be bossy with him. I have to discipline him if he is being rude - so often I hear of horses being rude and not having manners. I've been advised to pinch Boston if he goes to nip us. That I should push his head away if he pushes his head into us nudging us almost off balance. It's been said that I should smack him if he is 'naughty. In the wild horses show dominanc

After a few days of self doubt, questioning my ability, J's ability and even Boston's ability to be a horsey family, I have had a rather peaceful evening. While chores at the yard are monotonous, ritualistic and habitual in that it's the same thing day in and day out, I'm so thankful to have had many horses to practise on at a neighbouring yard. I have been exposed to different levels of mess and many types of bedding, stable size, horses and rugs etc. Today I took J to that very yard for his weekly lesson which went well however he broke down in tears afterwards. He was tired and still not 100% from his cold and cough resulting in two days off school this week (something as a teacher I do not take lightly to doing often). J didn't want to see B and said he was a stupid horse that we should just get rid of him. The trouble with ADHD, Dyspraxia and Dyslexia is that the smallest of incidents to you and I are magnified to those who are identified with them. Thing

After a few fun days free schooling and jumping the beautiful Boston I felt ecstatic and positively joyful today. By lunchtime however I started to feel worse for one my son get paler and paler and knew his cough and cold had taken hold of him and he was feeling well and truly under the weather. Unfortunately horses don't understand when we feel poorly and still need us humans to muck them out, groom them, feed them, rug them, and generally tend to their every need. Boston therefore is no different to any other gelding - like most human men too I'm sure 😉 With J being poorly, the cubs Christmas party and a looming interview on my mind I didn't pay B the attention he needed but I still felt we made some progress today with regards to his feet etc. However I cannot help but fear I have scarred him for life with the riding incident some two Sundays ago! A friend offered us to try a saddle on him to see if it fits so we can finally.start riding him - this is our thir

Having put our Christmas tree up at home and started to prepare for one of our most favourite times of year it only seemed right that we start to decorate the stable to Boston and his friends to enjoy. I followed a Facebook tutorial to make some homemade decoration snow globes which we can reuse every year. Tinsel can cause colic so I quickly rearranged the placing as Boston was particularly interested in it - perhaps he like Christmas too! So this is all we have thus far - still need to sort the Christmas hat and num nah and bridle wear (if we ever get a saddle sorted first!). KJB xxx

Today my heart literally broke today for a couple of minutes my heart pounded so hard in chest I could hardly breath. My eyes were fixed and my body numb as we neared the yard after picking J up from school. The owner of the stables called to see where we were as Boston and a pony friend of his had escaped from the field where the rest of the herd remained. My first thought was that the road we were travelling on may have two ponies lose on it so I had better slow down but my gut told me to speed up to get to him further along the road from the stables. I wasn't sure what was best for me to do. I had J in the car and trying to keep him calm as his pride and joy had gone wondering off. In a blur we made it to where the owner was standing with Boston (I had other names for him in mind at that time!). Boston was calm and seemed rather pleased with himself to be honest. I was just relieved to know he wasn't hurt. I followed them all slowly in the car and tucked him safe

Every Sunday I work at a neighbouring yard - got to pay those bills somehow (teachers aren't as well paid as everyone assumes). During lunch I pop over to see B give him some exercise, muck him out, change water and sort hay and feeds. Yes that's a lot to do in one hour but it's possible. Today I took some riding school buddies along with myself and J. We accidentally left work five minuets early (the trouble of setting your clock 5 minuets fast so you are never late) and hoped the boss wouldn't notice. We were all hiding in the car as we got stuck right outside the bosses house in a traffic jam before we could turn to go towards B's stable. Oops! Once there we all began free schooling B and had such a great time with him. It was really fun. He was his super cheeky self but amazed us by clearing some impressive jumps. I have been told they were up to 50cm/60cm! Think we have a super cob in our midst. Here are some unedited clips from today. Enjoy. KJB

Today is Boston's first day out with the smaller herd. It feels like I'm watching my child go to nursery for the first time. My eyes welled up when someone from the yard sent me this video of him as he stepped out into the field with his new friends for the very first time. You make mumma proud gorgeous boy. Enjoy. KJB xx

Day three of owning our own pony and I couldn't be prouder of my little fur baby. Let me tell you how the day started. As I openly suffer from anxiety this morning I woke up not to so similar to many mornings. Shaking on the inside for no apparent reason. Dreading going outside and fearing staying inside. Why? Goodness knows. It's a feeling I try to ignore and distract myself from so I don't have to think about it. Yet that's all I seem to do is think about it. I took J to school with my barely brushed hair and no makeup and prayed no one would talk to me as I yawned my way onto the playground. Even J was snuggling up to be for a while until he saw a friend or two and began talking about 'his horse' Boston. By all accounts he didn't stop talking about him all day as J appeared distracted in class. Oops. Having dropped J at school I headed home to sit down to enjoy a nice cup of tea and relax when I get a phone call from the friendly vet at the RVC wh

Remember that feeling as a child on the eve before Christmas where you can't sleep for the excitement and nerves of the surprises that await you in the morning? That's exactly how I felt the night before last, however this surprise wasn't for me. This surprise was for my 9 year old son aka J. I had kept my lips firmly shut for the past two weeks as I had to pretend that I hadn't found the perfect little pony for him and that he wasn't finally getting his dreams answered. That's in fact exactly what I had done. We thought we weren't having much luck looking for the 'right' horse for us. I had my heart set on finding a horse big enough to carry my height (*coughs* and weight *coughs*) that is forward going enough to have progressive potential, old enough to know what its doing and young enough to have many years of fun but safe enough for both a 9 year old and an almost 35 year old. Not that I want too much or anything! When I came across the a

Before you buy a car, used or new, you would get it checked over by a mechanic right? You would need to get an M.O.T and ensure it is in great working condition, safe and secure etc. Its the same with animals, pets, or working animals for farms etc. Last week a found the love of my life and I would really like to bring him into my sons life but before I do that I need to make sure he good enough to bring home. I am talking about Boston. He is a beautiful bay Irish Cob Gelding who is only 6 years old. Totally new territory for me to own our own equine companion I have called in the advice of the RVC - The Royal Veterinary College - to perform a 5 stage vetting on him to ensure there are no visible and invisible lumps and bumps or issues which may crop up at a later date. Sadly I had to work at the yard 8.30-6pm on the day as I had originally planned to be there during the examination two days prior. I have never been so distracted. I felt like my baby was taking a real e

Welcome to K.J.B. Pony Adventures a personal and equestrian lifestyle blog about me K, a qualified teacher, single mother to J and part time stable hand, blogging and vlogging about life with our newest family member Boston aka B. J is currently nine years old and has been horse riding for almost two years. J has been identified as having additional needs ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and sensory processing issues. Boston is a six year old, bay, 14hh (roughly), Irish Cob Gelding and is out first pony although we have shared and loaned before. I grew up with a family who loved animals and one family member in particular who had a small holding in Shropshire. There I shared a donkey with my cousins but being 5ft 7 from the age of 11 I tended to ride the horses instead. During our visits to the farm we spent time doing daily chores for the equines, cows and sheep, chickens and generally running away from the geese. We all sat around the table tending to the baby bunnies and curling up w