Do you ever see a meme and fail to see it as, well, a meme, but rather as a guide to life? Because look, I’m going to be real with you: when my EN teammate Allie posted the above in our group chat with a cry-laughing emoji, I was like, ‘wait, am I okay? Because right now, I’m halfway out the door with all my horse’s manky saddle pads to go see if I can get away with this’. Is it a slow news day? Maybe. But maybe it’s time that we all accept that sometimes, social media designed to mock us is actually guiding us towards the light. Also, NAF leg clay makes a great purifying face mask. Take that for what you will, and please, please pass your own dubious horsey life hacks on to me, too.
National Holiday: It’s National Bubble Bath Day. Fight off the sudden chill in the air with a good post-barn soak today. You’re worth it. NAF leg clay mask optional, obviously.
US Weekend Action:
Sporting Days Farm January Horse Trials I (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Results]
Your Monday Reading List:
It’s a fond farewell to Possible Mission, who has been such a stalwart part of Britain’s 5* scene for so long. Tom Rowland’s sweet, game, gutsy partner will now enjoy a semi-retirement to the hunting field and the junior classes, having stepped down sound, fit, and well at the age of 17. Look back on his sparkling career with Horse & Hound’s retrospective here.
Okay, maybe it’s not totally relatable, because I, for one, am definitely not in the market to purchase a property. But if you are, or if it’s something that’s potentially on the horizon for you, maybe you just need a bit of a positive push to dive on in. Let this one be the one for you. It’ll be hard, sure, but it could be the best thing you ever do, right?
A lot of folks are struggling to get their hands on good hay at the moment. This time of year is the worst for getting good quality forage, especially if you live in an area impacted by crap weather (hi, hello, it’s rained for about a year straight here in England; send help). But forage is also the most important part of your horse’s diet, so what can you do, really? The answer may lie in forage alternatives – and here’s a handy primer into your options.
David Doel was one of the real stars of 2023. But, frankly, he’s quietly been a superstar since long before then: after all, his second-place finish at Burghley wasn’t even his first five-star top ten finish with Galileo Nieuwmoed. Get to know the ice-cream-making, cow-milking, incredibly hard-working chap behind the results – and find out what he’s hoping to aim for in 2024 – in this interview.
Morning Viewing:
Enjoy this slightly bonkers BBC Archive clip, in which Hutch learns to ride at Hickstead. Britain! In the 80s! What a time. A weird, permy time.
1982: Six Fifty Five Special: David Soul at Hickstead
#OTD 1982: Detective Hutch swapped South California for West Sussex and his Ford Galaxie 500 for a horse.
Posted by BBC Archive on Wednesday, August 2, 2017
