Once again Maggie is in Mongolia for the World's longest, toughest horse race... the Mongol Derby! She is head honcho when it comes to rules and making sure the welfare of the horses is paramount. Before the race gets underway she also runs the Derby Academy, giving future Derby participants an insight to taking part in the Derby and arming them with the skills and knowledge to have a successful Derby. She'll give us all an update on her return!
On The Hoof DT were invited back this year to present to the current crop of equestrian students at Plumpton College following a successful presentation in 2022. The visit itself was delayed a week thanks to Storm Debi.
It was an opportunity to talk about our two favourite subjects...Endurance Riding and horse fitness. As students on the equestrian courses, they need to learn about a range of different horse sports especially some of the lesser known ones. It was with great pleasure that Maggie was able to talk about the sport she has been involved with for two decades, explaining about the rides, disctances covered, awards and levels gained. She shed light on the opportunites that were available to all horse riders from the Grassroots to the International level. As she explained, Endurance Riding can go hand in hand with many of the other equestrian disciplines as, at the lower levels especially, it can provide base fitness, spookbusting - your horse has to be able to go nicely in traffic, open fields and closed woodland and it's great for schooling. Turn on the forehand to open that gate anyone?!
Of course a visit to the Southdowns National Park wouldn't be complete without going for a dog walk, so Milo, Basil and Luna had a great run around at the Jack and Jill Windmills, whilst Maggie enjoyed the views!
On Friday 10th November our regular hubbers were treated to guest speaker, Neil Sherlock ACWF of Sherlock Farriery who spoke about his visit to Senegal with The Brooke Charity. An annual activity he treats many working equids who have a life far removed from those of our horses at home. The main reason for his visits are to train people to become competent farriers so they continue to look after the horses when the charity leaves. For more information on being part of the Hub community see Hubs
Our intrepid virtual treasure hunters had a lot of fun over Halloween and Bonfire Night weekends. Given 10 clues and an apple boobing challenge, there was great hilarity in the private group as people interpreted the answers in their own special way. Not only did several have a go at the apple bobbing challenge (some with ponies helping!) there was also some pretty special fancy dress thrown in the mix!
All those who found at least one clue recieved a suitable spooky halloween rosette and Bethany is now the proud owner of an On The Hoof DT drawstring canvas bag having been the winner of the prize draw.
Great fun was had by our, more than 40, riders and horses!
Thanks to LRG Photography for attending our rides and taking such lovely photos.
Organiser's Report
From an organiser’s point of view it was an amazing day! After a nail biting night and early morning drive around, I decided it was OK to go ahead. Despite the freezing cold, the approaching roads were fine and the tracks, though hard, were rideable – the sun rose and rose and rose; it was an absolutely beautiful day to ride around the Surrey Hills finding Target Points, answering questions and collecting “sweety and minty” treasures. Only a handful of the 35 entrants were unable to make it.
My thanks of course must go to my amazing helpers:
Melanie Bailey
Joanne Archer
Suz Crichton-Stuart
Graham & Emma Pattinson
Roger Pattinson
David & Freya Davis
Violet Mae Murch & Kaleb
Karen Fullbrook
Mark Bennett
Michelle Tanaka
I think we all know how wonderful helpers are but “really” these guys were fabulous , so thank you. All helpers received a £10 Training Voucher and were of course included in the Hot Soup, Roll and CAKE at the prize giving.
Waverley Council gave us the licence to go ahead and the Ranger for Blackheath Common provided some of the questions. The locals were more than understanding about us using the car park and everyone en route was merely intrigued as to the contents of the assortment of Christmas Stockings and Hats hanging in random places around Blackheath Common, St Martha’s and Newlands Corner. BIG well done to all competitors too .... The car park was void of any evidence of our being there for the day. THANK YOU!
Every competitor received a 5kg tub of Herbal Treats kindly and generously donated by Falcon Equine Feeds (http://www.falconequinefeeds.co.uk), whilst placing prizes were provided by On the Hoof, comprising of Hi Viz Hats, Morf’s (Buffs), key rings, chocolates and other goodies. Prize giving commenced once everyone had finished and was accompanied by Hot Tomato soup (homemade) , Rolls and A fantastic Reindeer Cake, provided by There is Nothing Quite Like Cake (www.theresnothingquitelikecake.com).
Results
Short Class
1st Emma Chapman & Maisie ( Maisie also wore an amazing hat for most of the ride)
2nd Emma Moffat and Ben, Lettie Moffat and Sky & Joanne Lunn
Lettie Moffat, won the Fancy Dress in this class too. Do look at the photos to find them; her pony looked delightful complete with Santa Cape and boots!
Long Class
1st Shelley Bates & Sadhira/ Caroline Long & Daisy/Lynn Barrett and Cheyenne
2nd Rebecca Kinnarney & Rigel/Sarah Robins & Ellie
3nd Amanda Hamley & Lady/Gemma Green & Tavish
Shelley Bates and Sadhira won the fancy dress in this class; Sadhira looking fetching with Red Baubles in her mane and red tinsel in her tail, ridden by father Christmas herself.
Isabelle Goodburn won best overall Junior.
Target Point : B4 was our “find the photographer” and most people did! Karen Fulbrook did an amazing job in the cold, her wonderful photographs are available to all competitors. Karen gave her time and expertise for free and we’d be very grateful if, when you download these photos, you could make a donation using the PayPal button below. Karen’s chosen charity is WaterAid and all proceeds will be collected and sent on to them. We will be updating you with the total money raised for WaterAid.
Sarah Ainley Jo Haward and I Had a fun time finding new routes, definitely not getting lost! Still chuckling about our adventure! Mavis and Zara are now very tired ponies! Thanks for organising Margaret Pattinson, thanks to your helpers and thanks to Falcon Equine Feeds for the treats, a lovely surprise for the ponies at the end!
Becky Lewis Thank you Maggie - we had a fabulous time as well, lovely countryside, great riding, beautiful weather ... my navigating needs some work ... and thanks to Falcon feeds as well and to you for organising - and the lovely rosette and the soup!!
Emma Moffat Thank you Maggie and helpers - we had a brilliant time in the sunshine. The prizes and rosettes were a lovely surprise - thank you Maggie. We are looking forward to the spring ride - we just need to practise our navigation skills and I need to remember to bring my reading glasses! Emma and Lettie ?
Sara Bennett Thank you Maggie and all your helpers. We had a lovely ride if slightly navigationally challenged at times :-D
Gemma Green Thank you for a great day, we thoroughly enjoyed our day. Great organisation and fantastic rosettes and prizes.
Sam Hunt That cake certainly was delicious! Thanks for everything Maggie and team and thanks too to Falcon Feeds for the huge tub of horse treats! Looking forward to seeing Karen’s photos.
Jo Haward Thanks for organising this great ride, Maggie Margaret Pattinson - we had a really enjoyable time. You even arranged wonderful weather so we could appreciate the beautiful Surrey countryside at its best! Sarah Ainley and I are looking forward to the next one, where we can further hone our amazing navigation skills :-) and find new routes :-) ha ha!
Pippa Ogier Thank you Maggie and team for a great day. Most enjoyable! And I loved the rosettes ? Very generous of Falcon Feeds to donate the horse treats too ?
We hope everyone had a great time and would like to say the next Training Ride:
“Pace Yourself” will be on the 24th March – look out for more information or get your name down straight away! Keep your eye on the Calendar for all Training/ Coaching Sessions . If something you need isn’t there, then make contact “You never have to train alone”
Happy Training from On the Hoof Distance Training, Maggie.
The All the Wild Horses Film won super big at the Equus Film Festival NYC!
Best Equestrian Feature Film, Best Director and Best Of Festival.
ALL THE WILD HORSES follows international riders from around the world as they compete in the Mongol Derby in Mongolia, the longest and toughest horse race on the
planet.
In this race across one thousand kilometers of Mongolian steppe the riders are on their own, navigating from horse station to horse station where they change horses every forty kilometers. They
battle dehydration, hypothermia, exhaustion, extreme weather, swollen rivers and wild dogs.
They stay the nights out in the wild or with nomad families. One wrong horse and they can get bucked off, lose their mount or suffer serious injuries.
This is their epic story.
We are really thrilled to have been a part of this beautiful film. Huge congratulations to all involved on the well deserved accolades!
We’re very excited to be working with Falcon Equine Feeds and trialling some of their excellent range of supplements. Stay tuned for our updates and diary of the horses who will be taking part in the trial.
Follow the link to read more about the products:
2017 kicked off with a clinic for the dedicated on 1st January - it rained but hey it was fun. These clinics continue to prove popular with a variety of people coming from far and
wide, with their very different horses, aims and ambitions. Main aim for us is to send everyone away having learned something and had fun.
It's working because they keep coming back:
Fitter
More confident - horse and riders
Winners
Revved up and Calmed Down
And all with smiling faces.
Come along and see how it works without your horse first if you like ... we'd love to make you welcome
Maggie is a co organiser for this event and it was in it's original for The Narnia Ride - set up by On the Hoof founders Maggie pattinson and Andrea Baker. Run over the varying terrain of Hankley, Thursley,Elstead and up onto the Devils Punchbowl with it's amazing views - a great opener for the season classes ranged from 16 km PR to 80 km GR.
It was a great day, the sun shone and riders were delighted to fine 10% off vouchers for all from Rokers Feed and Tack Store, Normandy. Performance Formula Winners of Class 1 and 2 also recieved a £25 voucher from Rokers . All Class winners recieved a voucher from LRG Photography and Best Condition over Classes 1 and 2 received a £10 voucher from Performance Equestrian .
Congratulations to Carolyn and Lauren on their success with the lovely Solomon (watch out for a picture) winning the sports horse class and 3rd in the med hunter with an evening performance - well done guys keep up the good work!