Monday 22 June 2015

Veggie Snacks!

Given that I'm back in school and that I haven't been at the stables, I thought this would be my first food themed post! As I haven't been in the kitchen much either, I figured that I would share my favourite vegetarian snack of the moment.

Say hello to the wonderfully yummy, 100% natural nakd bar! The above image (which I did not take, just to clarify) shows just a sample of the flavours that are available. For example, my personal favourite, rhubarb and custard bar is sadly not in the picture. These bars are made with very few ingredients, and taste absolutely fabulous. Despite being made with an array of fruits and nuts, I am yet to come across one of the bars that does not taste like it says it should on the wrapper - something I am quite happy with.

I first tried these a couple of months ago, and have loved them ever since. Unfortunately they don't end up in every shopping basket, so I have not had the delight of consuming these yummy baked goods in a while, but I look forward to the day when I can once again sample their goodness and have a moment just savouring them. The best thing about this product? It comes in other forms too!

The company, Natural Balance Foods, also sell other things made in similar ways, just in a different form. So if cereal bars aren't your thing, then maybe the Bits will be, or perhaps you would rather try the Oatie Bars or Infused Raisins? I can't say that I've tried these, but I look forward to being able to do so when I see them in stores.

In case that hasn't been enough to tempt you, might I mention that they are also 1 of your 5 a day?

These products are so useful to have in a lunch box in place of a normal sugar-packed chocolate bar. I can honestly say that I love them, and the packaging is really pretty as well. I feel so much better about myself when I know I am eating something that is so natural, and they taste just so good. More-ish and scrumdiddilyumptious are the best words I can use, and I recommend them very highly given that they are suitable for so many diets.

Well, that's about all from me, now that I've shamelessly promoted these products haha! Seriously though, you should pick something up from the Natural Balance Food range the next time you go for a trip to the shops.

Until next time, friends :)

Monday 15 June 2015

The new mare by the block

Saturday saw me back in the saddle, and what a lesson it was! I was given the honour of riding one of the horses that is relatively new to lessons - and I don't mean that sarcastically at all. Mary was formerly used as a trekking horse, and it is only recently that she has been deemed capable of participating in the lessons, so it really was an honour that my riding instructor allowed me to ride her. It honestly means a lot that she trusts me enough to ride the new horses at the yard, as it is a confidence booster for me.

The pony club session was spent doing flat work and it was good fun just being able to work quietly on my position in my varying places in the ride order. Mary can be quite fast, and she's used to being nose-to-tail from her previous work, so we had to make sure she was behind a horse that was a) fast enough that she wouldn't be struggling to not crash into and b) wasn't likely to kick at her if she got too close. Her trot was lovely to sit to, and besides the slight misbehaving that was apparently a test of my seat, she was very lovely to ride. The only thing that I wish we could have worked on was the canter, because when she got going it was fine but she was really reluctant to stay on the track and go large. I think it may have had something to do with her being used to sticking close to the other horses, but I'm not too sure if that was the only reason for it. With time, I am sure she will be more confident and balanced and able to go further away from the ride. Besides that, I really cannot fault her. I think she's just one of them horses that I need to get used to. As the lesson went on, I got better at pulling her head back up quicker when she stuck it down to the floor, but I think with a few more lessons on her I would be able to prevent it more than respond to it.

After the lesson, we untacked and then we had the second part of our pony club session. We each made a mind map of some sort of illness or condition, as we're working towards our equine first aid badges, and we decided what badge we would like to work on next. Personally, I would really like to work on the equine behaviour badge for the simple reason that equine behaviour sort of comes into the EPQ I'll be doing this summer, but instead we chose to do loading and plaiting. Both of these are useful skills, so I'm not complaining - and plaiting sounds like it could be quite therapeutic! I can't wait for the next session, as I'll also be finding out pretty soon when I can start volunteering for the RDA.

Until the next time :)

Saturday 6 June 2015

Summer Goals 2015

Like many riders, I have developed some habits that I would really like to work on, and so this summer I'm planning on doing my best to correct the issues. It's not the easiest thing to commit to in that I no longer have private lessons, so my instructor can't be focusing on me for the entire hour with three to four other girls in the group who also need instructing. That being said, some of these issues are things I can happily work on by myself without much hassle, so here is my list of things I want to improve upon/do by the end of the summer.

  1. Heels down
    So, this one is pretty self explanatory. My heels tend to creep up a little bit when I ride, usually if I'm concentrating on something else - like jumping - but obviously, I need them to stay down for security and also equitation purposes. It's not like my toes are pointing to the ground, but when I kick on or I'm in two point position, I feel the weight shift a little too much. My balance is already sorely lacking, so this is something I really want to work on. I think I will be spending several minutes on several days standing at the bottom of the stairs!


  2. Jumping Position
    My position over jumps has been a little questionable as of late. It's not something my instructor has commented on, but I can feel that something is wrong. So I'm hoping that with a few more jumping lessons I can work on staying in sync with the horse, as I think my position is possibly a result of being left behind or getting ahead of the movement, especially on horses I don't know so well (or the horse deciding to jump oddly because the fences aren't high enough - yes, Bailey, I'm talking about you!).


  3. Stamina/Core
    Being a grown up student that no longer has to endure P.E/Games lessons means that, unfortunately, my exercise level is practically non existent. The result of this is that when horse riding and doing something more strenuous - like maintaining two-point position - isn't the most pleasant feeling in the world. I think my aim for this summer will be improving my overall fitness, with particular focus on my core muscles. This will hopefully also strengthen my back.


  4. Competitions
    The stables where I ride often holds little competitions for the clients, normally show jumping. Now, I've entered a grand total of three competitions, one of which was actually dressage. My show jumping results weren't so great. In the first competition I was riding Ozzie, and I think I had two refusals and he managed to run out of a combination through the tiniest gap. In the second competition I was riding a lovely grey pony who ran out due to a fault on my part (I didn't check him enough to make a line). The dressage competition was so much better, and I was so close to getting a rosette that actually had a number on it instead of the word 'special'. I felt so happy about the dressage competition because one of the canters was particularly comfortable and collected, which given the horse I was riding really surprised me! I would like to enter a couple more competitions so that I get better with things like lines, angles, collection and the small competitive streak in me would like a rosette with a number on it - it would be my first!.  
Only four goals there, but to be honest the first three are long term aims and I just feel that the summer is a great time to work on them because I'll have more free time. I'll probably end up thinking of more things that I want to work on, but for now they are my priorities (with the fourth being just for fun!). I'm also hoping that I'll be able to get a couple of badges in the next few months. We've been working on equine first aid, and I would like to complete the road rider test at some point in the near future.

So there you have it. The goals I at least intend to work on once haha

Until the next time, keep calm and canter on! :)