Banbury and District Show

We had a fantastic day on Sunday at Spiceball Park for the Banbury and District Show. It was really lovely to be at a local show, and there were quite a few people there that we knew - although that just makes performing more nerve wracking! We were there to perform our duo shows, and once again we were on the front cover of the show schedule - even more to live up to!

It was a beautiful hot sunny summer's day - perfect weather for sunbathing, not so good for vaulting! Our first show was at 12.25, so we sweated it out in the midday sun! Thankfully our second show was a bit later in the day, although with all our layers of costumes on we were just as hot if not more so!

Both the shows went fantastically well, and the photographer (Mike) got some really lovely shots of us - just click here to have a look at them and others from the day. If you want to see more of Mike's photo's from the whole day just go to his website http://www.banburyphotographic.com/ - there's hundreds of them!

There was lots of other stuff to see at the show, including our next door neighbour Walter the very tame turkey! There were also displays by the Sealed Knot, a tug-of-war competition, horse and cart rides, and the tiniest owl ever (Walter could have eaten him for breakfast!). The park is right next to Banbury canal and I took Tinker for a little walk along the tow path, he wasn't too sure what to make of the narrow boats and wanted to have a closer look at them - but I wanted him to stay away from the water as I didn't fancy an impromptu swim!

We also found time to have a play on the grass board Tim had brought with him, a dangerous looking contraption if ever there was one (it has already broken Tim's wrist once...!). This was in preparation for next weekend when we're at the Middlesex Show and Tim and I may possibly end up competing in a horse boarding competition! This is the blurb about horse boarding.....

'Horse boarding is the discipline of towing a board rider behind a horse. It is a drag race over 100m between two teams. This is a new, exciting and entertaining sport where horses gallop flat out against each other whilst board riders hang on as best they can, pushing the limits of not only themselves but also of their equipment, dancing on that fine line between the quickest time of the competition and the biggest spank of the day. However, it's not always the fastest horse that wins as at speeds of 30 mph + the modified mountain boards become hard to control and board riders often have spectacular crashes allowing the steady and tactical rider to win. This must be seen to be believed.'

EEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!!

If we survive the weekend I'll let you know how we got on. If not, well, it's been fun!!

Rosie xx

Radlett Festival

We've just had a fantastic day down at the Radlett Festival where, against all odds, it was gloriously sunny all day long! Rebecca, Ronan, Myself Tinker and Alex set off yesterday afternoon for Radlett, where we were due to perform our solo shows. The festival is organised by Rebecca's friend's (Chem) boyfriend's (Alex) mum (Viv) so we really wanted to do super good shows for her!

Having arrived and set up (still using the tried and tested technique of having a wheelbarrow in a trolley as opposed to a ladder!) we all went to bed, only to listen to the torrential rain and incredibly loud thunder all night. Except for Alex that is, who slept through everything! It was still going at 7am and both Rebecca and I started to wonder whether we would be able to go ahead with the shows or not, and just praying for it to at least ease up a bit. However, by the time we got up (later than usual - our first show wasn't until 1.20pm!) it was lovely and sunny! So we starred the horses up, covered them with gold glitter spray and went and did two brilliant shows! And it stayed sunny for the entire day! We couldn't believe our luck, and the festival went brilliantly. There was all sorts of things going on: majorettes; tug of wars; dog classes, with dogs all dressed up fancy dress; a scarecrow competition; and..... ELVIS SCHMELVIS!!!!

We'd seen Elvis Schmelvis advertising banners before (our show earlier in the year in Brighton), but couldn't believe we were actually going to get to see him in the flesh, and we did - complete with rhinestones and cape! We were so excited, so as soon as we could we went and boogied away with him! We were all pulling out some pretty special dance moves, just have a look at the video below to see some of mine and Alex's!!

Afterwards we had our photo taken with him (or Martyn as he's known off stage!), and as well as being very talented he's a really lovely guy. So we're hoping to see him at a show again soon! Having absolutely worn ourselves out dancing like maniacs (far harder work than vaulting!) we packed down and set of for home, and as we were loading the horses it started raining - how's that for timing!

We managed to take quite a few photo's of everything, just click here to have a look. We're off to Banbury Show next weekend which is just down the road for us, for a one day duo show - and we're hoping the weather will be just as kind to us! I'll tell you all about it when we get back.

Love Rosie xx

Suffolk Show

Phew, what a busy week we had last week! No sooner had we got back from the Caravan Club Rally than we were off again to the Suffolk Show with just one day in between to recover, reorganise and repack! So on Tuesday Rebecca, Ronan, Myself, Tinker, Tim and Alex set off up the old A14 (which the lorry can practically drive along itself by now!) to Trinity Park in Ipswich.

We were delighted to discover that the organisers had allotted us a huge space so the boys were able to have their own personal paddock whilst we set up. However, we weren't far into the set up when we realised we'd left our ladder (necessary for putting up the tent) in Leicestershire. Oh dear. We soon got around this problem by putting the wheelbarrow inside the trolley and making a kind of wheeled type library ladder - not very sturdy but very very funny! Having set up in record time we went to mark out the arena, only to discover that all our paint had run out. So we had to resort to using gold spray paint - very decadent!

It was a bit drizzly and cold on the first day, and for once we were glad to put all our layers of costumes on, even the leatherette jackets! Both the shows went really well, although we'd had to wait for over an hour before the first one due to the ring running behind time!

Thursday was much nicer weather - and it was Rebecca's birthday! We decorated the lorry with balloons, and celebrated with yummy banana cake (made by Alex) for breakfast - probably not the best idea when you have two shows to do! Both the shows went fantastically well, and were both videoed, so we'll be making that show reel very soon! The crowds were brilliant and gave us lots of encouragement throughout - we even saw people doing the greased lightning dance alongside us during the roman riding! We also introduced a new section for the show - roman riding for Thunderhoof with his two pink ladies - it has to be seen to be believed!! After each show we got absolutely mobbed by the public wanting to talk to us and say hello to the boys - Tinker and Ronan are both so good with people, they absolutely adore all the attention!

We also managed to have a look around the showground, although there is always so much there we can never fit it all in! As well as all the hundreds of shopping marquees there was a fairground, every sort of livestock class you can imagine, loads of agricultural displays, and a Dalek. Yes, a Dalek. It (he?) was even saying 'Exterminate. Exterminate.' It was in the BBC Suffolk marquee along with an Ood and the Tardis. All very strange....

There were also lots of equestrian classes, with everything from gorgeous little donkeys to immaculate teams of four in hand, and from Mountain and Moorland (lots of Ronans) to coloureds (hundreds of Tinkers) and imposing ridden Spanish horses, there really was something impressive for everyone!

We managed to take quite a few pictures, just click here to have a look at them. All in all the Suffolk Show was everything we had been looking forward to, and more. Another reason Rebecca and I enjoyed it so much was that Tim has been delegated as Head Chef (Alex is Sous Chef) and between them they cooked us some lovely food, and we felt properly spoiled. (Still not sure what to do with the butternut squash they've left us with though...!)

I hope everyone's getting the chance to enjoy the gorgeous weather, and we're just grateful we're not having to vault in it (leatherette not so good...)! Rebecca and I took our baby boys, Casper and Navvy, to a fun ride in the sunshine around Cotswold Farm Park yesterday. Tinker and Ronan did look a bit confused when we set off in the lorry without them though! It was the first time either of them have been anywhere and done anything like this, and their eyes were on stalks for a while, they didn't know where to look next! It was really good education for them and they even managed to jump (I use the word in the loosest possible form!) some little logs and tyre jumps. As well as this they both managed to concentrate enough to perform their tricks in the lorry park when we got back, despite all the distractions! We took a few photo's, click here to have a look at them. We all had a brilliant time, and really enjoyed ourselves - we hope to go to another one soon!

We're off to the Radlett Festival this weekend for a one day solo show on Sunday - easy peasy in comparison to last week! I'll fill you in when we get back.

Lots of love,

Rosie xx

Caravan Club National Rally

We've just had a brilliant weekend up at Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire at the Caravan Club's National Rally. We were there for a two day duo show, which felt like a lot of hard work considering our last show was a one day solo! Rebecca, Ronan, Myself, Tinker, Alex and Tim (yes, we had not one but two glamourous assistants!!) travelled up on Friday, getting stuck in all the bank holiday traffic along with many many caravans!

It was an impressive sight when we arrived, with a sea of caravans for as far as the eye could see. One of the organisers later told me there were approximately three thousand vans, and around nine thousand people! The whole showground was like a town, it even had a Londis shop in the middle!

The arena itself was very long and thin with a bit of a slope on one side, which proved to be a bit more of a challenge than we had anticipated for the roman riding in the first show! However, we made some adjustments and the other three shows all went extremely well. The boys coped really well with the heat - far better than Rebbeca and I did, we were both sweating buckets!

Alex and Tim looked fantastic both dressed up in their costume, and as they were both wearing bowler hats it was really hard to tell them apart in the show, but every time either of us needed anything there was always a glamourous assistant to hand - we felt properly spoiled!

On Saturday evening Becca's friend Bryn came to stay too, so we had a full camp on Sunday! Bryn filmed our shows on Sunday so we'll be using some footage to put together our new show reel - keep your eyes on the website for that one!

There were lots of other things going on in the arena including shows by our old friends Cyril the Squirrel and the Cumberland Giants, but also a strongman competition that involved challenges like pulling a caravan and rolling tractor tyres - not what I'd fancy doing on a boiling hot day! There was also a really good marching band and a novice towing competition. This involved people towing and reversing their caravans through a series of bollards whilst being timed. I only watched for a little while but saw quite a few cones being squashed!! We managed to get a few photos of the weekend, just click here to have a look at them.

We're off to Suffolk (again!!) tomorrow for the Suffolk Show at Trinity Park, near Ipswich. We did this show last year so are very much looking forward to it as we know exactly what to expect! I'll let you know how it goes!

Hope you're all getting a chance to enjoy the sunshine,

Lots of love,

Rosie x

Hadleigh Show

We had a lovely day on Saturday at the Hadleigh Show. We were there for a one day solo show - our first this year! Rebecca, Ronan, Alex, Tinker and I travelled up on Friday afternoon, along the good old A14 which we'd driven just two weeks earlier! The journey was nice and easy until the final twenty miles, when the road turned into the wigglyest woo roads imaginable! All of the villages we passed through were beautiful, with gorgeous houses, thatched cottages and tiny little streets. However, tiny little streets are not so brilliant when you're driving an eleven tonne truck. Needless to say it took us longer than anticipated to get there!

Once there and set up we had to get absolutely everything ready for the morning - our first show was at 10.30 am! It was quite late by the time we'd done everything, but the massive funfair over the other side of the showground was still going, and looked lovely in the dark!

In the morning we were up bright and early and doing the first show before we knew it! It was the first time Alex had ever seen a solo show, let alone performed as the glamourous assistant in one, but he did fantastically well - just have a look at the photos to see how well he rode Thunderhoof! In between the shows Rebecca, Tinker and I did an interview for Radio Suffolk, although we didn't have much time as we were due on again at 12.30 - no rest for the wicked!! The second show was not only in a different ring from the first, but also quite a long way away and Alex and I had to drag all the props up there - and wrestling a giant toilet tent on a trolley through crowds of people is no easy task!

The arena for the second show was also on quite a steep slope - poor Ronan had to do his best not to slip and slide down one side, whilst struggling to make it up the other! As usual he was fantastic though, and really looked after both Rebecca and I whilst we were vaulting. The show went really well again, with Alex excelling himself as both clown and volunteer - you'd never have guessed it was his debut show!

The whole show was lovely, with loads of different things going on in five different rings, stewards in pinstripe suits and bowler hats, and masses of stalls and marquees. Although we would have loved to have stayed and had a good look around the show we packed down and got away as soon as we could - we wanted to get those wiggly woo roads out of the way as soon as possible!

Having arrived back at home we were just unloading the horses when the heavens opened and we got completely soaked. I turned Tinker out straight away and no sooner had I done so than he rolled in the muddy gateway. Typical. Then the sun came out and gave us the most beautiful rainbow - and Becca managed to get a photo of Casper standing at the end of the rainbow, like the little pot of gold that he is!!

We're off to Prestwold Park this weekend for a two day duo show, so I'll tell you all about it next week!

Love Rosie xx

Brighton Fringe Festival

Well it was a couple of weeks ago now but Rebecca, Ronan and I spent the last two days in April down at the Brighton Fringe Festival. We weren't there on usual Jive Pony business, but doing a walkabout act for the Parlure to advertise their show which was to run throughout the festival. We had a glorious two days, the weather was beautiful - luckily for us considering what we were wearing!

When we arrived we realised that not only was our lorry far bigger than they had anticipated but that there was also no room whatsoever for us to put the tent up! Not to be deterred the lovely Tom rearranged some tents and vans and before we knew it we were parked in our own little paddock! There still wasn't room to put the tent up so we were quite concerned as to where Ronan was going to stay the night. However, Tom once again solved the problem and we set up Ronan's stable under a garden gazebo! It was like his own little one horse tent, the sides were meshed so you couldn't really see him unless they were open, but he looked so funny in there!

On the first evening we paraded up and down the promenade in our sparkly bikinis, and definitely managed to attract attention! We were followed the entire way by a huge bunch of photographers, and the following morning we had made it into the local paper - now that's quick work! Having done the parade Rebecca and I went exploring, and went for a wander along the pier. It was quite late and almost completely deserted, and quite eerie. We had lots of fun though and obviously took the camera. We went through the arcade, posed in the photo boards, climbed on the carrousel and watched the moon in the mirror ball. Click here to look at all the photos!

We were so close to the sea that you could see it from our bedroom window (the luton of the lorry!), which was lovely to wake up to. Later in the day we did another few walkabout acts with lots of costume changes and entertained the crowds with some vaulting and Ronan's tricks - look at the video clip!

We're off to Hadleigh this afternoon for a one day solo show, only twenty miles down the road from Stonham Barns where we were a few weekends ago! Fingers crossed for sunshine and I'll let you know how we get on!

Lots of love

Rosie xx

Mid Suffolk Show

Our first show of 2009! It was all go this weekend - Rebecca, Ronan, myself, Tinker, Simon and Alex (our new recruit - glamourous assistant in training) set off on Saturday in our HUGE new lorry for Stonham Barns and the Mid Suffolk Show. When we arrived and found a show programme we were delighted to see we were the cover girls - but it made us quite nervous! Having arrived and set up it was time for Simon's intellectual challenge number one - setting up the new toilet tent! None of us knew how to do this, and Becca was the only one who knew what it should look like, but nonetheless Simon succeeded and the new toilet tent was revealed! It really suits the glamourous assistant role - it is white and green with a turreted roof (yes - it has a roof!!) and the best thing about it is - it's waterproof! (Have that British summertime...)

At bedtime it was time for intellectual challenge number two - changing the seating in the lorry into a bed for Alex and Simon. We did the base really easily and then spent ages trying to figure out how to arrange to cushions - there were so many possibilities! We finally settled on an arrangement, but the bed was still a bit short, a problem which Simon (dressed in his fantastic bright red Coca-Cola pantaloon style pyjamas!) solved by opening the microwave and putting his feet in it!!

Thankfully the weather on Sunday was glorious, just what we needed for the start of the season. The show ground was lovely with a beautiful, flat arena - just what we like. Our shows both went really well, even though we were both very nervous beforehand. Our new, improved, faster roman riding to Greased Lightning was the highlight of the shows and the crowd loved it! We've even got 'T Bird' style leather jackets with Jive Pony and diamantes on the back - and not forgetting the glamourous assistant's Pink Ladies version!!

After the shows we went around the showground and came across the most enormous rabbit. His name was Bruno and despite the fact that he was only nine months old he weighed an incredible eighteen pounds! He was just huge, and made the guinea pigs next to him look minute! I was lucky enough to hold one of the guinea pigs (they are my favourite - I always look forward to seeing them at shows), a beautiful silver agouti boy called Rayen. I was talking to the lady on the stand and it turned out not only did she own all twenty of the guinea pigs at the show, but that she had another eighty or so back at home! That's one hundred guinea pigs under one roof!! We also saw some of the other displays: dog agility with the dogs jumping through fire hoops; sheepdog herding, with both turkeys (very funny) and geese; and logging with our next door neighbour Jason and his little horse Moonie.

We also came across a Rodeo Pig. He was big and pink with an evil glint in his eye... but not being afraid of a challenge we all took it in turns to ride him and see how long we could stay on! It was quite difficult and neither Becca, myself nor Simon lasted very long. However, Alex rides racehorses and managed to stay on for ages and ages! We took lots of photos of this and everything else, just click here to have a look at them.

We've got a photoshoot planned for Tuesday next week with a very good photographer called Fiona Bridgeland - I'll put the photos up as soon as I can!

Lots of love

Rosie xx