Kingham Commotion and Northcote Heavy Horse Centre Vaulting Training Day

We had a busy weekend last weekend with two very long but very fun and useful days. Saturday morning started bright and early as usual with our vaulting group. Our girls are all really coming on now and I will write a post dedicated to them just as soon as everything else settles down! Having arrived back it was time to bath Tinker, Casper and Navvy and head off to Kingham for the local Commotion Festival. We'd rushed about getting everything done and ready, got there in record time (with me doing show makeup in the back of the wagon on the journey!), I'd tacked up Tink and warmed him up, and was just getting changed when we were told they'd changed the timetable and we weren't on for another hour and a quarter! So, tack and costume off - find food and eat! Show time soon came around though and having repeated the earlier processes again we were ready to go. We were only performing once so we'd chosen to do the second solo show, with Becca doing all the commentary as her ankle was still too painful to vault on (unfortunately Navvy had tripped over whilst being ridden the previous week landing on her - luckily nothing broken though!). There wasn't an arena for us to work in so we just set up our circle and used that, although it did mean people were in very close proximity to us - despite telling everyone to keep back they were soon practically on top of the ring rope! Tinker was fantastic though and just put himself on a slightly smaller circle - so everyone's toes were safe! The show went really well, and the crowd was huge - I think everyone at the festival came down to see what was going on!

Having done the show it was now time for pony rides. We'd decided to use Casper and Navvy for this, to try and ease them into a show situation. However, getting them into the designated area was far from easy! We had to walk through a barrier with fluttery decorations right next to the main stage with banks of speakers and very loud music, before leading them through a wood which was like a giant art installation, with hanging mirrors, statues, sculptures and paintings - and all surrounded by a lot of people! It was like the ultimate handy pony class! Both of them coped amazingly well - there's nothing like throwing them in at the deep end! We then proceeded to put child after child after child up on them and lead them backwards and forwards through the wood, something which they did remarkably well! It was a brilliant training exercise for them both which will hopefully stand us in good stead for tomorrow - more on that later!

Sunday came and it was another early start for a three hour drive up to Spilsby in Lincolnshire and the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre. We were there for the day to teach and were going to use their horses, so at least all our boys could have the day off! We had a mixed group, some complete beginners and some who had been vaulting a while. We played loads of warm up games putting them all through their paces before moving onto the barrel - and then the giant horses! The horses we were using were Samson, an 18.2hh Shire and Bosun, a 17.2hh Percheron. Not small! Unfortunately neither of the horses work in canter, but we still managed to give everyone a good workout in walk. We had a fantastic day and the weather was just beautiful - so much so that both Becca and I managed to get a real farmer's tan from our vest tops! Everyone vaulted really well, especially the five girls who had never tried it before. They seemed to take to it like ducks to water and despite some initial misgivings I had them all doing split leg dismounts, roll around the handle, leap frog off and australian dismounts before the end of the day - only on the barrel though, the horses were a bit too big! The team vaulters all did really well too, with Becca working on their freestyles with them, improving current moves as well as adding some new ones in. Special thanks must go to Terena and Maria who organised the whole day - and fingers crossed we'll be going back one day, possibly with Tinker and Ronan (or Casper and Navvy!)!

Speaking of Casper and Navvy, it's their debut tomorrow. We're doing a little show at our local village fete, and are planning on using both the babies to perform the second solo show. Becca and Navvy are going to be doing the vaulting parts whilst Casper and I do the dancing. We're really hoping that the weather is nice, the crowds not too scary and that the boys behave - not much to wish for then! I'll let you know how we get on, but in the meantime you can look at all the photos from last weekend by clicking here (plus lots of extra ones from Sunday here).

Lots of love

Rosie xx

Ware Carnival

We had a lovely day at Ware Carnival yesterday, although when we arrived on Friday night we'd never have guessed it! Tim, Alex, Tinker, Casper and myself set off on Friday evening - without Becca! We were later leaving than originally planned as Tim had been working at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (his 'normal' job is working with vintage Buggatti racing cars), and having been held up there due to a crash had had to beast his little car back to Oxfordshire - apparently imitating much of the driving he'd been watching all day! All this meant that by the time we reached Ware it was about 9pm, and as we pulled up alongside the playing fields where the show was to be held the following day we were greeted with a rather unnerving sight - a police officer leading a young man down the road in handcuffs! What kind of place was this we wondered!!

Our first hurdle was manouvering our lorry into the playing fields. Easier said than done! Having squeezed through one gate I then had to turn and reverse through another, even smaller, gateway. I managed it without too much shuffling, but there's one hedge in Ware that looks slightly different to how it did last week! We managed to set up without any further problems and went to bed wondering what tomorrow would bring.

Saturday dawned hot and sunny, and before long the show ground began to take shape. The show wasn't due to open until 2pm, so we had plenty of time to sort everything out. As soon as they'd set up the arena I took Casper out to have a training session with him. Casper has never been to a show before, so I took the opportunity to bring him along - and I'm so glad I did! We did quite a bit of work in the arena with everybody setting stalls up and busying around, and none of it bothered him at all. He was a bit clingy in the direction of our tent and called for Tinker a few times, but did everything I asked him without fuss. We did a lot of walk vaulting, and a bit of canter. I would have done more canter but the ground was very hard and the circle quite small so didn't want to push him. I also ran through his full dance routine with him which he performed perfectly! This was especially pleasing as he is due to dance in public at our local village fete in a couple of weeks and I really don't want to be embarrassed by him!

To warm Tinker up before the first show I took him for a lovely long ride through the town, over the bridge on the canal past the lock, along the tow path through the trees and past all the decorated narrow boats, before crossing another bridge and arriving back in the car park next to the show field. However, I couldn't get back into the show field as the main carnival parade was just about to start coming past and the pavements were lined with people! Having explained why I couldn't turn around and ride all the way back to an official I was allowed through the people before joining the parade between the majorettes and the first float! I was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, but it's not easy on a 16.1hh coloured horse! I only had to go about five metres before ducking back through the people and into the show field, but we still got a ripple of applause! It wouldn't have been too bad if I was in costume, but unfortunately I was bare foot in just shorts and a vest top - oops!!

As soon as the parade arrived into the show field it was time for our show - and Tim's commentating debut! He did really well, despite the radio mic being a bit intermittent, and took us through the show with only a couple of stumbles. The crowd we had was absolutely huge - I think practically every single resident of Ware was there! Tinker was fabulous, and loads of people came back with us after the show to have their photo taken with him - he even pricked his ears for some of them! The second show came around quite quickly, and although Tim seemed cool, calm and collected he's since admitted he was absolutely bricking it! He needn't have been though, his commentary was much smoother throughout the second show with only a few prompts needed from me! Alex did the volunteer part of the show really well, having only had one brief practice on Tink at the Three Counties Show, and I managed to stay on until I was supposed to fall off, unlike last week!

After the second show we went for a wander around the rest of the festival site (on a hunt for an ice cream van!), and there was loads going on. There were about eighty stalls all together, as well as fairground rides, the decorated narrow boats and all sorts. It was a really lovely festival and we had a fantastic time there - which just goes to show that first impressions aren't always correct! We were really well looked after throughout the day by Ros, but especially by Shirley. It wasn't until later in the day when we were chatting to Shirley's husband Stuart that we found out Shirley used to be on the British Women's Basketball Team and has represented Britain in international tournaments numerous times! We were very impressed, and then found out that Stuart himself has competed in the Olympics - what a pair! Stuart now commentates for a lot of sporting events for the BBC, at which point Tim was keen to get some advice on commentating techniques!

Before we knew it it was time to pack down, and whilst we did so I turned my boys out into little makeshift pens were the arena had been. This was mainly for Casper's benefit as I wanted him out and about as much as possible. He was really good as there was still lots of flappy red and white tape strung about, stall holders tidying up, a big bunch of white balloons and endless people fussing over him. He took it all in like an old pro, and spent most of the time wandering between different people to see where he could get the most attention! Having wriggled the lorry back out of the playing fields (sorry hedge!) we trucked on home without incident. All in all we had a lovely day, even after the dodgy start on Friday night! The shows both went really well with Tink being fantastic, Tim coped brilliantly with his new role (and actually quite enjoyed it I think!), Casper had a lovely first show experience, and Alex was his usual glamourous self! There are quite a few photos from the day, just click here to see them all. You can also see the Town Council's official photo galleries from the entire day by clicking here and here - and see just how much was going on!

We've got a very local show on Saturday, at the Kingham Commotion, so I'm sure they'll be lots of familiar faces in the audience! I'll tell you all about it next week.

Love Rosie xx

Broughton Game Show

We spent last weekend up in Yorkshire, for a one day solo show at Broughton Game Show. Rebecca, Ronan, Tim, Tinker and myself made the four hour trip up on Saturday afternoon with no problems at all. When we arrived on site the first thing we noticed was the arena, which was on a huge slope. On closer inspection it turned out that not only was it very steep, but also extremely uneven - not conducive to good vaulting! We joked about it to David, the organiser, who just said 'Well Girls, it'll be a challenge!'. He wasn't wrong!

We hadn't long been set up when Ben (my boyfriend) arrived, along with Stanley, his four week old Goshawk. Stanley is just starting to be quite mobile and spent a lot of the evening whizzing up and down the ramp of the lorry, before attacking rolled up tail bandages and travelling boots - much to our amusement!

Before we knew it it was Sunday - showtime! In preparation for this weekend coming, Becca and I were swapping shows - for the first time ever! In we went for the first show, in the blazing midday sun. The crowd was huge, but as I tried to welcome them and introduce the show I realised my mic wasn't working! After some confusion with batteries I got handed a head mic. This worked well but it meant I couldn't give Ronan any vocal encouragement to make it up the slope - and he definitely needed it! Unfortunately Ronan didn't cope with the arena and was being quite difficult, but Becca did amazingly well to vault on him and pulled of all the moves regardless! It felt quite strange just commentating and not vaulting, but it'll make up for next week when I'll be just vaulting and not commentating at all!

Next it was my turn for the second show. Whilst warming Tinker up there was a display by an acrobatic plane. Some of the moves he was doing were amazing - loop the loops, corkscrews, and all sorts! Luckily Tink doesn't mind anything like this - we had the Red Arrows flying over us at Eye Show last year! I was a bit nervous going into the show as I'd never done 'the full strip on the back of a cantering horse' in front of an audience before! I fumbled a little bit, and took a bit too long to get the final piece of the frou-frou skirt off, but managed it in the end! Tinker coped with the arena slope really well, and properly looked after me throughout. He also didn't mind the volunteer bit which he's only done once before, although I managed to fall off slightly earlier than expected! At the end of the show it was Becca's turn to vault on him, which she was slightly apprehensive about as he's so different to Ronan. No bother though, Tink cantered well and Becca vaulted really well! I was spying from the toilet tent and trying to take photos of her vaulting - so much so that I nearly missed my cue to come back out and get back on!

After the shows we were offered a go on the Rodeo Bull which was set up next to us. We'd been eyeing it up all day watching people fall off (some in spectacular fashion!), so were really glad to get a go! The last time we did something like this was at the Mid Suffolk Show last April, where Becca, myself, Alex and Simon rode a rodeo pig! This time I was up first, and managed to fall off fairly promptly! Becca followed and stayed on for about five seconds longer, before doing an amazing somersault right over the bull's head! Finally it was Tim's turn, whose time was somewhere in between ours - not bad for a funny man! Have a look at the little video below to see our attempts! We also managed to get a few photos from the rest of the weekend, just click here to have a look at them.

Next weekend we're off to Ware Town Carnival for a one day solo show on Saturday. However - Becca isn't coming!! Eeeek!! I'm going to be doing both shows on Tinker, with Tim commentating and Alex being our glamourous assistant. This is quite a big change for us so fingers (and hooves!) crossed it will all go to plan! I'm also going to take Casper along, just so he gets to see a bit of show atmosphere and experience the whole thing without any pressure to perform. I'll let you know how we get on next week!

Rosie xxx

The Three Counties Show

We've just had a fantastic long weekend at the Three Counties Show, one of our very favourite shows of the year. Thursday afternoon and Rebecca, Ronan, Tinker and myself set off in the lorry for Malvern, with Bryn (Becca's boyfriend) following behind in his classic red fire truck (aptly christened 'the clown bus'!), and Tim due to meet us on site. As Alex is now busy being an apprentice farrier over in Wales he wasn't going to be able to join us until Friday night, which meant Bryn was being thrown in at the deep end to glamourously assist us!

On arrival the first thing we did was to turn the boys out into the collecting ring, right next to the arena where Doug had turned out his two mares Ella and Diamond. Despite the fact that Ella is twenty-two years old, and Diamond is thirty-six, Tinker (who has just celebrated his eighth birthday!) spent the entire evening flirting outrageously with the pair of them, and having his amourous feelings enthusiastically reciprocated! The romance lasted all weekend with both the girls and Tink whinnying for each other whenever they were taken out of sight of one another!

Friday came around quickly and it was soon time for Bryn's debut! As he is (among other things!) a commentator by trade, Becca had decided he was going to do some mic work. So for the first time we had a full introduction - '...they've made it all the way over Fish Hill to be here... They're the ninth wonder of the Cotswolds....Ladies and Gentlemen - JIVE PONY!!' All credit to Bryn though, being a glamourous assistant is no easy task, but he took to it like a duck to water! Now we have another boy in our clown cupboard - I think that's five now... Alex arrived in the evening and we bade farewell to Bryn and the clown bus - although I'm sure they'll return before too long!

In between the shows on Saturday we rushed up to the main arena to see the King's Troop perform. They certainly filled the arena - they had six World War One gun carriages, each pulled by a team of six horses, plus another thirty-four ridden horses. That's seventy horses all together!! They did a beautifully choreographed high speed display to music, before setting all the guns off. The guns were so loud, wherever we were on the site throughout the weekend you could literally feel the ground shake! I managed to get a little video of some of their ride, have a look below.

Saturday also found both Tim and Alex, followed by Becca and I, volunteering to take part in the Adams Axemen display. This involved sawing through a fifteen inch log with a cross-cut saw, something which the axemen can do in a record time of 9.7 seconds! Needless to say it took us quite a bit longer! The boys were actually quite good at it, whereas it took Becca and I a good few minutes! And it really really makes your arms ache! It was good fun though, and the crowd cheered us on - no doubt helped by the fact that we were both still in costume!

On Sunday the main arena had harness racing, where the horses perform a special gait called pacing. Although it's only a two beat gait those horses can seriously shift! There was a super fast grey, who despite being quite heavily handicapped still managed to overtake everything else on the outside of the bends and go on to win! Have a look at the video below to see how fast he was!

All in all we had a fantastic weekend, and between us we managed to get quite a few photos - just click here to have a look at them. All of our shows went well without a single hitch, Tinker and Ronan were their usual fantastic selves, we are so so lucky to have them! The sun shone and the crowds were brilliant for every single show - about seven or eight deep around the arena sometimes! Quite a few people came to see us over the course of the weekend, including one of our girls from our vaulting group, Felicity. Hopefully she was paying attention as the reason we're teaching them all is so that we can retire one day! It was lovely to see some old friends again, as well as making some new ones - shows are never short of interesting people! Special thanks must go, as always, to Robin McKenzie, Robin Gee and Willowe, who always look after us so well, and who we're looking forward to seeing again at the CLA Gamefair next month!

We're off up to Yorkshire on Saturday, for a one day solo show at Broughton Game Show on Sunday. We're swapping our shows around with Becca and Ronan doing the first show, and Tinker and I trying our hand at the second show. We've never done it like this before, and lets just say today's rehearsal was interesting!! I'll let you know how we got on soon...

Lots of love

Rosie xx

Circus Workshop

We've just spent the day at the circus! Becca, Ronan, Navvy, Casper and I set off this morning for Broadway, to run a circus skills workshop for some local school children on behalf of Gifford's Circus. The day went brilliantly well, aside from the fact that I'm writing this with my foot wrapped in ice - more on that later! Having arrived we took all the horses into the ring to show them what it was all about, and whilst Becca and Ronan were in there Nell bought one of her twins, five month old Cecil, in to see what was going on. He'd never been on a horse before but after only a few minutes he was standing up on Ronan's back - nothing like starting them young!

The idea was to use Casper and Navvy to demonstrate some tricks and the methods we use to train them, then run through some basics with the children on the barrel, before getting them on Ronan to have a little go themselves, then finally showing them some canter work. And that's almost exactly what we did! For the first group, Casper and I started off by showing them some tricks. Casper did really well - he worked in the ring inside the tent, with the children clapping him when he did a trick, and concentrated on me throughout. I was very pleased with him as the last time we tried performing in front of the public (at the Devil's Horsemen Christmas Pantomime) he didn't concentrate on me at all and did virtually nothing I asked him!

When Casper had finished I took him back and swapped him for Ronan, whist Becca led the ten children through some basic warm up and stretching. I then took each of them through some simple moves on the barrel before sending them to Becca who helped them have a go at everything on Ronan. The only problems we had we the fact that they were all wearing their school uniform. The poor girls, they had a much harder time than the boys - summer dresses are not ideal vaulting wear! Once everyone had had a go, it was time to go outside and show them some canter work. Just in time the second group arrived, so they were all able to watch as I did a bit of freestyle on Ronan. At the end I finished with a big flank off, and managed to land funnily on the hard ground. It hurt my foot a bit, but not too badly so we just carried on.

It was now time for the second group, and as Becca had Ronan out already she decided to use him for the trick training demo. I think she just wanted to do some more performing with Ronan in the ring - it was at the circus that they met and fell in love after all! Ronan did some lovely tricks as usual, and then it was my turn to lead the warm up - and that's exactly what it was! By this time it was about midday, and the tent had heated up quite a lot - I can't imagine how hot it must get performing a show in there all dressed up in costume and make up! We then followed the same pattern with me taking them through the basics on the barrel before Becca took them on the horse. The second group had a few members who were quite nervous of Ronan, but by the end of the session every single one had had a sit on him, with most going up to knees and doing a flare leg - brilliant! As they'd already seen the canter work we finished off with them all giving Ronan a treat and a big thank you pat - I'm not sure they wanted to leave at the end! Once all the children had left, we got Kelly and Niomi (who do a fantastic job in the Circus office) up on Ronan. Kelly is especially nervous of horses, but had managed to sit on Ronan at the last workshop we did, back in January. So this time we had her doing mill! There was one point when she was sitting backwards with no hands - we'll have her up in stand next time!

As Navvy hadn't yet been used Becca bought him in to the ring for some practice - shutting him in the dark chute on the way! He was very good and performed all his tricks well, making Becca proud. Both him and Casper behaved impeccably so they will definitely be at a show soon! We did manage to get quite a few pictures - just click here to see them. Before we knew it it was time to go home, so we said our goodbyes, loaded up and trundled home. However, by the time we got back my foot was hurting quite a lot, so I was hobbling around as we were unloading the boys. I took Tink out for a little ride, but couldn't even manage rising trot - and then had to drive all the way home in third gear because I couldn't press the clutch down!

We're off to the Three Counties Show tomorrow for a three day duo, and are all really looking forward to it. We love the Three Counties, it was Tinker's first ever show (as a four year old stallion!) back in 2007, but we haven't performed there since 2008. I only hope my foot recovers in time for the first show on Friday! I'll let you know how we get on!

Lots of love

Rosie xx

Hearing Dogs Summer Fair

I can't believe it's been two months since my last post, but unfortunately that's how long it's been since our last show! However, this weekend we were finally back in action with a duo show at The Hearing Dogs Summer Fair in Princes Risborough. It was the first time we'd done a duo since the Midland Gamefair in September, so Rebecca and I were both feeling a bit rusty to say the least! Having done quite a bit of rehearsal on foot we decided we really ought to take the boys for some Roman Riding practice. We took them up to the big school up the road (huge thank yous to Marilyn and Graham!) and just went for it! Much to our relief they were absolutely foot perfect - and Becca and I weren't too bad either! Bryn (Becca's boyfriend) came up too and took some photos - more on those later! Having done a couple of sessions of Roman Riding, and trying out some new vaulting moves we felt ready for the show, although we did get some last minute props and costumes which we didn't get a chance to rehearse with...

So, Saturday afternoon came and Rebecca, Ronan, Tim, Alex, Tinker and myself set off for Princes Risborough. It was a lovely hot day and the drive down was uneventful. However, we'd literally just arrived at the showground and put the ramp down when the heavens opened and it absolutely poured with rain. Hoping it was a passing shower we left the boys on board (much to their bemusement!), and thankfully after about ten minutes it eased off enough for us to get on with setting up. We passed the evening by running through both shows, endless sewing (which I HATE!) and playing Aerobie until it was too dark to see it until it whizzed past your head! Soon enough it was time for bed, at which point Tim and Alex enquired as to where the base for their bed was. The seating in the lorry converts into a large bed which they normally share, but unfortunately the one and only thing that Becca had forgotten to pack was the necessary piece of wood to make the bed - oops! They ended up sleeping just on the cushions on the floor, but as there wasn't enough floor space for both of them Tim had to sleep in the back where the horses travel!

Soon enough it was showtime on Sunday, and Rebecca and I were feeling very nervous! We'd changed some costume and music since last year, and we were also hoping that we remembered our lines and cues in all the right places. The audience were really keen and were about six deep around the entire arena - no pressure then! We needn't have worried - the show went well! Becca had a really good show with Ronan performing really well throughout. I wasn't quite so lucky with Tinker, but through no fault of his own. As we went to our corner of the arena for our dance we were mobbed by strange flying beetles. They were bright red and about the size of my thumbnail, and drove poor Tink mad! I actually had to stop the dance about half way through and rake my hands through his mane - there were about fifteen of them all over his neck, mane and face - needless to say he wasn't really concentrating on his tricks! After that he just spent the rest of the show whizzing about - but I don't really mind, secretly I love it when he goes fast! The really strange thing about the beetles was that not a single one went near Becca and Ronan over the other side of the arena - very bizarre!

We didn't have much time between shows and before we knew it we were back on with our second performance. This time we had our new blue and black costume, which I'd already worn at Bexley Heath Easter Show, but which Becca had never worn. We had made some changes since Easter though - mainly four bright blue pom-poms each! We'd not tried them with the horses before but were fairly confident they wouldn't mind them - if they can ignore things like the Red Arrows and White Headed Vultures flying over them surely they wouldn't mind pom-poms? We were right not to worry about the horses - it was us who struggled with them! Try having two pom-poms in each hand, whilst steering a horse and then finding your microphone and talking! Eeek! We just about managed, although we're definitely going to have a rethink before the next show! I'd also drenched Tinker in fly spray to try and deter the beetles, as well as dancing in a different part of the arena, and didn't see a single one throughout the whole show - all very peculiar! It was Becca's turn to have an interesting show - when it came to the roman riding her vaulting shoes were too worn out to give her any grip on our nice new pad covers, so that whole section was a bit dicey! At least she managed to keep both shoes on this time though...

After our whirlwind of shows during the afternoon it was time to pack down and head home - but not before we'd learnt the sign language for 'Jive Pony'! There were some amazing signers throughout the day - and a special thank you to Tom who had the unenviable task of trying to sign our shows! All in all we had a lovely weekend, and were very well looked after by Ruth and the team. We managed to get a few pictures over the weekend (and also some from our rehearsals...), just click here to have a look.

We're off to Giffords Circus for a day next Wednesday! Rebecca has very strong ties with the circus as she performed with them for three seasons before leaving to set up Jive Pony, so is very much looking forward to getting back inside the big top! We're going to be taking Ronan, who started his career there as a four year old with Becca, and who hasn't seen the circus since we did the Newbury Parade back in 2008. We're also going to take Casper and Navvy - it'll be their first official Jive Pony outing! Fingers crossed they behave - I'll tell you all about it next week!

Lots of love,

Rosie xx

Bexley Heath Easter Show

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but March really was a very quiet month in the Jive Pony camp. We've just been slogging away with training and working the horses, teaching our vaulting group, and getting ready for our first show. We did have an interesting corporate day teaching a group of hairdressers, but as yet haven't got any photos - as soon as I get some I'll tell you more about it.

But... Our 2010 season is underway! We had our first show this weekend, and it was really great to get back into it. Rebecca, Ronan, Tim, Tinker and I set off on Saturday afternoon for Bexley Heath in Kent for an Oakleigh run show. We were really looking forward to seeing everyone again, as our last show for Charlie and Emma was back in August at the Danson Summer Show. We arrived in good time and set up with no problems. We'd turned the boys out in the arena whilst setting up, which we usually do as it keeps them out of the way and lets them get used to the space. However, the ground was still quite wet and muddy, and by the time I came to get Tinker back in he'd done his best hippopotamus impression and had covered as much of himself as possible in lovely black mud. And he'd only had a bath that afternoon! The rest of the evening went without a hitch - apart from the case of the exploding herrings. An unopened tin of them accidentally got left under the grill, and as we were eating supper - BANG! The mess and smell was unbelievable!! The herrings wern't the only explosion of the night either, Becca was suffering from a very large, very angry ulcer on the roof of her mouth, which was causing her lots of pain. So... self surgery! She heated up a pin and POP! It was almost comparable to the herrings!! Hats off to Becca, there's no way I'd have been brave enough to do that to myself. But it did the job and she didn't have any more grief from it!

Sunday dawned grey and miserable, and we were fully expecting it to rain all day. However, apart from a bit of drizzle here and there it really wasn't too bad. It was very very windy though, and quite cold - not ideal when you're standing on the back of a horse trying to take your clothes off! Not only was it our first show but it was the first outing for our new costume - think Grease/cheerleader! Although we're both going to be wearing the costume for the duo shows, it was just me wearing it for the first time this weekend, and despite some initial trepidations it actually worked really well! The only thing wrong with it was that the collar is round neck, meaning I couldn't keep any 'titbits' for Tinker in their usual place (my bra!) - but we worked around it and will do some alterations for the next show. The second show also went really well, although it took Ronan a while to get up to speed! After the first section of the show I'm not sure who was more out of breath - Becca from vaulting or me from chasing Ronan round and round!

Monday's shows also both went really well, the weather was slightly brighter although the wind was soooo cold - early April is a bit to soon to go running around in a leotard! Tim had an unexpected change of costume when in between our shows he was abducted from our tent and press ganged into becoming a medical porter for the Officers of the Confederate State! We went to watch him doing his bit and although he was very good his medical expertise wasn't - the poor soldier he was treating died! The little video below (shot by Tilly Spielberg) shows Tim doing what he does best - being a naughty glamourous assistant!

All in all we had a lovely weekend. It was really good to catch up with everyone who we've not seen for while, such as Richard (from The Sheep Show, doing both a shearing demonstration and the very funny sheep racing), and Randal and Jeff Carey of Countrywide Falconry (who gave me a falcon to hold just before the first show for an impromptu photoshoot!). I did manage to get quite a few photos over the weekend of various different things - just click here to have a look at them. Tinker and Ronan were both their usual superb selves all weekend - they really do look after us very well and we couldn't do any of it without them! Thankyou boys!

Unfortunately we've not got another show until 6th June, so until then it'll just be more of the same. We do have our coaching exams at the end of the month so wish us luck and I'll let you know how we get on!

Lots of love Rosie xx