Anabat

10/07/2025

OK it really is Winter. BRRRR
This morning at 7.30am I had to jump into my "cold" pool to do my laps and exercises and the temperature outside was Minus 2.
There was ice on the edges of the pool. Even the bird baths were frozen.
But I feel good now.

30/03/2025

Anabat Tack Room
Clearance Sale.
As I am no longer competing and have only one horse now I have a serious oversupply of good quality horse gear.
Take a day trip to the country and make a visit.
I would love some of this tack to find another home.
Email :
[email protected]
If you are interested. Check out
www.gelfrofarm.com to see where I live.
See you here.

Gelfro Farm produces high quality organic lamb. Working farm with facilities for Farmstay Holidays. Equestrian NCAS Accredited Coaching for horse riders and coaches. Distributor of APSA all purpose spray adjuvant.

22/02/2025

More days have disappeared and so quickly. I thought I had better add a few more Tools for the Successful Riders Toolbox.
No 3
Increase Your Equine Knowledge.
You never stop learning and the more knowledge you have about your horse the better equipped you will be to keep your horse happy and healthy, train and ride safely and effectively.
Learn about health and nutrition, herd behaviour, the mechanics of horse movement, horse psychology and horse physiology.

No 4
Personal Health, Fitness and Flexibility.
Don't neglect yourself.
Pay attention to your own health and well-being as well as your horses.
* Good Diet
It is a choice to eat well. Take advantage of quality sports nutrition.
* Exercise
Improve suppleness and core strength with plates,yoga,fit ball etc.
* Lunging
Will improve rider balance and timing,exercise without stirrups or reins.
* Riding
Hours in the saddle - to get Rider Fit you need to ride.

Enjoy your riding.

19/01/2025

No 2 in The Successful Riders Toolbox.

Visualisation.

There is extraordinary power in visualising success.
Learn to focus 100%
Elite athletes know the importance of picturing themselves succeeding in their minds before they actually do it in reality.

The power of visualisation is extremely effective when harnessed and used correctly.
So plan and visualise every detail of your ride.dressage test, jumping course etc.

Picture yourself riding perfectly.
The more vivid your visualisation the more effective and successful you will be.

Happy riding.

18/01/2025

Happy New Year to everyone I hope that 2025 will be a fantastic year for you.

It is beautiful riding weather right now..early morning seems best as this summer it seems to be hotter here in the late afternoon.
So I thought I might give you all a little LOOK inside
The Successful Riders Toolbox.

To be successful in the highly competitive equestrian sports world today is not as simple as buying the " perfectly trained horse".

The more " Tools" you have in your "Equine Tool Box " the better equipped you are to handle situations as they arise.

No 1 Empowerment of Self, Self Control and Mental Attitude.

Before you can control your horse you have to be able to control your own emotional state.
We can all benefit from:
More Self Belief, More Self Esteem, More Self Confidence, A Will to Win,Mental Toughness.

Sports Psychology is recognised as Essential to professional and Olympics athletes and this is certainly an avenue to help you with Mental Imagery.

Happy riding.
More Tools to follow.

20/10/2024

After 10 long years and a Dream come true our first Organic Oats. From our paddocks to your plate.

15/09/2024

Wanted to say that a very Special Gentleman in Geof Garton will be sadly missed. You were a Genuine true Horseman,Rider and Judge.

11/08/2024

Congratulations to all our amazing incredible athletes competing in Paris at the Olympics.
It has been so exciting watching them all and great viewing coverage.
My passion is anything Equestrian and although I have never attended the Olympic Games I have been very fortunate to have been able to be at the inaugural FEI World Equestrian Games which was held in Stockholm in 1990.I have watched and followed all our equestrians at WEG The Hague in 1994 followed by WEG Aachen in 2006,WEG Lexington 2010 and WEG Normandy in 2014.
I realised this spans 34 years.
In that time I have seen increasing improvements with our eventing team taking Bronze in Aachen in 2006 and our inspirational Boyd ExellCarriage Driving Individual Gold in Lexington and Normandy.
This year our Christopher Burton taking Individual Silver Medal in Paris.. fantastic to watch him ride.
However it is disappointing to see our dressage has not really improved over that time span. I have to wonder why.
It was concerning to hear one of our eventers say they " didn't expect to do well in the dressage"
Not the right mindset to go into competition with.
Something in the training is missing here.
A balanced rider has the chance to train a balanced horse..one that can carry itself ,horses need their head and neck to balance.
When the rider does not have an Independent Seat he isn't able to use his hands independently.
Understanding the FEI definition of On The Bit ,especially the part that states " with a light soft contact" seems to have been forgotten.
Maybe it is just the changing dynamics of Equestrian sport today where more riders are able to afford to buy a pre trained horse and start at the top level but they haven't spent the time developing their independent seat. ..thus they need their hands to help their balance.
We have another 4 years until the next Olympics so to change our results we need to change our thinking and maybe our riding habits.

26/06/2024

Hi everyone
We need all the support we can get to keep this avenue of sales of our sheep open. This year in particular has been heeping so much stress on our farmers.
I think some of the people especially the young ones who want to ban the trade have no real idea how much we farmers care for the welfare of our sheep. It is unbelievable how heartbreaking it is to have watch how distressed my husband is when he has to shoot an injured sheep much less have to shoot sheep just because we cannot sell them.
Mental health is a huge problem right now and we all need support. I know this Labor government only thinks how they can stay in government for another term they do not care about us farmers.Once Albanese has apeased a Minority Animal group the cattle will be next.

. Sign the petition.

03/03/2024

So while we are waiting for the rain.....maybe a long wait.
Challenge No 3 for the serious horse riders. Those who really would like to have an even better partnership with their horses.

Horses like Aids that are Simple for them to understand.
Black or White they don't do well TRYING to GUESS what you are asking.
If you want to influence the Engagement of the Hindquarters then you have to give your Aids at the precise moment the horse is about to lift that hind leg off the ground.
Giving your aid :
Too Early
Too Late
Holding the aid on Too Long or
Too Quickly
Leads to Confusion for your horse.

Horses seem to fall into 2 categories:
Very Sensitive or Placid..So when your Aids don't " Make Sense" to the horse you get
an Over Reaction from your Sensitive horse and you may find your Placid horse simply Ignores your Aids.

As you are the "Leader" you must Know, When and Where and How you are using them.
It is your responsibility to Learn the Correct Timing of your Aids.

You can train/teach any horse to understand a "Light Aid" means Go if you follow a Consistent Pattern.

Questions for you :

How many " Leg Positons " do you have ?
Are you Always Consistent in those positions?
Do you Always ask 1st with the "Lightest Pressure" ?
Do you know the correct Timing of your Aids.

So what do you think 🤔