M.A Equine Services

01/06/2026

Might be biased but he is the cutest🥹

By no means perfect but it’s a start! Changed plans and we’re off competing tomorrow evening over a bs course and not going eventing training on Sunday. After him slightly overboiling in the 90, I feel that an even bigger atmosphere, being on grass and more horses around might overwhelm him slightly and we’d probably spend more time waving our front legs at everyone😅 I’d rather take smaller steps and keep him reasonably within his comfort zone for a positive experience- I’m in absolute no rush and just grateful for all the fun we’re having together🫶

31/05/2026

Stormzys first ever competition report🏅🥉 We ventured to The Grange today for some Unaff Showjumping! This was his first ‘competition’ besides the egg & spoon race he did at home a year ago😅 His 80 round was overall very good, slightly hairy in places but given his lack of experience I was pleased with how he jumped. We tried a new bit which gave more room for his tongue but I wasn’t a fan so back to the drawing board on that! He jumped clear coming 3rd🥹 Leaving the warm up to go and jump the 90, he had a different buzz about him this time- much more on his toes! This was an educational round, both for the jumping and how we manage him going forwards when he’s wired😂 The poles he had down were inevitable when he thought leaping & running sideways into the bottom of the fences was fun😅 When he took a breath and relaxed I was pleased with how he jumped the rest of the course but for the most part he found it too much fun to focus! Just like with the lessons, I’m hoping frequent outings will settle him and we can be competitive at these heights before moving up⬆️ Next stop will hopefully be an eventing training day on grass next weekend which will be interesting as he’s never show jumped on grass or done a dressage test yet so fingers crossed he stays in the boards🙈

28/05/2026

Couldn’t agree any more with this🙌

Why are so many horses being “mis-sold”?

I’m not entirely convinced they are.

You go and try a horse, in its home environment, with people it knows, in a routine it understands. You like what you feel. Maybe you go back and try it again… same place, same setup. It all feels good, and you think this is the one.

Vetting passed and you bring your new horse home...and then everything changes.

New yard. New field. New stable. New people. New routine. New smells, sounds, expectations.

You give them a day. Maybe two. Sometimes not even that.
Then you get on. New tack, different bit, new arena, people watching.

But suddenly, you’re not sitting on the same horse you tried.
They feel different. Tense. Sharp. Spooky. Not quite what you remember.

So now you’re on edge. Watching for everything. Questioning every step, every reaction, every feeling.

And this is where it starts to unravel.

Because what we often forget, or maybe underestimate, is just how big that upheaval is for them.

We’ve taken them out of everything they know, everything that felt safe and predictable, and dropped them into something completely unfamiliar… then expected them to perform exactly the same, almost immediately.

When they don’t, it’s easy to assume something’s wrong.
That the seller wasn’t honest. That the horse isn’t as advertised.

And so the horse gets labelled ''not as described''. The lucky ones are sent back, the unlucky ones are sold on, some going on to boomerang from one place to the next.

But what if the problem isn’t that the horse was mis-sold…
What if it’s that we expect instant consistency from an animal going through complete change?

Horses don’t just arrive and slot neatly into our expectations. They need time to settle, to understand, to feel safe again. They need space to adjust before they can show you who they actually are.
If we don’t give them that, we’re not seeing the horse we bought, we’re seeing a horse trying to cope, and that’s a very different thing.

Maybe the question isn’t “why are so many horses being mis-sold?”
Maybe it’s… are we giving them a fair chance to be the horse we thought we were buying?

27/05/2026

Heaven🌅

26/05/2026

My kind of happiness💛🌻🐝

The most beautiful memories captured by the talented Mia Olivia Photography 📸

24/05/2026

Henry was thoroughly enjoying his new paddling pool👙🏊 Nobody was brave enough to dip their toes yet🥹☀️🌻

11/05/2026

When you’re bestie buys the cutest baby and she goes this well having only been restarted 6 weeks ago and only been sat on/ridden a handful of times over 4weeks 🥹 Unfortunately as an early 4 yr old River had an incident whereby her owner at the time fell off her backwards and sadly really knocked her confidence. This caused her to scoot her bum and run when she became worried which was so sad as she was always trying to please. Luckily my bestie took a risk and bought her from the field with the aim to restart her and go at Rivers pace. She’s done such a beautiful job with her and has just proved that with time, horses will start to trust you. It’s taken plenty of groundwork, lunging and desensitising but Tasha has worked a miracle!! My job was to teach River that if she worried and scooted, there’s absolutely no reason to panic and that she will be fine! I think it’s safe to say she’s learning that and really enjoying her work. Here’s just a few snippets of her ridden work recently. Today, after 4 days off, she schooled beautifully and then went for her first ever ridden hack. The last video shows that if the groundwork is done correctly, there is no reason why River wouldn’t have arrived back to the yard looking as relaxed as this😎 In time, her frame will get longer and lower but whilst we’re in this important stage of ensuring River feels safe, she’s ridden with a shorter rein but soft hands and arms🩷 The last photo is her at her first show with Tasha- what a proud best friend I am🥹😇

10/05/2026

Just going to remind myself that this was Stormzy’s first jump after he arrived home and the whole session looked and sounded similar to this😂😭

We spent the entire time crying with laughter and waiting for him to buck me off😅

10/05/2026

Never been so happy to watch Stormzy jump around and think that was boring😅 Very good boy in our Ian lesson today. After my two falls last week, I just wanted him to feel confident and 100% in everything he did today and he felt great. Although I watch the video and think it’s not that impressive, it’s important to remind myself that boring and slow equals rhythm and relaxed- exactly how I want him to feel! Progress doesn’t have to be big jumps and flashy paces😇

09/05/2026

What a dreamy little life🫶

Quick trip up to Haytor with Stormzy, Ivy and Tilly. How lucky are we to have this down the road ☀️🌻

❤️