https://www.facebook.com/111307181816267/

Willow Equestrian, Thornbury (2025)

30/11/2025

Earnie
he turned up to the yard in hell of a state when my farrier at the time bought him, Earnie was covered in poo burns and looked like a hat rack bless him. Once weight was built back up my farrier used him to drive and I broke him to ride for him. I started hunting him and doing some schooling with then me and my boyfriend at the time were offered to buy him so we did. My ex drove him and I got to ride him on fun rides, hunting just enjoying the country side on him!! Then we split so Earnie was sold on to tumpy green and then due to lameness Earnie was gifted back to me I turned him away for a while before bringing him back, he was then just used as my hunt horse he was so easy so I hired him out a bit. I decided I was just going to break him if I kept him so gave him to mum well sold him for a vets bill to be paid but then realised half the bill was mums anyway 🙈 he is now with mum living his best life being a happy hack and riding school horse with the odd occasion in the country side with me.

The next horse in my life was babe well I had her along side Merlin and Earnie ……

29/11/2025

Hywi King Arthur
Well known as Merlin, merlin was bought for me when he was 14 months old whilst I was waiting to break Merlin in we bought Earnie who is a year older. Merlin to brake in first time round as a 3 year old he was lovely then turned away and then to re-brake as a 4 year old oh god he was the devil!!! I was told to shoot this horse on more then one occasion, he use to rear the second you put your foot in the stirrup, bronk, buck but his main party trick was to rear and spin god he was a tosser but i didn’t let it defeat us, and it didn’t he was a machine dressage was interesting to start but out eventing our best score was 26, show jumping wasn’t always our best fase this is the reason we gave up eventing we did jump a couple of 1.15 tracks, and xc my god he was a machine he jumped anything put infront of me. Team chasing started a bit scary as we just chucked him in the mix we soon realised he was a lead horse leading round pretty much every novice after this then become our reliable intermediate lead horse, and taking me round my first hunt scurry race. before now taking an easier team chase life nannying the baby 🦕 and teaching people the ropes. This little horse truly is my horse of a life time I will never ever find another Merlin he has done everything I have asked and more he even carried me to my wedding. He has not only helped me but he has helped teach so many other riders and helped so many others with there confidence!! horse owes me nothing but I owe this horse everything!!!

Up next Earni did he pull the fastest cart in the west??

27/11/2025

Shandi
Was a 6 year old Irish sport horse he was a true gentle giant I loved this horse so much we done a bit of everything some competitions, hunting schooling we had a go at all but what I wanted to do and what shandi wanted to do were 2 different things shandi was more a hunt horse then a eventing horse and at this time I wanted something to event he was 2 big a horse to be prancing round an arena with a very young cocky teen who thought she was invincible, yes we have all been there at some point!! Back then I couldn’t see an issue but now looking back I had over horsed myself for that time in my life he would have suited me down to the ground now, so the hard decision came for him to be sold a few months after having shandi my dad bought me a present and that present was the main man you all know as MERLIN………

26/11/2025

Beauty
Beauty is a little Welsh D Beautys start with us wasn’t the best, she was sold to us in foal she didn’t look in foal, she wasn’t overly fat we just found a foal in the field with her, the most beautiful foal a little Dun c**t, but unfortunately it didn’t survive. Beauty wasn’t bought for me she was bought for my sister who didn’t ride her for very long before she didn’t check her girth and had a fall and decided she didn’t want to ride again, so mum decided she would take beauty at this time I had Charlie so didn’t need a horse and then Charlie started to go wrong so beauty had to stand up to the plate and that she did we went to pony club camp, competitions, pony club activities she was pretty cool bless her seeming we had done nothing with her bar hack really and we dragged her out and she loved it until I tried to hunt her never ever ever again 🙈 it was the day she decided she didn’t like travelling anymore and also the day my life flashed before my eyes she was that bad we almost took someone out because she was rearing and spinning into people and just didn’t care who was in her way so I decided enough was enough I think 10 mins in and hacked her home it was a good hours hack but I wasn’t risking putting her back in the lorry with the way she traveled there, she never went hunting again!! Beauty also suffered with collic quite regularly she was a drama queen that’s for sure and loved to scare us!! beauty is still with us now at the grand old age of 29 and has only just retired.
After Charlie was put down I had a little gap while we looked for a horse and beauty was my stop gap then we found shandi …….

25/11/2025

Charlotte
Charlie was a 15.3 thoroughbred mare, I know what your thinking ex-race horse, you couldn’t be further away! Charlie was bread to heard sheep yes I sed it! 🤣 this mare taught me a lot my first horse! she wouldn’t tie up to the lorry so we went through a lot of head collars lead ropes 🙈 she was cold backed would bronk when you got on if you weren’t careful, she ran backwards sideways but I tell you what I still had lots of fun on her she used to make me laugh the hunt would go off and she would be running backwards away from them not fast not the run backwards where you think s**t just didn’t want to go forward 🙈 we had so much fun exploring together doing pony club, competing and then it all started to go wrong. she fell on her knees the vets took a bucket of gravel out of both knees 😩 then we got her back got her going again and she went lame unfortunately Charlie had navicular so she crossed the rainbow bridge to the fields in the sky 😢 whilst I had Charlie we found Beauty…….
Coming next the old hag you all know

24/11/2025

Smokey Joe

Where it all began, Smokey was bought for me by my grandad my parents having no knowledge of horses me knowing very little at the time we bought him pretty much straight from the field. Smokey was a 13.2 Connie cross, when he first arrived he was a fat fluffy pony and mad me eat a lot of dirt but once we got to know each other I done pony club on him, joined the mounted games teams, one day events, done all the comps I could on him, residential camps my poor mother didn’t have her own life she was lugging me and my pony every where, then came the bug for hunting, maybe out of control a lot of the time but at that age you had no fear well I didn’t anyway we bolted every where at everything. He was so cool we pointed at everything and just flew, unfortunately came the time that I out grew my pony of a life time who taught me so much so he was sold on and along came Charlotte or charlie as we called her ………..
I will introduce her on another day 😬

23/11/2025

I realised you all know so much about the horses I ride but not about me! Let’s start with me and then I will tell you about the horses that made me the rider I am now.

I didn’t come from a horsey family, I learnt to ride on friends horses and at Jean greys.

I worked as a sat/sun girl along side school at the yard I went on work experience with, before becoming the NVQ girl and crash test dummy. I completed my NVQ 2/3 here, started training for my PTT to get my AI but decided not to go through with the exam. I learnt to ride lots of different horses work there, learnt how to break horses in and school horses properly for clients even got to compete the horses and take them round there first BE’s BD’s after being here for 7 years being head girl training staff, NVQ students, work experience, it was time for me to move on.

so I decided to go of on my own become a freelance rider/groom I loved it I then got a phone call asking if I wanted a part time job on a hunt yard so started working afternoons for 2 sisters breaking horses in and exercising hunters, I went full time and then started working for just one of the sisters I decided to take on another job for a bit of extra cash and started working nights for renishaw, I worked for them for a year alongside working with the horses in the day. Renishaw was not for me but I met some amazing people and one of them put me in touch with their daughter and I started the training to become a maker and mender saddler. Then life jumped in and put a stop in there I snapped my ankle got back to work got going again and fell pregnant with my little boy I worked for as long as I could before having him in November and then got straight back to work in December, only part time. Before I started working full time freelancing again. I then decided I wanted a change in career again and looked into becoming a saddle fitter, and started training along side work and here we are now 1 exam down working as much as I can so I can pay to do my exams.

Coming next the horses that made me who I am in my own time…….

21/11/2025

I know I have been mega quiet on here for a while now, I haven’t gone anywhere just been very busy!! A brief touch base:
- Still doing some making and mending
- passed one of my 3 saddle fitting exams
- Pencreak is on top form jumping and flat work has come a long way!! Still gets his ginger head on when he feels like he needs to!!
- Quick Grabim is working hard on his flatwork working with novice and medium movements, whilst being his sassy self!!
- Blue is just being blue he is green young and already starting to see a difference in him, ran his first novice team chase like a pro 🥰
- Hero the old boy is enjoying him self jumping out of the yard after a full days hunting 🤦‍♀️
- Tarzan is a new boy to my yard who is taking his ridden life under his belt like a pro slowly but surely

I have availability for ridden/yard work next week tueasday Thursday and Friday
Have availability for clipping Wednesday afternoon

Then I’m away for a week but I do have some availability to take on a new client or maybe 2 if this is of interest to you please get in touch for my price list or if your an exsisting client who would like some extra work doing please do get in touch

Have a lovely weekend

Willow Equestrian

30/11/2025

29/11/2025

27/11/2025

26/11/2025

25/11/2025

24/11/2025

23/11/2025

21/11/2025

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category