My old/young black lab has been on Joint Aid for Dogs for a year and we’ve really noticed a difference.

At one time she could no longer jump in the back of the car. Now it is not a problem and she is the first to be at the door for a walk ahead of the 11 month old lab. She will also tell you she has not had a walk if you were not the one to take her.

She is 14years young!

Reigh Hamilton-Marsden

Five Alpacas

Our first winter with a small herd of five Alpacas was a bit stressful. Used up lots of hay. Used Camelibra to make sure they got the best of nutrients. I suspect the animals quite liked the snow, the attention and the extra food.

Anyway, the warm weather is here and we are all healthy and relaxed.

Chris Wilson

First of all thankyou GWF for adding me to your supported rider scheme.

After a slow start to the season Clippi has shown himself to bcoming back on form. We competed at Kelsall and at at Cheshire view in incredible heat back in May gaining a grade 4 and a 6th place respectively.

I upped his training and this saw us competing at the Bishop’s Wood ride in the 20mile free speed class (again in hot weather), but this time coming 4th. Since then Clippi competed at Ludlow gaining a Grade 1 with very respectable heart rate of 38.

We’ve been selected to ride for the Heart of England endurance team at the Inter-regional championships – so watch this space.

Adriana Coupe

Recent showjumping outings have resulted in a 4th in the 90cm Amateurs at Summerhouse (although I did hit the deck in the 1m due to messing up a double!), and a 2nd place in the 1m Amateur at Allen’s Hill.

I have been busy training with Will Miflin and Rob Stevens, who have both been daring me to jump bigger fences! Neither has given into my protests or too perturbed by the high pitched squeaking. I am lucky to be in an area with lots of great trainers.

I am hoping that the Hickstead 1m and 1.05m course will look easy following this intensive training!

Jenna

Today I went to an affiliated dressage show, which thankfully is quite close to me.

The wind was strong, and most of the time I had to keep my eyes closed as I was warming-up outside and sand was blowing into my eyes! It wasn’t particularly pleasant for my horse, Ali, either. He warmed-up quite well, despite a row of jump wings falling down at one stage, like dominoes as we were trotting past. I went in the indoor to do my first test, and I was very pleased with him. The only ‘iffy’ moment was the walk, but that was my fault as my legs were all over the place! I was very disappointed with my score, and it just shows how different some judges can; especially when it comes to certain preferences for a horse’s way of going and movement.

It can be incredibly disheartening to receive a poor score, but at the end of the day, what matters is that YOU are happy with how your horse went.

I then put him back in the trailer, as there was about an hour until my next test.

The following test felt rather the same as the first one, but this time I didn’t fluff up the walk! I knew I’d get another poor score, as it was the same judge for both tests. It was still good enough for us to finish 4th though, surprisingly!

I was very pleased with how well behaved Ali was, but very disappointed with my scores. But hey, that’s dressage at the end of the day – There’ll always be next time!

I have to sort out our competition calendar for the rest of this month, but my main aim is the Dressage Festival in Cork at the end of July.

Also, thank you so much to GWF Nutrition for adding me to their fleet of sponsored riders; I’m so grateful for such an excellent opportunity.

That’s all for now, I will post another report soon!

Many thanks to GWF for adding me to the supported rider scheme! I have two very laid back horses, so I am hoping a mix of Energest and Tiger Oats will give them the extra ompf they need in competition.

My horses are two home bred full brothers by the Selle Francais stallion Pouchka III.

The eldest is Peer who is now 12 and specialises in dressage, and has won more money unaffiliated dressage than during his BSJA career! Peer is a true economist and will only put around 2cm clearance on any jump whether 80cm or 1.2m, so although he is capable showjumping is not his forte! Recently we have tried eventing, but I’ve struggled to get him going XC in the recent heat.

Paladin is 10 and a showjumper by trade. We are currently in training to get reading for the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead where we are competing in the lower level BS classes and also competing for the VWH Riding Club in the Riding Clubs showjumping competition.

Kind regards
Jenna

The South Downs Gundog Display Team which is supported by Joint Aid for Dogs was established three years ago and has performed at the Sussex Country Fair, Paws in the Park at Broadlands in Hampshire and the Midland Game Fair as well as many local game fairs, village fetes and country fayres. It’s a gundog display with a difference as we do a formation display set to music with a team made up of working gundogs – golden retrievers, springer spaniels, labradors and cocker spaniels – and their handlers.

All moves and commands in the display relate to work in the shooting field. Ranging from the basic heel, sit and stay to retrieves and directional moves, the most popular being a ‘V’ formation copied from the world famous Red Arrows aerobatic display team. The team has been fortunate enough to be invited to a photo opportunity with the Red Arrows at their base at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

GWF Nutrition is delighted to welcome Adriana Coupe as the latest novice rider to join the company’s Grass Roots Support Scheme.

Says Adriana…My horse is kept on DIY livery and is looked after and paid for by myself. Our chosen discipline is endurance. We compete throughout the season every 2 to 4 weeks depending on the distance we are competing in. I ride 6 days out of 7.

I have a pure bred Arab aged 12, who is in very good condition at the moment for his discipline (probably classed as on the thin side of moderate).
This is our 3rd competitive year. In his first year we got Top Novice for the Staffordshire area. Last year (our 2nd year) we won Top Arab nationally with Sport Endurance. He is always placed; usually gaining a grade 1 (EGB) or in the top 3 (SE)

My ultimate goal is to complete the Golden Horseshoe (100 miles in 1 day). To do this I am steadily increasing the distance we are competing in (last year we completed our first 50mile ride) and also the speed – to help with this I intend to compete in the Arab Horse Society marathon.

GWF Nutrition is delighted to welcome Kelly Dickson as the latest novice rider to join the company’s Grass Roots Support Scheme.

Says Kelly…I work full time to fund competing at Affiliated Show jumping. I try to compete most weekends and have one horse at the moment on DIY livery.

“Charlie” is a 16hh, 11 year old bay gelding. He is currently jumping up to Newcomers level in BS. He is in lovely condition at the moment but he does vary throughout the year.

I qualified and jumped at the Amateur Championships at Aintree last year and competed at the Blue Chip finals this year.

I would like to get a youngster soon as Charlie will be getting to the upper age limit for competing. I would like to keep him going even if it’s just at the lower levels.

My goal for my next horse would be to aim for the Amateur Classes at Hoys and the British Open.

Kelly Dickson (GWF Nutrition Supported Rider)

Max SJ with Paul

Meeka- Elementary

Meeka warming up

Hi! This is my first entry and I am hoping to keep it as intresting as possible!

Firstly Max – Max went to Borde Hill near Kent to do his 2nd BE100 of the season. He did a nice dressage test with a couple of mistakes including a gawping moment when giving an re taking the rein in canter! However, the judge liked him and he managed a 28 dressage! The show jumping was testing as it was on a hill and seemed to be causing problems but finished with 4 faults so really pleased with that and was in the lead after SJ and Dressage. He then flew round the xc course with just one dodgy moment at the coffin to finish 3rd as he got 5 time penalties which was a shame. Very pleased as it turned out he was in an open section so was against horses with points.

Meeka went off to Summerhouse to do 2 BD tests- he was very good as it was so hot! Never been here before and the arena was a little noisy so a good test for his concentration! He warmed up well depsite a pigeon flying out of bush into my head and giving us a heart attack!

In the novice he was a little flat as he switches off especially when its hot, he still won but the % wasn’t great. He then finished 3rd in the Elementary with 63%. Again he was a bit flat in the heat. He tends to get a bit of stage fright and looses some ‘look at me’ so I am planning to get him out as much as possible.

I then went off to Sparsholt for a lesson with Roland Tong- disaster struck. There was an accident on the A34 meaning I missed my lesson. Sparsholt kindly let me use the arena so I could work him, he was a bit spooky but did some nice work.

I then had a lesson with my trainer Aby Latham Moore at home. He went really well and his travers, shoulder in and half pass are really coming on but he gets a little rude in the hand. We have started changes but as he is a bit rude he is not so clever about changing behind.

I have now purchased a KK weymouth set and have ridden him in it- the difference is amazing! Even managed clean changes and started a few half steps of piaffe/passage.So I am going to use it tonight on my lesson and see how that goes!We also picked up the new lorry which is fab- so much room. After our time away we will have some graphics put onwhich will jazz it up a bit!

Hailey Wilder (GWF Nutrition Supported Rider)

We are delighted to welcome Hailey Wilder as the latest Support Scheme rider to join up with GWF Nutrition.

Says Hailey…

I have a horse on DIY livery that I purchased in a sorry state as a 5 year old. I have bought him on and I compete every other week (sometimes more) at unaffiliated level to Medium and affiliated to Elementary. I have qualified for the BD area festival at Novice and Elementary this year.

I have weekly lessons with a dressage trainer and once a month go to Roland Tong for a dressage clinic. I look after my horse myself as well as my partner’s event horse. Both horses are paid for by myself. I am the Centre Manager of a large equestrian centre so fit in caring for my horses around my work.

I have one horse of my own and also school and compete my partner’s event horse (in dressage). “Baltimore Van Du Cumul” or “ Meeka” is an 8 yr old Belgium Warmblood. He is 17.3hh. “Max” is an 8 yr old Hanoverian gelding, he is 16.3hh We are out almost every week competing or training. Both horses are in good condition at the moment and are fit and well.

I have competing since I was 16 yrs old when I got my first pony, she won a lot at county level in the show ring. I then had a show hunter that I purchased for the sum of £100! He finished 2nd and 3rd in HOY qualifier as a show hunter. Since then I have had a variety of horses that I have competed in SJ, XC, dressage and eventing before concentrating on dressage. My horse (Meeka) has won or been placed every time out in the dressage arena and Max has been placed in most of his events up to BE100.

I plan to continue with competing BD Meeka with the aim of competing at PSG (all my trainers have said that the horse has the ability to compete at Grand Prix!)I also want to qualify him for the regionals and hopefully the nationals at elementary. Max will continue with his dressage with me with the aim to get him to medium whilst my partner Paul events him, he is going to do BE west wilts Novice in the autumn with the aim to do a CCI * by the end of the season. With both horses I will be continuing with their training. I am also looking to purchase a 3rd horse in July this year, either a young horse to bring on or a PSG schoolmaster.

Wow, life has been busy these past few weeks!.

We finally managed to get out to our first BE event of the season. Both horses behaved themselves brilliantly with Hector managing to secure 9th-a great result in itself but if we had not had the 6.8 time faults we would have won!!-Am sure the timing will come but it was great to have a good first ‘proper’ run.

I mentioned before that my old event pony was going into foal this year and so was put onto fertility aid, she was covered last week to the stallion ‘Future Illusion’ so we will find out next week weather or not it has ben a success, fingers crossed pleased!
Unfourtunatley at home we have preety poor grass cover so it has been really important, especially over this dry spell where the grass dosen’t seem to have grown at all, to ensure they get all the right nutrients, this is where the equilibra feed balancr comes in!, they are al looking and continue to look absolutley fantastic, so thanks!

I am off to Little Downham horse trials to do the BE100+ with both horses before hopefully contesting our first novice at the end of this month, so I will let you know how that goes!

Bye for now,

Abbi (Abigail Forsyth – GWFN Supported Rider)

x

My dog Spot is 14 years of age and i was concerned with his increasing lack of mobility and vitality. He had been getting other joint products, however, whilst at Crufts i got a sample of this product and the effects were fantastic, can’t believe the difference in his quality of life.

We are now on our 3rd pouch and very very happy with the results.

Sarah Wallace

Thank you for a truly good product and for making my boys life comfortable.

Sara Ward

she has so much life and energy that you would think she was younger than our 1 1/2 year old lab. Joint Aid is so good, I tell everyone about it and people we see while out walking. I can’t believe Thorn has bad —-, so a very big thank you to Joint Aid and GWF Nutrition.

Kirstine Hawksby