Growing up as a millennial is tough. Imagine a school with a hierarchy, such as depicted in American movies; ‘jocks’, ‘mean girls’, ‘geeks cliques’, ‘un-populars’ – the bullies and the bullied. In our generation, you don’t even have to go to school to experience this. All you have to do is log onto social media. […]
You asked, we answered! In this episode of our monthly series, Ask the Vet, Dr. Lydia Gray and SmartPaker Dan answer 5 new questions on topics like whether or not to give mineral oil to prevent colic, the amount of salt a horse should get every day, slobbers, pre-purchase exams, blister beetle toxicity, and so […]
Dilmun has now become my target. At the moment he seems to be quite pleased to be the focus of my attention. A few weeks ago he started his slow work and his even slower build up to some vague form of fitness. Dilmun is classified by my husband as ‘obese’ but I feel he […]
Here at SmartPak, we’ve got a number of dogs that come to the office every day. But as much as we love our office dogs, some of their behavior is a little…weird. Imagine if your best friend or coworker acted like that? That’s exactly what we did in honor of National Work Like A Dog […]
Hello all and welcome back — and guess who’s back in action?! Over the past week I’ve finally started properly riding again after my fall. It was like a breath of fresh air after being locked in a dark room and was the perfect remedy for me. It felt like I was relaxing back in […]
Searching for a new boarding barn can be stressful, if not overwhelming. After three years of horse ownership, my horse Tiger and I have lived in multiple states and spent time in a variety of barns. In moving often, I have gotten fairly good at recognizing when a barn will be a good fit for […]
Wow what a horse, and what a Burghley! The night and morning before cross-country is one of the worst feelings. It’s mixture of dread, excitement, nerves, worry, determination, fear, anxiety — it’s hard to describe how much you do AND don’t want to get out there on the course. I went for one last cycle […]
We’re drawing ever closer to everyone’s favourite season – winter. However, preparation is the name of the game. As your horse is stabled for longer periods of time, it’s important to consider his health and wellbeing – here’s how. Off to bed Deep littering your horse’s stable is a quick way to give your horse […]
New Zealand rider Samantha Lissington’s journey to Burghley started when she swapped a childhood sailing around the South Pacific for a pony. The 28-year-old Kiwi made her debut at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials aboard Ricker Ridge Rui, who she bought unseen with the intention of selling on. Now the pair have taken on […]
So it didn’t quite work out for us today at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, but I’m incredibly proud of my wonderful horse. We were having a fabulous spin, Miley (Absolut Opposition) was feeling utterly awesome and pinging around the first half of the course, nailing the lines and challenges, until we just came […]