Welcome to our blog...

Equimins Ltd Blog | Natural Horse Supplements, Supplies & Products Equimins specialises in producing natural horse supplies, products and supplements for the major areas associated with caring for a horse. All products are proudly made in the UK and excellent specification quality products are of paramount importance. Using this blog we want to share some of the knowledge we have gained through nearly 30 years of experience.

19 March 2014 ~ 0 Comments

We have a guest blogger- say hello to Sophie Ostler- SOEquine

We’re very excited to introduce our new guest blogger, Sophie Ostler. Sophie is an Equimins fan…but there’s a lot more to her story! She’s kindly agreed to keep us up to date with her news, triumphs and tribulations through a special Equimins/SOequine blog! We’re delighted to have Sophie on our blogging team…

 

SOequine banner

Hi, my name is Sophie, and I am a horsaholic. I have been passionate about horses for as long as I can remember; I started having riding lessons when I was 9 years old, but much to my disappointment I endured a pony-less childhood. The sound of hooves on the lane outside our cottage would have me rushing to the window for a glimpse, and I even set up show jumps in our garden and hung a haynet in the shed… all that was missing was the pony, I begged my Mum to buy me one. I’m sure many other horse-mad individuals can relate to my poor deprived upbringing!

Well they say good things come to those who wait, I had to wait until my twenties to finally have a pony of my own, and now I have three!

I have always dreamt of being a professional rider, my lifelong ambition has been to compete at the Olympics, as a child I must have watched the movie International Velvet a hundred times wishing I was that girl.

As life has flown by at an alarming rate of knots, the universe evidently had other ideas for me… life events got in the way of my dreams and I made no progress at all, for me it has always been a case of one step forwards, and then falling backwards down the stairs! In recent years I had resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to be a professional rider. I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth, I didn’t have the privileged upbringing of most successful equestrians… who was I trying to kid? It was too late.

That is until in 2012 when I finally achieved one of my dreams… to have my horses living at home. This was the same year I watched the Dressage at the London Olympics and this compelled me to have another go at achieving my ambition; we are now making up for lost time. I’m willing to admit the Olympics are a long shot, but I hope to eventually quit the day job and dedicate my time to riding, and all things horsey.

Last summer my horse Jason and I started training with International Dressage rider Hannah Esberger. I created my Facebook page SOequine to post regular updates of our training, the highs and lows, and day-to-day mishaps… and I also share my tips for horse behaviour problems, and I recommend products and brands that I use. I am amazed that people are interested in my ramblings!

I work full-time in my non-horsey day job, which quite often is more like working ALL-time! I fit the horses around my job and family life, it is hard work and takes a lot of dedication, but I feel I will be rewarded for my efforts. My friend Michelle has offered to be my show groom, I feel like I am no longer a struggling one (wo)man band… Team Ostler here we come!

My Horses: (The 3 Amigos!)

Jason and Sophie

Jason and Sophie

Jason is an Anglo Arab show horse, he will be 16 years old this year, and I have owned him for 10 years now. Affectionately known as Grandad, he is a former problem horse. I met him when I was working as an equine behaviourist, and I liked him so much I bought him. Last weekend he had his first show of the year and qualified for Equestrian Life. This year he will also be making his Dressage debut. I am crossing my fingers that this will be his year.

Ferdy, the little baby, he is the newest addition to the yard. He will always be the baby even though he is now taller than Jason! I wanted to buy a top Dressage horse, but I couldn’t afford one, so I set my budget and bought a youngster, he is my potential superstar of the future! I can’t wait to start his ridden education.

Ferdy is the “Marley & Me” of the horse world, a cheeky monkey who is always getting into mischief. He is far too clever for his own good, but he is super cute and so angelic looking that it is almost impossible to discipline him when he is being naughty!

He loves food, fresh shavings, and cuddles, and he adores Jason. He dislikes apples, and spits them out!

Minnie is our lovely Connemara, or hairy polar bear. She is the Grandma of the yard, she keeps Ferdy in check and pretends to dislike him, but if you sneak onto the yard without her knowing you can catch them snuggling together. Minnie is 15, I originally got her as company for Jason, but she loves jumping so I have decided to have fun with her this year. We will be taking part in working hunter, show jumping and pleasure rides.

Minnie loves being scratched on her withers and bum, but she doesn’t like grooming with the boys, so I think when the time comes to get the next horse it will have to be a mare to keep her happy, she is outnumbered at present!

Thank you for reading my story so far! I am delighted and honoured to have been asked to write for Equimins. I have been using their products for years… and I think I may have raved about them once or twice!

I hope to show that anyone can start at the very bottom and achieve their ambitions if they have enough determination to succeed. Follow my journey to see if I am right!

Until next time…

 

Sophie 

 

To find out more about Sophie, why not have a look at her Facebook page?

Leave a Reply