WE HOPE EVERYONE HAD A HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
NOW ON TO
LONDON NEW YEAR'S DAY PARADE - ALL THE QUEENS HORSES 1st JANUARY 2017
WE ARE PROUD TO REPRINT AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE EVENT
PUBLISHED BY LEADING EQUESTRIAN MAGAZINE HORSE & HOUND ON 26th DECEMBER

RIDERS SET TO TAKE LONDON BY STORM ON NEW YEAR'S DAY

A cavalcade of horses and riders in fancy dress will take the capital by storm on New Year’s Day as All The Queen’s Horses returns to London.
Along with jugglers, cheerleaders, acrobats, clowns and marching bands, 64 riders and horses will take to the streets with their take on famous films and television programmes.
This year’s theme is “lights, camera action”, in keeping with the parade’s tradition of keeping to a set style.
Previous years have celebrated the “swinging 60s”, “London moving” and, in 2016, “magic and fantasy”
The riders taking part, who were invited for selection from across the UK, with some travelling from Belgium for the occasion, range from six-year-old Bluebell, on her friend’s Shetland and dressed as a Dalmatian, to a man in his 70s.
“They are unpaid volunteers unified in their passion for horses and bringing equestrianism to the capital!” said a spokesman for the event.
Organiser Caroline Marsh is leading the horse parade dressed as Wonder Woman.
She will be riding Sam, a 16.2hh chestnut hunter belonging to her friend Barbara Paige.
The horse will be making his third and last parade appearance.
“We’ve got a fantastic theme once again this year,” said Ms Marsh.
“The costumes are going to wow the crowds. It’s such a special part of the parade and we all love bringing equestrianism to the capital to this unique annual event.”
The equestrian element of the parade starts off 11.45am at Piccadilly Circus and finishes at Parliament, with the return route via Horse Guards, The Mall and Buckingham Palace.

THINGS ARE HOTTING UP NOW AND WORK TOWARDS THE DAY IS IN FULL SWING.

Michaela McGrath and her fjord mare Ausdan Karin had qualified for the Royal London Show earlier in the year and the eagerly awaited day dawned last month.
An 04:30 start was made to make sure Ausdan Karin was turned out to perfection. It was a sunny day, not that it mattered as all the classes were inside in the main arena. Ausdan Karin was warmed up amidst lots of interest from everyone. Michaela & Steve also met up with fjord gelding Cobra-Joker. Steve said his humans were the typical fjord types (cheerful and funny).

Michaela said Ausdan Karin was 'on fire' as these results show:
(In-Hand)
- Pure Foreign Breed. THIRD
- Home Produced Rare/Foreign. THIRD
(Ridden)
- Pure Foreign Breed. FOURTH
- Home Produced Rare/Foreign. FIFTH
- Open Rare/Foreign. FIRST
- Concours D'Elegance. FIRST

They qualified for the Championship among other first and second placed winners and : over to Steve - we were awarded ... Wait for it ...
ROYAL LONDON RESERVE CHAMPION OF BRITAIN

We got home just before midnight and we all were shattered but it was worth every minute.
We were lost for words and close to tears with what we had achieved in the short time we have had Ausdan Karin, it just goes to show that what you put in you get back ten fold.
Absolutely right Steve and we, along with everyone else we are sure, congratulate Michaela, you and of course Ausdan Karin on a wonderful set of results all in one day and a great boost to the breed in achieving!

ROYAL LONDON RESERVE CHAMPION OF BRITAIN with AUSDAN KARIN
among such wide ranging and prestigious breeds.
Article by The Fjord Horse National Studbook Association of Great Britain

JENNIFER MURRAY MEMORIAL PERPETUAL TROPHY COMPETITION

Profile and photos of the winner, Shuna Mardon from Scotland
Shuna bought her fjord mare Hjemdal Astrid as an un-backed 3 year old, mainly for pleasure and use as a fun hack, but as all Shuna's horses are schooled to keep them supple & obedient, Astrid's initial training included formal schooling. After a couple of years training and pleasure riding, Shuna realised that Astrid had quite good paces, so she started doing a few preliminary tests for fun.' Fun' resulted in the pair regularly winning / being well placed among very good quality horses.
They fairly quickly moved up to Elementary Dressage level and again, success was theirs. Shuna decided to register Hjemdal Astrid with British Dressage and on to affiliated classes.
In 2014, at the North East Dressage Championships, Hjemdal Astrid won the unaffiliated Medium Championship, and came 2nd in the Affiliated Open Elementary Championships out of 30 entries, most of them Warm Bloods. The pair's successes are too many to list and they have even made the Scottish press.

This is a great success story & all credit to Shuna for the work and training she put in to achieve such results against all those mainly warm blooded horses.
As a variety Shuna competes in other disciplines including the "Trec", with in her words ' quite a bit of success' which 'translated' means quite a lot of success. As a means of relaxation, the pair do local hacking and pleasure rides.

Sadly, Astrid has become unsound & may not compete again, but on the bright side, Shuna has two youngsters just starting, the 6 year old, Gaia, and the 5 year old, Halo Desire, who will hopefully follow Astrid's success in a few years. Shuna is a great ambassador for the breed & has shown the UK what a properly trained 'Viking Invader' can do!

Congratulations!!