The Stables

We have two horses at the moment. Naomi's is a 16.2hh Belgian Warmblood, a chestnut gelding called Romeo, very handsome and sexy-looking, but also quite strong and a bit nervy (he's a Grade B/C showjumper). My lad is Murphy, a 17.2hh Irish Draught x Thoroughbred bay gelding, fairly solid and dependable and a joy to ride most of the time but he does put in the occasional tester of a buck going into canter. They're both rising 11 and we've had them for about a year now. We do mostly flat-work ourselves, but both are very capable jumpers and some of our friends and relatives jump them. We currently keep them at the Manchester Equestrian Centre in Urmston, 5 minutes from our home. This has a nice big indoor school, a smaller outdoor school and great hacking all around the area.

Romeo

Romeo was Naomi's pride and joy whilst we had him. He has the most incredibly handsome head and is alltogether very well put together. Naomi loves hacking out and he's fantastic for that, good in traffic and never seems to spook at anything (horse-killing trotting poles aside, that is!!). There's not an ounce of malice in him, but I think he does have a cheeky sense of humour. Generally his stable manners are excellent, but he can be fun to tack up sometimes when he decides to do his [very good] imitation of a giraffe to prevent you getting the bridle on.

Once tacked up, though, Romeo is an enthusiast: He's a very honest and willing horse and is good both doing dressage and is a very stylish jumper. The one and only problem we've had with him is that he sometimes tanks off a bit in canter, perhaps after a jump but sometimes just for the hell of it and he can be difficult to control. Naomi has had a few spills when she's been riding him and he's done this, and she's currently lost her confidence where riding him is concerned, so we've sold Romeo to a friend in North Wales.

Pictures of Romeo

You can view larger versions of these and other photos either on Naomi's Corner or on the Photos page.

Murphy

Murphy is the ultimate gentle giant. He is so affectionate and good-natured that he's a joy to handle even though he was built by the same guys that did Everest. I'm not much of one for hacking out (particularly in winter) and Murph the Smurf is sometimes a bit fidgety out on a hack if you ask him to halt for any significant period of time, so I tend to concentrate on work in the school when I ride him.

Murphy has lovely paces and, when ridden by better riders than me, gets into a lovely outline even on a loose rein. One slight surprise we've had recently is just how good a jumper he is. That's not something I'm really into when riding (17 hands is a long way to fall if you come off as I have done once on Murphy), but my 12-year old nephew Taylor jumps Murphy very nicely (teenagers bounce, unlike 50-year olds!), and two of the teenagers at the Manchester Equestrian Centre (where we keep the Boys) have recently been jumping Murphy over jumps as high as 1.2 metres. He's the quintessential all-rounder. He is, however, immensely powerful and does throw in the very occasional buck to test you when going into canter. We sold Murphy in the spring of 2007 to a lad in Warwickshire who we know will really look after him.

Pictures of Murphy

You can view larger versions of these and other photos either on Naomi's Corner or on the Photos page.

Midnight

Midnight is the mare we bought in October 2007 to replace Romeo. She is a 15 hand Dales cross and an absolute sweetheart. Midnight is not likely ever to be a dressage queen as she is stocky and very laid-back but she is calm and bomb-proof and absolutely solid out on a hack, which is exactly what Naomi was looking for. When Naomi rode her initially she was quite difficult to get into a canter and the urban myth arose that she had been pulling landaus along Blackpool Prom most of her life. In truth we don't know her background with any certainty, but it does seem likely that she has spent a fair amount of time as a carriage horse of some description. Naomi has been working hard schooling her, though, and she is now a great little all-rounder.

Midnight was on working livery to start with, part of the riding school at Manchester Equestrian Centre where we keep her, but after we sold Murphy we decided to move her off the Riding School onto DIY Livery instead. This definitely seemed to agree with her. Everything was going along swimmingly with Naomi enjoying daily hacks out on her and broadening her horizons. Midnight started putting on weight, though, and we were considering putting her on a strict diet. Imagine our astonishment when Lee (our guru when it comes to horse management) and Emerson who runs the yard (and who had sold us Midnight in the first place) came up to us one day and said they thought she was in foal and that we ought to get her checked out by the Vet. What?

WHAT?????

One thing Naomi and I had never considered was that she might be preggers. This came as something of a bombshell, as you might imagine, but we duly got the vet out and he confirmed that she was, ineed, in foal. Well that was at the end of March 2007. We started reducing the intensity of her exercise (walk and trot but no cantering) and Lee's best guess of her due date was 4-6 weeks so we sat back and waited. Midnight's daily routine consisted of me turning her out into the field with the other mares in the morning, and we or a friend bring her back in in the early evening, with Naomi riding her out on a hack several times a week.

Sunday 6th May I went down as normal to turn Midnight out for a day chilling out in the field, only to find 8 hooves in the stable rather than the normal 4! She'd had her foal without any fuss during the night and there it was, scampering around like a tornado. The vet checked Midnight and him out ("I'm a STALLION, baby!!!") and they're both perfectly fine. His name will be Jazz...

Jazz

Jazz is the latest addition to our menagerie, having been born in the early hours of 6th May 2007 to our mare Midnight. At 1-day old, Jazz is a lightish bay colour (like most foals), but our local expert tells us he'll be fully black like his mum eventually. Although it's impossible to tell with any certainty at this stage, the vet suggested he was likely to make 16 hands. Midnight has enough milk for two foals, apparently, so he'll certainly not go short and Jazz is already scampering around the stall, giving his mum a hard time as she tries to keep him in view.

Some pictures of Jazz are below. You'll be able to keep in touch with his development as he will have his very own Blog, which he'll be dictating to Naomi and me by telepathy during our daily bonding sessions.

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The Stables

On This Page

The Stables

Romeo

Pictures of Romeo

Murphy

Pictures of Murphy

Midnight

Jazz