He's back in the saddle again!

Our Timmy recently returned to the ring having had a break since February. He competed at an affiliated show at Crofton Manor, Hampshire and returned victorious! Hurrah!

On board Cantica, a 16.1hh, six-year-old, grey, Holsteiner mare, owned by Charlotte Hornsby and produced by the pair since purchasing her as a two-year-old filly, he won the BSJA Newcomers class.

Tim said: “I was really pleased with her - she has little ring experience, but every time we ask the question of her she comes back with the answer. We are very lucky to have a horse of her ability. I have never ridden a horse with so much scope and I think she has a bright future ahead of her."

A first and a foal!

Well, our Jane has had something of an eventful week, so we asked her to tell us all about it...

"I’ve decided that I wanted to take my three-year-old, Storm, out this summer to a few In Hand shows, to get him accustomed to going out and about in the ‘big bad world’.

"Our season kicked off at the Plumpton College annual Horse Show at the weekend (17th & 18th May) where I entered him into the Open Youngstock 1, 2 & 3 Yr Olds class. There were quite a few entries and I am pleased to say that he behaved beautifully and won the class!

"Needless to say I was very happy with him and I’m hoping it is a sign of good things to come. He is entered in the BSPA Youngstock Championship Qualifier at Heathfield Show on 24th May – fingers crossed!"

"My week then got even better on Monday night (19th May) when my coloured mare finally decided to have her baby, who was five days overdue. The birth went perfectly and mum and baby are both 100% healthy.

"The sire is a young warmblood stallion from Brendon Stud, and I was excited to see what the cross would produce. The foal turned out to be a gorgeous bay colt – he is huge and very forward thinking, being up on his feet and drinking within 30 minutes of his birth.

"I had secretly been hoping for a coloured filly, but he is the spitting image of his dad and I could not be any happier with him (and his mum is certainly besotted). All I have to do now is think of a good name for him – any ideas are welcome!"

If you've got an idea for a name that you think would be perfect for Jane's new addition, just click on the envelope and tell us your suggestion.

It's showtime!

Next week sees the official start of Horsemart's show season - we will be at the Royal Bath & West Show, which is on from 28th - 31st May.

We're going to be there everyday, we're jolly friendly and we like to chat - so make sure you pop by and say hello.

What's more, as we love doing shows so much and always feel extra generous when we're at one, we'll be offering discounted rates on advertising and subscriptions for show-goers, and you'll also be able to get your copy of the June National magazine for FREE! Genius. Don't say we never give you anything.

Here are just a few things you could see at the show...

Goats in coats


Cows on parade

"They ain't nothin' but hound dowgs"

Horses AND a fair!

Need we say more?

The show is open from 9am - 6.30pm daily and you can buy tickets online or call 01749 822222.

It'll be a fantastic day out - you'd be a plonker to miss it - so see you there!

Yes, no, maybe?

We've discovered how to use the Blogger poll feature! Woohoo!

And now that it's in place, we'll be asking you all sorts of questions so we can find out more about our lovely Horsemart friends.

A nice simple one to start with, because the excitement at our discovery was so great that we couldn't think of anything more inspired.

Vote now!

Ladies & lad what lunch

All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy. We don't know who Jack is, but we agree with the sentiment. So in an effort to brush off this month's deadline cobwebs, we had a picnic lunch yesterday down by the pond at our office.

The feast was courtesy of our Tim, who won a little bit of money and was nice enough to splash out on some tasty grub for us all.

There was quiche and French bread and pate and crisps and cheese and ham and all manner of good things. Sarah W displayed some hitherto unrealised strength when it came to holding on to the celery and dips - any one else who got a look in was a lucky person indeed. And there were of course the obligatory scrummy cakes for pudding, because no picnic (or any dining experience in fact, in our humble opinion) is complete without cake. Oh, and in a nod to healthy living there were some grapes too.

A fine time was had by all, tummies were sated, tans were started and work, even if only for a short time, was forgotten. Lovely, lovely, lovely!

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Touzaint triumphs at Badminton

Nicolas Touzaint and Hildago de l'Ile became the first French partnership to win the Badminton Horse Trials since the event started 59 years ago.

The 23-year-old said: "It's always been my dream to win here, but I could not imagine it would ever happen."

Lucy Wiegersma and Shaabrak, from Devon, came a close second with a 1.4 penalty difference, after both her horse and Hildago made one showjumping error. Zara Phillips was 16th on Glenbuck and 19th on Ardfield Magic Star.

Touzaint took a ducking in the Lake with Hildago on their first Badminton attempt 12 months ago, but rode a much tighter line this time, making sure the fences came up on the right stride.

William Fox-Pitt came third with Ballincoola, but had a disappointing finish on Tamarillo, a previous Badminton winner, coming 18th.

Horsemart, the UK's leading website for buying and selling horses.