If you are concerned for the welfare of retired horses have a look at their site and give them some support.

The great thing is that if you are an owner like me, Ahem, well I own a very small share in a horse, probably no more than a hoof to be honest, but you can go on there and see if they have any pictures of your own horse crossing the finish line (preferably first)

The site is called Horse Racing In Focus so have a look and see if you can spot your horse on there, or any of your friends horses either, all the pictures can be bought.

Another nice twist to the usually completely commercial online shops of today, is the fact that they support the injured jockeys fund, so on their signed series (which are some of the better pictures, but signed by the jockeys) a percentage of what they take is donated to the fund.

Now, whilst they obviously do not come cheap, they really would make a big difference in the arrival at the church.  There are however a lot of costs to be covered, such as the obvious cost of keeping and maintaining the horses and carriage, buit also the transportation costs, not cheap when you consider the size of vehicle required to transport everything to your wedding venue.  Speaking of which, you also need to have the space for them to set it all up and set off with the bride and her father sat in the back. Then the whole thing has to be manned, so you need a groom and driver as a minimum, so I would imagine the cost would be pretty high.

The recent royal wedding also has probably increased the demand for them too.

Of course, if you went to the lengths of hiring a carriage like this for your big day, you would obviously want plenty of photographs to look back on in the future, so a top noch wedding photographer is a must, and these days you often not only get the standard prints as you did before, but also because the pictures are taken digitally you can usually have the whole det on a DVD too.

Of course, once you begin stepping up the whole thing you then need to upgrade everything else, OK a nice dress is a given, but what about the entertainment too? You don’t want Dazling Daves Mobile Disco pumping out Abba and Agadoo all night, you need a professional wedding band who really know how to get the dance floor busy and keep it that way all night. There are a lot of good wedding bands about so make sure you listen to what they play and do a good version of all the songs you like.

Then you need to consider the catering, a buffet probably wont cut it with your guests, so a full sit down meal will be required. So it’s worth considering that just because you can afford a wedding with a horse and cart, do you have the spare cash for everything else required to suitably complement it?

Our first baby chicks just hatched. They are so cute and sweet. We have white leghorns, barred rocks and some bantams. Two of our mallard ducks are setting on a dozen eggs each and we have more eggs in the incubator. The baby geese should hatch in about ten more days and we just put in some pheasant eggs. Boy, are we going to be busy this summer!

We have one more mare yet to foal. I do hope she has a filly as lovely as she is. Our pastures are so green and they look so pretty dotted with mothers and babies.

Last fall I was at my favorite garden center. They had lots of bulbs of unusual flowers (at least little known to me). I bought an assortment and planted them. I am now reaping the rewards. They are such pleasing surprises! So many of them are blue! This just happens to be my favorite color.

I have put in a new hosta garden this spring. The shade had become too dense for the lily garden I had there. This is perfect transplant weather. The ground is so soft and the watering is so automatic.

So much rain has done wonders for the well drained plants but has totally destroyed some of the low lying garden. I still have so many, many beautiful plants I can replace them as soon as they are workable and I have the energy.

The lilacs have truly outdone themselves this year! I have never seen the blossoms so large and numerous. The fragrance, however,is not quite as intense.

The redbuds have just shed their blossoms and the earth underneath is a pink carpet. The peacock is enjoying eating them. I have never noticed this before.

We have a couple of fast growing hybrid poplars near the barn. The fragrance from their blossoms is intoxicating! I can’t seem to get enough. They are quite messy when they shed, however. They are sweet smelling and very sticky. They stick to the pavement and to the dogs and cats causing their fur to mat. They are definetly worth the trouble for their shade and fragrance.

The vegetable garden is doing quite well. The raised beds are certainly the answers to gardening in the rain. My salad garden is so beautiful I hate to harvest it. I planted a raised bed in a diagonal pattern with rows of five different kinds of lettuce and spinach, each of a different shade of green or red. It certainly looks good enough to eat. I have lots of spring onions to add to the salad.

The asparagus is finally able to grow. It has been trying for the past six weeks but each time it stuck its head out the frost would nip it. If you have never tasted freshly picked asparagus you have truly missed a treat.

My newest venture is really taking off. I have started a small craft business called Atnegam Garden Art. My first piece is a sleeping cat. Her name is Esmerelda. She is very beautiful and every one who sees her wants one for their garden or hearth. She is of a limited edition series of l00. I must go now and finish my order of seven due tomorrow.

P.S. : If you want to be happy all of your life, live on a farm.

CIC*** – 1st £5000, 2nd £2500, 3rd £2000, 4th £1500, 5th £1000, 6th £800, 7th £600, 8th £400, 9th £200, 10th £100.

Retraining of Racehorses Trophy for the highest placed Thoroughbred registered with Weatherbys in the CIC***.

Retraining of Racehorses Jackets for the highest placed Thoroughbred registered with Weatherbys in each of the Novice Sections.

Retraining of Racehorses Prizes – horses need not have raced but be bred with the intention to race and must have a weatherbys passport which must accompany the horse.

EHOA and Toggi Clothing Prizes in all sections. Special Plaque and Rosette from the BE Breeding Committee for the highest placed British Bred 9 year old in the top 10, 8 year old in the top 20 and 7 year old in the top 30.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Rolling downland with much of the course utilising old turf gallops promising good going on well drained chalkland soil that will retain plenty of spring and turf cover even in a dry summer. The fences are mostly permanent but some portables. Course builders, the Willis Brothers, have built an exciting, challenging and fair course, that is up to height featuring water jumps, a quarry and sunken road. The hills will test stamina. The Novice course will be an up -to-height, flowing course which might not suit the first time Novice competitor. See Course page for further details.

ACCOMMODATION & CATERING
Don’t forget the CIC*** Owners and Riders complimentary Drinks Party and Hog Roast on the Saturday night sponsored by the EHOA and Grange Hotels. Also – Special Saturday lunchtime hospitality rates are also available to owners and riders. Please contact Holly Farr for further details.

Hot and cold refreshments available throughout the event, including a licensed bar.

All riders and owners of competing horses will receive complimentary membership to the Barbury Members Marquee. Passes will be issued when collecting your numbers. Extra passes are £10 per person. This marquee is open on Friday for light refreshments and Saturday and Sunday all day including lunch which can be purchased.

Wimbledon Finals Weekend – This will be shown in the Members Marquee on both the Saturday and Sunday.

World Cup Football Final on Sunday night – This will be shown in the Members Marquee after the competition – the bar will remain open!

Accommodation available at The Blundson House Hotel, Nr Swindon. Please contact the Secretary or go to where to stay on the spectators page for more details and other options.

Dorance T. True Unity Word Dancer

Glasser Dr W. Reality Therapy Harper and Row

Goleman D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence: why it can be matter more than IQ Bloomsbury: London

Hogg A. (2003) The Horse Behaviour Handbook. David & Charles: Newton Abbot

Irwin C. (1998) Horses Don’t Lie: what Horses Teach Us About Our Natural Capacity for Awareness, Confidence, Courage and Trust Souvenir Press: London

Kohanov L. (2001) The Tao of Equus: A Woman’s Journey of Healing & Transformation through the Way of the Horse New World Library: Novato

McCormick A Von R. & M. D. (1997) Horse Sense and the Human Heart – What Horses can Teach Us About Trust, Bonding, Creativity and Sprituality Health Communications: Deer Beach

Melson G. F. (2001) Why the Wild Things Are: Animals in The Lives of Children Harvard University Press: London

Rector B K. The Handbook of Equine Experiental Learning: Through the Lens of Adventure Awareness Unpublished

Rees L. (1984) The Horse’s Mind Ebury Press; London

Swift S. (1985) Centred Riding Heinemann: London

Taylor S. M. (2001) Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy: An Emerging Field Thesis Unpublished

* resources
* training
* education
* professionalism

…. in the field of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning in Europe.

This website is for EAGALA members and for anyone interested in the developing field of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy – with a focus on  the needs of Europe, Middle East & Africa.

To join, go to Membership registration.

The links to the general pages (above) cover:

* Members – members pages with a discussion board, past articles from newsletters, research information, discounts and insurance details. You need to be a member to access these pages. Membership registration. (under construction)
* Information – about EAGALA and useful documents that answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). This is updated regularly in response to FAQs sent us by members and the public.
* Training – full training programme details including the 3 Level Certification programme, sponsored workshops and conferences both in Europe and the USA..
* Directory – a resources directory of EAGALA Europe members and organisations with Level 1 Certification who offer EAP services. This is the place to to look for quality EAP services and programmes.
* Merchandise – EAGALA Europe merchandise for sale including clothing, books, CDs and DVDs.
* Reading – a reading list of helpful references on EAP, human therapy and horse behaviour / psychology. Regularly updated.
* Contact – contact page to request information.
* EAGALA Forum – link to the EAGALA Forum including the EAGALA Europe Discussion Board.

Each flag is a link (left) to a Country page. There is a representative member in each country who provides contents for each page and coordinates the country / area network group.