The Not-So-Secret Diary of Diva the Shetland Pony – Planning for the Show Season

So far it seems to have been a very long and wet winter. Like most people with horses, I am pretty fed up with the mud. As I look at Diva (Melland Queen of Scots), my Shetland pony, I wonder where, under this thick woolly coat, my lovely sleek show pony is hiding!

It doesn’t help that the field is split in two by a ditch, which means there is only one narrow place for her to get through to reach the far side. This has got deeper and deeper with mud as the winter has gone on. I have now given up on her going to the far side, as she was coming in with mud right up to the top of her legs where it had splashed up when she went through the deepest mud. Hopefully, I will again begin to see the show pony that she is, and she can go to the far side in the drier weather.

February does bring a lightening of the evenings, which is very welcome, and it also means I begin to plan which shows I will be taking Diva to. Although not totally decided, I am thinking of taking her to the Nottinghamshire County show on the 10th of May, which is one I have never attended before. Then the FUSS show on the 25th of May, which I went to last year, though it was held in June. My usual first show of the season is Midland Counties, and I will probably go there again on the 31st of May as I have taken Diva there every year since she was two. Lincolnshire County Show in mid-June and Great Yorkshire Show in July are also pencilled in.

Lincolnshire County Show is another show that Diva has not been to, though I have handled my sister’s pony, Melland Jackson Jive, in the Gelding Championship and rode there with Mabel back in the day!

Writing this all down makes me think that if I go to all these I will have a very busy season indeed as there is the Breed Show in August to go to also!

One thing I will have to ensure is that the horsebox is well serviced and ready for all the miles! It is time for the renewal of the insurance and breakdown polices, so I will be in touch with Lancaster Insurance to keep my cover up to date for great peace of mind.