Fund Raising Cake Sale.

Claudia & Jenny, fund raiser supremos

Claudia & Jenny agog at the amazing support of their classmates.

Coral & Beth prepare to visit the science block.

I first got involved with East Holton through a friend's mum, she came down to Ash Tree Stables some Fridays, and sometimes stayed at the barn (which is now being renovated). Just after Christmas she phoned me and said that Margaret Newell was looking for some riders to exercise 4 horses at the stables, to build their fitness up after having the winter off.

I at once jumped at the opportunity, it was something I had always wanted to do – looking after horses! The fact I would get the occasional chance to ride them was a fantastic bonus! When I came down to Holton Lee for the first time my mum and I were amazed – we had no idea that such a beautiful, undisturbed place could exist so near to a main road, and so near to us! When I arrived, Margaret made me feel welcome and showed me the horses.

I pooh-picked the field while marvelling at the glinting frost that covered the ground. It was spectacular! That day I rode Charlie for half an hour and then Felix, and I instantly fell in love with the place!

Since then I have been coming as much as I can, juggling Ash Tree Stables with my riding lessons in Verwood. Earlier in the year I invited one of my friends from school, and she too was delighted to help out along with my Mum, who now helps out one day each week on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

As the EHDC (East Holton Driving Centre) is a charity Claudia and I both knew they relied on donations so we decided we were going to so some serious fundraising – we hope to raise as much money as possible, both determined to help in a big way.

With the backing of our form there are at least 25 eager, enthusiastic fundraisers so it should be good fun. A few weeks ago Claudia and I came up with a great idea. There are often cake sales at our school so we decided to do our own. It was so exciting! I also put together a lucky dip, which turned out not to be as popular as the cakes, but we sold most of it anyway.

When I got to school on the day of the sale it was amazing, so many people had brought cakes! I was pretty confident that this was going to be the biggest cake sale ever! My friends Coral and Beth had a great idea – they would carry a tray of cakes around to the teachers in the science department and other classrooms upstairs to boost our sale – and it worked! They had to frequently come back and get more cakes it was so popular.

Posted by Jenny Bolton.

Thanks to the enterprise of Jenny and Claudia and their friends the cake sale raised a staggering amount in excess of £130.00 - well done girls!!!

Swallow Spring Watch Update

Today the swallow chicks are out practising their flying skills already...amazing. Number 5 flew out as we came into Marmite's stable this morning. I had to hurriedly snatch this poor photo before they all flew out to congregate on the fence where they waited for parents to feed them.

This morning six of our young volunteer helpers arrived and made short work of the morning pooh-pick in Little Mead. After a thorough grooming we used Marmite & Felix to give the girls a lesson in harnessing up and putting to. This was followed up with a driving lesson as a change from riding, each taking the reins for a short session through the woods and up the field. Back in the yard horses are rubbed down, turned out and all the harness cleaned.

Swallows update

Nine days on since Alleluia Chorus!

The five chicks in Marmite's stable look as if they need an extension built on to their accommodation!!
Marmite receives a handsome white pebble-dash effect on his rump in the short time that he is in for his breakfast.

Ragwort Clearance

It's that time of year again.
Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are poisonous to horses, other farm animals such as sheep and cattle and also to wild animals such as hare and deer. It is important for horse owners and horse pasture owners to recognise and control this potentially fatal plant.

Ragwort acts as a cumulative poison, eventually destroying the liver. A small intake of ragwort over a long period can be just as damaging as a larger intake on a single occasion.
More Ragwort facts.....

Little Mead has a flourishing population of this poisonous weed that needs to be pulled up by the roots and disposed of safely before it flowers and has a chance to disperse it's seeds for future years.

It is a very time consuming, labour intensive job and we have been doubting our ability to cope with it adequately ourselves, so imagine our delight when a detachment from the Royal Signals Regiment from Blandford arrived on Saturday and spent most of a very hot day in Little Mead pulling our Ragwort and hauling it away for safe disposal.

We are deeply grateful to Tony Heaton , the Director of Holton Lee, who was hands-on helping with the removal with a Quad bike and trailer, and to these young men from the Royal Signals who have done such a valuable job for us.

No photos unfortunately because we had a visit by Montacute School with a large group of young people both riding and driving as activities towards their Duke of Edinburgh awards.

All in all a very productive day.

Another HCA Dorset Gift

Making light work of taking the hay down to Little Mead.

We took delivery this week of a new 4-wheel trolley to replace the old one that originally belonged to John Newell's father (made over 50 years ago!). It was quite a surprise to learn that the firm - ATT which we found located on the East Holton Trading Park just up the road was an offshoot of the original company that made John's old trolley. When the company sold up, the mangement bought it and the present owners were employees who later took on and continued the business.

Once again we are deeply indebted to the Household Cavalry Association in Dorset for providing us with the funds for this little piece of equipment that makes our daily work a little bit easier.

Ragwort is a perennial problem which we have to pull by hand, collect and dispose of safely and this trolley will be very useful for getting the pulled ragwort out of the field. We have already started pulling it while the ground was soft after the recent rain, but the flowers will soon be out and then we'll have to get a move on to prevent further seeding.

After The Driving

David and his mum, Gillian, share a joke with Denise.... and Marmite.

At the end of a busy day, David and his mum, having enjoyed the last drive with Maggie, now enjoy a relaxing cup of tea with us in the shade of the Ash tree. It's so good to make time for tea and a chat - Marmite is not one to be left out!! A number of groups that come for the driving now enjoy spending a little extra time socialising in the chalet or in the safe area Wally designed around the Ash tree which is something we like to encourage.

We all get so much out of the voluntary work that we do here at the Ash Tree Stables - there's a lot more than just the carriage driving and care of the horses. Our rewards are so numerous from the lovely people we get to know and work with, the four horses themselves (such different characters) can be very entertaining, and the wonderful peace and tranquillity of God's precious little patch of Dorset countryside with all the wildlife that it supports.

First Swallow Chicks

Alleluia Chorus!

The first swallows arrived around the 20th of April and started refurbishing their various nests in the stables. First ones to hatch are in a nest built over the light fitting in Marmite's stable. Today I managed to photograph five hungry chicks eager for feeding.

A glorious summers day after a week of cold and wet. Jenny, Becky & Claudia exercised three horses by going for a good hack out in the woods and on the heath. It is a welcome change for the horses to go out for an interesting ride with these lightweight able bodied riders once a week. The old adage "a change is as good as a rest" is very true.
Denise took Helen, Alex & Bradie out for a drive in the four wheeler with Marmite.

If you like horses you will love this:

Click Here to watch the Musical Freestyle Dressage competition at the World Equestrian Games.

This video is of Andreas Helgstrand and his 9 year-old mare, Matinee, and they pretty much wiped the floor with everyone else!

Turn up the sound and watch this mare dance.....she is AMAZING.......she KNOWS where the beat is.
In the last minute of her dance she literally floats. What a privilege to watch this!!