Small lifestyle changes I have started making in 2025

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GOAL:

To research and understand how food additives and non-organic products can affect our health and to combat this by starting to make more food where possible and eating organically/whole

When I go food shopping now I’ve started making switches to organic produce where available. For examples I’ve recently picked up organic lettuces and organic Scottish porridge oats. I’ve also made switches with our pasta choices to wholewheat varieties.

I’ve also started making some sauces from scratch and I’m about to prepare some cereal bars!

GOAL:

To implement ‘slow living’ strategies to make my brain calm down and focus on the ‘here and now’

I’ve started a daily sensory activity with my toddler whilst I’m in the kitchen cooking dinner. We have so far tried sponge painting and also breaking his Lego animals out of a block of ice.

I’ve got a few more ideas up my sleeve to try!

2025 Goals

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1) To implement ‘slow living’ strategies to make my brain calm down and focus on the ‘here and now’

My brain is always going at 100mph. I think my past jobs have conditioned me into thinking that the busier I am the better employee I must be. Which has always fulfilled my people pleasing tendencies. I’m battling this and trying not to flick between too many tasks or have an insane amount of mental tabs open at once. 

Plus with the constant access to social media, I sit and doom scroll. So I struggle to slow down and switch off which is why I’m making a conscious effort to disconnect and be present more. 

2) To not buy any more books and get through my To Be Read box!

Very self explanatory – I’ve got about 50 books to read so not buying any new ones until I’ve got through this lot! And then will hit up the secondhand shops.

3) To be financially comfortable by the end of the year – I don’t need to have tens of thousands of pounds behind me, but to have a buffer in my normal account so I don’t have to go to 0 every month

This is the year we get married so to be comfortable financially by the end of it would be a great milestone to hit. We have a lot of bills to pay but we will get there! 

4) To research and understand how food additives and non-organic products can affect our health and to combat this by starting to make more food where possible and eating organically/whole

I’ve gone down a rabbit hole and now I can’t escape. I read every food packaging label now to see what I am actually eating and there are so many chemicals that we don’t need to be putting into our bodies! 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a busy working mum with a Fiancé who typically works 80 hour weeks so I really can’t go too hard with prepping everything. But I’m starting small and buying organic and whole foods where possible, and trying to make more snacks and things. 

    5) To fall back in love with looking after my animals again rather than viewing them as ‘the next job to do’

    I love my animals and it’s always been a dream to have them. But it’s hard, and even harder when you’re tired and run down. 

    Making a conscious effort to slow down and enjoy them again this year, it’s what they deserve and I need to do this for my soul. They’re my happy place. 

    Maternity money and future planning

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    Anybody that knows me, truly appreciates how much I love saving money.

    Growing up I struggled to make any savings. However, when I met Dan and realised how I wanted to build a future with him, I started my saving journey and changed my perception of money. Long gone were the credit card shopping sprees to Bicester Village and now I view the cost of items in comparison to how many hours I would need to work to afford it.

    Fast forward 6 years and throw in becoming a mother and running a house, I now ensure I have an emergency fund, savings for any car bills (insurance, MOTs, servicing etc.), a joint savings account with the OH to make sure we can afford our home renovations as and when they are needed, a ‘rainy day’ fund which tops up automatically whenever we spend money from the savings account, cash put aside for Christmas/birthdays and also a child savings account for our 9 week old son. On top of this I follow a whole heap of budgeting accounts on Instagram and Tiktok which constantly inspire and keep me motivated to continue saving.

    Well now my maternity pay is due to decrease for the next 6 months with it completely stopping for the following 3 months, I welcome the challenge of working harder to save even more money and doing what I can to ensure my family are well-cared for. Here are some things I will be implementing over the next 9 months to try and stay ahead of the curve with my maternity finances:

    1.Using my credit card

    Yes, you read that bit right! I love having my credit card. Whenever I have a big bill to pay (car insurance, vet bill etc.) I always use my credit card to pay it off and then clear it as soon as the statement comes through. That way you don’t accrue any interest on your spending but it does give you a bit of extra time to get your finances for the month in order.

    My credit card statement comes through on the 15th of every month and is due for the minimum payment by the 10th of the following month. I get paid on the 27th every month so can budget to pay off the statement from two months of pay. Or if it is a planned bill, then take it from my dedicated savings fund and clear straight away.

    That way, I can usually get an extra 2 weeks of savings put aside before the payment is due so my account never falls to zero – something that mentally makes me feel a lot better! Just make sure, if you plan to try this, that you keep an eye on when your credit card is due to be paid and that you don’t miss any payment dates.

    2. Monitoring bills and checking for cheaper options

    I’ve recently reduced my phone bill to a sim-only contract for 24 months, costing £23 a month through EE. This in comparison to the £65 I have been spending to pay off the phone means an extra £40 saved a month. We also have Sky TV and Broadband and after a conversation recently with one of their advisors, our monthly costs for everything have reduced from £112 to £91 (still a lot of money but we do consider this a necessity!). Also, my horse insurance renewal came through and for the first time I ever I shopped around for a better deal. Now rather than sticking with the company I was with for 7 years who were trying to charge me £119 a month, I have moved to a new company who charge £75 and gave me a month’s cover free of charge. Almost £45 saved! I also plan to shop around for car insurance renewals when they are due which should hopefully save us a chunk of money.

    3. Cash is making a comeback!

    I miss the time when I used to receive my weekly pay in a small brown cash envelope from my weekend job. When did we stop using actual cash? I love having a wad of notes or handful of coins – it feels much more tangible than the digital numbers we see on our banking app. So I am making a cash comeback – I have purchased a terramundi pot with the idea of saving my spare £1 and £2 coins and I also withdraw cash every month from my account to use when out and about. Any leftover notes at the end of the month I will put in my savings envelope for Christmas. I also find it so much easier to stick to a budget if you have only a certain amount of cash in front of you.

    4. Weekly savings instead of monthly – easier to stomach!

    Following on from the weekly pay idea above, I have changed my automated savings from monthly to weekly, to ensure that I pay myself in a manageable way. When my maternity pay reduces, I can pull these savings right back if I need to and then build them back up once I know what money I have to work with. I use Lloyds bank and they predict your future outgoings based on your direct debits and standing orders. So, if like me, your bills are all automated, this feature allows you to see what is yet to leave your account before your next payday.

    5. Ensure savings are only used for their intended purpose

    I am a bit of a bore when it comes to my savings and will only now use them for their intended purpose. My emergency account will only be used for actual emergencies or larger, unanticipated bills. My car savings account will only be used for my insurance, tax or MOT/servicing costs. My Christmas envelope is solidly for Christmas – you get the idea. I’ve even renamed them on my banking app! Be strict with yourself and watch your savings grow.

    6. Free activities where I can

    Having a baby opens up a whole new world of friendship with fellow Mums and Dads. You want to go out and show your baby the world, treat them to new outfits and experiences, yet your bank account holds you back. I’ve really got into reading with Albert and currently read him a kiddies book a day, plus a little bit of Harry Potter to stimulate his brain with the tone of my voice and more complex language. I also get him outdoors as much as the weather allows, and sometimes even then wrap him up warm and put his pram’s rain cover on. The fresh air seems to work wonders for him and he always has the best naps either in the baby carrier or in the pram. Often I will try and time his nap to then go for a nice dog walk with a travel mug of coffee, just for a little bit of me time. However, I will also allocate money monthly to take him out to sensory experiences or to meet up with other children. It doesn’t have to be expensive but the stimulation they get will be invaluable for their brain development!

    7. Little treats

    Sometimes you just need to think ‘TREAT YOURSELF’ and do it. Get your nails done, go for a nice lunch, purchase a new outfit that makes you feel good. Whatever it is I try my best to NOT feel mum guilt. My whole purpose has shifted to not only look after me, my animals and Dan but now solely to keep my baby fed, happy and healthy. So a little treat every now and then is 100% deserved.

    8. Homemade gifts 

    This year I will attempt to gift a homemade item for every occasion for family members and friends. Fudge, biscuits, a cake, photo collections – the ideas go on. They are fun to make, will fulfil my creativity and will hopefully save us some money in the long run!

    9. Becoming self-employed and claiming child benefit

    Most recently, I have managed to get myself some freelance writing work to help alleviate the pressure financially. Plus, I LOVE writing. It’s my hobby and the chance to earn money from it is something I am jumping at! Legally, whilst on maternity leave in the UK, you can earn an income if you are also self-employed – you just need to ensure you complete your tax self-assessment to appease the HMRC. Also, make sure you fill in and submit the child benefit application – every mother in the UK is entitled to it and you get £21.80 a week.

    10. Growing food

    I am really going to put effort into gardening this year to ‘grow-our-own’ and plan for winter food. Potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, salad leaves and lettuces, beetroot, peas, various different berries, rhubarb and also use as many of the apples off of the established trees as possible. I am also going to revamp the kitchen garden to make the whole process a bit easier. So rather than an allotment, create a variety of raised beds and large containers to reduce the need for weeding and use the compost I have been adding to over the last year!

    11. Picking up bits throughout the year for birthdays/Christmas

    Would it surprise you to know that I have purchased the majority of Albert’s birthday and Christmas presents already for 2023? I hit the sales and took advantage of deals on – for example, Aldi had a Nuby ball pit in their ‘middle aisle’ reduced to £39.99 (RRP approx. £80), I’ve bought clothes from the Next sale and also books from The Works in their 10 for £10 deal. I’ve picked up a few more bits as well that keep that I know my family will like for Christmas and put them into storage in our spare room.

    12. Selling second-hand items

    I want to cut down on clutter as much as possible so I am putting things to one side that I plan to sell. I will list them on Ebay or Facebook marketplace when I get round to it but do not plan to do this until my maternity pay is coming to an end! I won’t be selling all of Albert’s baby clothes though as I will potentially reuse them if we are lucky enough to one day have another baby or I will donate them to my sister if she plans to!

    Homebird Living: the 2022 Farm edition

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    As a true Homebird, being frugal is something I try and do daily. I don’t go overboard and make my own cleaning products or only forage for food, but I do what I reasonably can with what my lifestyle allows.

    As a bit of background, I’m 27 years old, work full time, with two horses, a terrier, a very busy farming/haulage driving boyfriend and we are currently 7 months pregnant. We also have a farmhouse renovation project we are funding as well as saving for our baby and everything else life throws at you! So frugality comes in handy with our lifestyle.

    First things first, our animals never go without anything. The dog needs hypoallergenic food as without it she gets super itchy. The horses will get hay, feed, farriery, vets visits whenever required and our herd of cows are being fed a lot more than usual this time of year due to the dry weather (*does a quick rain dance*).

    Yet, even with our animals taking priority, there are simple things I try and do to save us money. As well as certain things I’m going to start doing which could also help.

    1. Cooking – such an overarching subheading as there is literally SO much that can go into this category but I will give summarising it a go. Also, I have previously written an article for the Ladies Countryside Community about saving money on food shopping – click the link here to have a read: https://ladiescountrysidecommunity.com/blogs/food-glorious-food

    Convenience is a great thing and supporting local is important to us so we try and do this where possible. I have put in place a milk delivery which comes on a Saturday and Tuesday and we have 6 pints of milk, 1 pint of orange juice and a loaf of sliced bread. It’s just super handy to have this in place as we would forever run out of milk or bread and not realise until one of us goes to make some cereal. So always having fresh delivered is fantastic and it also supports a local farmer! Before I was pregnant we also got eggs delivered weekly but as I have to have red lion stamped eggs currently, we stopped this. We have tweaked this order over time to figure out how much we needed and because of this, we never have any wastage so no money going down the drain.

    I may reduce the bread to once every two weeks as it does keep well in the fridge and I really fancy making my own bread. I’ve done some experiments and I’ve found a super easy mix from Tesco which is £1 a bag and really doesn’t need much intervention from me! I also have the chance of borrowing a bread maker from the in-laws so may give this a go to see how easy it is. We absolutely LOVE fresh bread and butter in our house so I think this would be a treat for us daily and would perhaps also save us a couple of pounds here and there.

    Also, if people gift you food find a way to use it as part of your meals. For example, at the moment my grandparents and in laws have had a much more successful gardening year than I have (I’m blaming pregnancy and heat!) so they are constantly gifting me the extras they don’t need. We get cucumbers, tomatoes, jams, chutneys and lots of fresh fruit so I’ve started freezing what I can and storing using the rest up in meals. Yes, it takes a little more time but actually you can really tell the difference between homegrown and shop bought produce. My favourite thing at the minute is to use old takeaway tubs to freeze washed tomatoes along with herbs, salt, pepper and also garlic. When you then defrost these they become mushy and you automatically have yourself a base for a pasta or curry! We also have an absolute glut of cooking apples from this huge apple tree in our garden so I have washed, chopped and frozen as many as I can in our freezer to use for crumbles and pies over winter.

    Homegrown – as I said above, my garden really hasn’t done too well this year. I’ve had a few bits and bobs but nothing I could say ‘this has saved me so much money’ so I will try again next year! However, we did have some of our pigs butchered into sausages, gammon joints, steaks and bacon so we have an abundance of meat to use. We are selling bits here and there and all money is going to FIL to go towards the costs of feeding/ butchering but actually, we now have so much meat to last us months, if not years! So these cuts of pork are featuring heavily in our meals at the moment, meaning we aren’t having to spend much money on meat. FIL also attends livestock markets weekly (part of our family business relies on being at these markets) and quite often he will come home with boxes of beef or lamb and give us some. So we always seem to have decent cuts of meat to use in the freezer which is handy.

    2) Renovating – I think for me the biggest hurdle to overcome was actually just accepting help. For months I felt so guilty because my MIL would come down to our house and help/organise the renovation of certain rooms. Growing up, my own family only really got professionals in to decorate the house so I had no skills to bring to the table. Yet, she has taken her time with me and now I can confidently say I am happy painting, sanding, wallpapering, and also building furniture! It’s so nice to put your own stamp on your house – something I never appreciated before we moved to the farm and now I wouldn’t have it any other way. I also love up cycling old pieces into new ones so a lot of our renovation has only cost me time and no money. Just occasionally fuel money to collect the furniture that others don’t need.

    Also, renovating a bit at a time has helped us save money and stress. We’ve done each room as we need it! So far we have done our bedroom, bathroom, snug, kitchen and dining room, downstairs WC and utility, nursery and spare room. We are now working on the extra toilet, extra spare room, hall, stairs, landing and living room with fire place. Doing it gradually has helped us save a lot of money and meant we could save up more money before starting the next room. This allowed us to keep saving into our emergency fund account and keep living normally rather than scrimping for pennies. Also, by doing what we can ourselves means we again are saving on paying for professionals.

    3) Living below our means – working on my budgeting monthly has really helped to start saving more monthly to help towards our future costs. I’ve currently got savings for Christmas, the baby’s bank account, emergency funds, a small buffer in my current account and also my own personal savings. For a long time I would live pay check to pay check but I reevaluated how I spent my money and now I’m in a happier position! There is still lots to be done but I don’t feel stuck anymore. Dan has always been good with his money management so I’m glad it’s finally rubbed off on me! To help keep on track I use my notebook to update my savings and debt monthly and keep it somewhere accessible. I also review all my monthly costs and have recently switched horse insurance providers and have started claiming what expenses I can through work (business mileage and my eye test so far!).

    If any of my other homebirds out there can give me any other tips or tricks to help with the modern frugal lifestyle I would very much like to hear them. I don’t have time to do endless surveys or have lots of things to sell on eBay so ideas that fit into my kind of lifestyle would be fantastic!

    Winter yard essentials for the full-time worker

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    With the freezing temperatures and daylight not breaking through until 7:30am, dragging yourself out to the stables can be difficult. Equestrians often face early mornings, late evenings and not a lot of reward in the winter months so I thought I’d pull together my absolute yard essentials to help get you through.

    With my horse on a DIY yard and working 9 hour days, I will often only see my pony in the dark during the week. Without top notch facilities it’s difficult to keep any exercise regime consistent so I’ve learnt to be adaptable and use my time efficiently.

    A decent headtorch – one job that you can’t escape is poo picking. It has to be done all year round and regularly – especially if like me you have paddocks with a public footpath running through! To try and salvage what daylight I can, I’ve started poo picking after work in the dark with my headtorch on. It’s not as easy but it does mean the lighter half hour between 7:30am-8am I can work my horse to some capacity! I also know a lot of equestrians ride with a head torch. I’m lucky enough to have a single flood light in the school so can see 1/3 of the arena when it’s pitch black so haven’t attempted riding with a head torch just yet, however I would like some advice from someone practised!

    Yard gloves – different to ordinary woolly gloves, these have a rubber coating similar to gardening gloves that help keep the moisture and cold out. I currently have the Shires Aubrion gloves and they’re a complete game changer for frozen mornings! Frozen locks, frosty pitch forks and sharp hay seeds are no longer an issue – they’re also great to wear whilst de-icing the car.

    Wellies – every equestrian need a decent pair of wellies to get them through winter. Wellies with a neoprene lining are the best at keeping feet toasty warm whilst also keeping them dry. I personally have a pair of Joules wellies with a neoprene calf (printed with little bees!) that I’ve worn every day for over a year and they’ve not split or torn – a great bargain in a 30% off Joules sale in 2019.

    Waterproof trousers – I think depending on how long you’re outside will decide on whether you go for just some trousers or whether weatherproof overalls are necessary! The trousers are the cheaper option though and are easy to layer over your clothes quite quickly. I don’t even know what brand mine are but they’re fab for when I nip straight to the yard from work. Mountain Warehouse and camping shops often sell these fairly cheap or you can invest in some that are suitable to ride in from various equestrian brands. A lot of trousers/overalls also have reflective strips on so whilst turning out or riding they make sure you have extra visibility so you can be seen by other road users.

    Reusable coffee cup – whether it’s covered in glitter, slogans or completely unbranded, EVERY equestrian needs a decent portable coffee cup. Every morning I make myself a coffee to go to heat me up on the way to the yard. The Chilly’s bottles are perfect for keeping coffee, tea or soup REALLY hot for a long time. I’ve literally left my coffee in it overnight and it was still warm in the morning – a worthwhile investment if you work outside or plan on going riding.

    A “can-do” attitude! – I’ve really had to change my attitude around the winter months to not lose sight of why I keep horses. I used to let somebody else turn my horse out in the morning and then just finish my jobs as quickly as possible in the evenings. I’d be miserable and felt out of shape and unconfident in the saddle. However, I’ve changed my perspective slightly by thinking of the winter months as preparation for the Spring. I’ve started signing up for riding club training (lockdown depending of course) and organising rides out with people at the weekend. I’ve also made myself a promise that I’d do something with my pony everyday. Whether it’s a walk inhand, lungeing, stretches, or grooming, all of these things help my bond with Hartley develop.

    So fellow equestrians, are there any essentials that I’ve missed? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

    Pony, practical and personal goals to achieve in 2020

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    Every year I set myself a resolution. To be fair to myself, I do stick to it for a few months but then lapse and fall back into my previous ways.

    This cycle of negativity is not something I want to repeat so this year I’ve followed an example set by somebody I follow on Instagram. Rather than the “join a gym”, “lose weight”, “travel more” resolutions, I have instead set myself 24 goals. One goal for each of my 24 years.

    When I started brainstorming, I quickly realised that I had a lot of things I wanted to achieve, some of which pleasantly surprised me. They’re all achievable goals that I’ve started laying the groundwork for and they’ll help me to progress in my hobby, my career and in my personal life.

    I’ve decided to share them so I can constantly look to close friends and family for support and also, putting them in the public domain holds me accountable!

    So watch out, 2020 is going to be my year.

    1. Complete a sponsored ride on Hartley
    2. Run a 5k race for charity
    3. Complete a hunt ride on Hartley towards the end of Summer
    4. Read at least 1 book a month that isn’t related to work
    5. Enter our first dressage competition together
    6. Try making 2 new food dishes every month
    7. Jump a course of show jumps with confidence – tiny jumps count!
    8. Take Hartley on an overnight holiday
    9. Get back to working on some art
    10. Publish more magazine articles in my own name
    11. Use my position at work to fundraise £5000 for charity over the course of the year
    12. Start volunteering
    13. Start writing a children’s book
    14. Setup and successfully stick to a monthly budget
    15. Finish Christmas shopping by November – avoid the rush!
    16. Learn a new skill or language
    17. Grow a fruit and vegetable garden in pots
    18. Visit Scotland
    19. Write monthly articles on my own blog
    20. Don’t use my credit card for the whole year
    21. Go litter picking at least once
    22. Host a Summer party
    23. Successfully complete my level 6 marketing diploma
    24. Only buy secondhand clothes

    Regaining confidence – the trials, twists and outcomes

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    I recently put a picture on my Instagram page of an evening hack with my pony, with the caption discussing how easy confidence was to lose and how hard it is to gain back. I wanted to dive into this further as 2019 has been a turbulent year for me and I can’t help but think that other people in a similar lifestyle to mine must either be experiencing or have experienced some of these issues before. I thought by opening up the channel and discussing elements of my rollercoaster 2019 journey, it may help others to do the same; leading on to hopefully other people starting to piece themselves back together.

    So here we go.

    There have been multiple factors which have influenced my loss of confidence: a horse-riding accident resulting in a broken wrist, an extended period of no exercise due to said wrist injury, drama in my family life plus a few extras variables mixed in.

    The reason I had this nasty fall was because my horse of a lifetime had an extended period of rest (18 months in a paddock) due to a previous injury. Following this he needed a slow and steady introduction back in to ridden work. It was during this rehabilitation process that I realised (with immense difficulty and with the help of some fantastic professionals) that even though I loved this horse, we weren’t right for each other anymore. Increasing responsibilities at work and being on a private yard meant that my health and safety was paramount, and I just wasn’t experienced enough or had the time to deal with a horse like him.

    Before my fall I always felt super confident in my riding ability. I had been given the opportunity to ride some beautiful hunt horses every weekend through work, as well as multiple friends letting me exercise their horses over the 18 months of rest. I’d spent the previous 2 seasons out with the Grafton and the Farmers’ Bloodhounds doing some amateur hunting, riding club training, galloping along the beach and exploring the English countryside with friends. After the fall and 6 weeks in a wrist cast, it was like every bit of confidence I’d mustered since I was 4 years old pottering around on school ponies had drained out of my body. I was a nervous wreck. I forgot what it was like to enjoy horse riding and in all honesty, I’m only just now starting to figure it out again now.

    As mentioned, I spent 6 weeks with my left wrist in a plaster cast. I wasn’t allowed to drive and even the simplest of tasks (washing your hair, doing up buttons) became almost impossible. I felt useless and this transpired to my riding. I also used to frequently attended gym classes and weekly workouts, yet the cast limited what I could do. I struggled to do even low impact exercise, such as dog walking or yoga, as my wrist was set at a certain angle to help the break heal. If it got knocked or moved too quickly, it would hurt; this put me off trying. I put on LOTS of extra weight and gained a dress size. So not only did I feel useless, I was also uncomfortable because of my weight and limited in what I could do to keep it off.

    You mix all this in with family drama and it’s a recipe for a meltdown. I’ve owned a horse ever since I was 10 years old and the equestrian lifestyle is what I know and love. So to actually be scared of getting on a horse was a nightmare. To help combat this I had to make some personal changes.

    Change 1) As much as I loved having my own private yard, my current situation meant that the only way I was going to improve was to be around likeminded people. People that work full time, own normal horses and have normal, easy and down to earth ambitions. It was this that made me move Hartley to a yard that my friend owns. It’s small but peaceful and suits me perfectly and she completely understands my position as she also experienced a loss of confidence in 2018.

    Change 2) Starting everything from scratch. I really tore myself apart over my riding ability which was cruel as I didn’t have any need to. The accident didn’t happen because I was a bad rider, just an out of practice one. To combat this I moved Hartley and completely started our training again. We repeated the long reining, mounting block training, slow transitions and steering. Once I felt okay with this we started trot work but I’ve only this month (September) made it into an open field and managed to trot – 6 months on from the original incident.

    Change 3) Make some realistic goals. I have always been ambitious and love making goals and being able to meet targets. However, there was no way that either I or my pony were going to be ready to try some hunt rides this Summer. That was my original goal for 2019 and we haven’t done it, not even close. Instead, I took a step back and re-evaluated our position. Now, my goal is to get into the HUGE open field next to our yard that has a bridleway running through it and manage to canter without panicking, on our own and with another horse. If I can do this before Christmas then I will be happy.

    Change 4) Work on self-love. I’m not going to preach about how successfully I am completing this change because it’s a definite work in progress. I’ve learnt to accept things about my body but there is still plenty I would like to change. I need to combine this with change 3 and start to make some realistic and healthy goals (such as doing couch to 5k or committing to a weekly class again). I’d like to hear people’s opinions on this!

    ***

    So there it is. I lost my confidence and I’m now on the long and twisty journey of finding it again. Horses are a massive part of my life and the fact I can now get on Hartley and smile makes the mud, poo picking and insurance bills worth it. Even if it is just for a calm and peaceful walk around the track.

    If anybody has been in a similar situation or has any tips, I really would love to hear them. Thanks for reading and I hope that by being open, it may help somebody else who feels they are in a similar position.

    Hartley and I in an open field after doing some trot work – 7/9/19