A Sunshine Award :-)

I got nominated for another award :-D  This time a Sunshine Award (more on that here), and that means more questions to answer.

“Here is what the sunshine award means, “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.” Of course all awards have rules for awarding people. Rules below.”

1. First, the nominee must thank the blogger that nominated her and link to her blog.

Thanks, Martine. Her blog is here

 

2. Then, she must answer a list of ten questions and post to her blog.

So here we go:

1. Do you prefer Mares or Geldings?

Mares, definitely. You learn so much more from them.....

2. English or Western?

English I suppose but my hacking style is leaning towards the Western.......

3. Do you prefer “younger” or “older” horses?

 

I have 3 babies so younger!! I find it easier to start with a blank canvas than deal with other people's mistakes......

 

4. Have you ever trained a horse from ground zero?

 

Yup, am on my 3rd (4th if you count Milka, Ali's first Shetland from hell pony, more about her here). Big responsibility, very time consuming, but immensely rewarding :-)

 

5.  Do you prefer riding or ground work?

 

Hard to say, I like them both! I don't think you can truly be a competent rider if you don't do your groundwork.

 

6.  Do you board your horse or keep it at home?

 

I look after them myself but they're on someone else's land, so effectively I am keeping them "at home". For now, anyway......

 

7. Do you do all natural things or commercial stuff?

 

I try to keep them as naturally as possible and let them be horses. No stables, rugs, clipping, shoes. Don't have a lot of spare cash for buying commercial stuff! Can't be doing with "all the gear and no idea" types either......

 

8. All Tacked up or Bareback?

 

Usually all tacked up. Have ridden bareback in a headcollar but a saddle is definitely more comfy for the mileage I do! Usually bitless though and I hate to see horses strapped down with gadgets :-(

 

9. Equestrian model?

 

Not sure I've got one really. I like people who think about things from the horse's point of view and consider working with them rather than imposing our will on them no matter what. People like Ross Jacobs and Mark Rashid. My "virtual" dressage coach Trudi Dempsey is pretty good at this too :-)

 

10. What’s your, one, main goal while being in the horse world?

 

I would love to do a long ride one day. Like all round the coast of the UK, or from the top to the bottom of France. Gotta get the SNO off my hands first though ;-)

 

3. Next she must nominate ten bloggers for the award and let them know.

 

Here's my list:

 

Lionheart horses

Ross Jacobs' Blog

Soul of a Horse

Roosa’s Horsey Life

Effective Horsemanship

Rosie Jones Horses

Little White Horse

The Dressage Curmudgeon

The Fat Pony

Horses under our Skin

 

I enjoy reading all of these blogs. Feel free to accept or ignore the award....

 

4. Finally, the Sunshine Award button must be posted on the blog

 

Although the one Martine made is probably more appropriate for me ;-)

 

 

Wow! Somebody actually likes this stuff!!

I got an award! Someone out there actually thinks my ramblings are worth reading. Which is nice, as all I usually get is on people's nerves ;-)

So here it is, my Liebster:

 
Big thank you to Martine for nominating me :-)

HOW TO ACCEPT THE AWARD: The Liebster Blog Award is a way to recognise blogs who have less than 200 followers.  Liebster is a German word that means beloved and valued.  Here are the rules for accepting the award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog.
2. List 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions given to you.
4. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.
5. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers to nominate and include links to their blogs.
6. Go to each blogger’s page and let them know you have nominated them.

So here are eleven random facts about me:

1. I used to have a job looking after 50 or so goats
2. My all time favourite TV series is Blake's 7
3. Although Firefly comes a close second (can't believe they cancelled it!)
4. The thing I miss most about no longer living in the UK is real ale
5. I sometimes make wedding dresses
6. I passed my driving test first time (but failed my motorcycle test)
7. I have nine tattoos
8. I once spent the weekend in St Malo dressed as Wonder Woman
9. I detest raspberries
10. One day I want to do a long ride and get into the Long Rider's Guild
11. I loved having really long hair but had to have it cut once I'd had a baby!

And my answers to Martine's questions:
 1. My-Nom-in-Ees, do-doo-be-dooby….. did you just sing that in your head? Yes!
2. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten and would you eat it again?
A lot of my friends think eating gizzards is weird but I'm with the locals on this, they're delicious!
3. If you weren’t into horses, what would your favourite sport be? (If you’re not into horses, what’s your favourite sport?)
Quite like cycling, in a purely getting from A to B way, I'm not into wearing fluorescent lycra and cluttering up the roads in packs.....
4. Do you have hairy toes? 
No (but I do often eat second breakfast)
5. Did you just take off your shoes and socks to check?
No, haven't put any socks on yet!
6. Seriously, though… did you have a pet/pets growing up?  Species/Names/Quirks please
 Loads, we had a series of cats/rabbits/guinea pigs/hamsters/gerbils. No pony though, despite my sustained campaign (didn't get my first horse til I was 37). My little brother had a mouse called Squeaky and he escaped from his cage and somehow squeezed through the bars of my hamster's cage......and she ate him. My little bro was devastated (we had to have a burial ceremony for what was left - his back legs and tail ) and he never had another pet again the whole time we were kids.
7.  Do you tan, burn, freckle or none of these?
Burn usually but since moving to France I do seem to manage a tan  eventually most years
8. Tea, coffee or hot chocolate? Or what?
Tea, Earl Grey, hot.....
9. Would you ever eat horse meat?  Even in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust?
Oh yes. More on that here
10. What’s the furthest you’ve ever travelled?
Been to Canada and Thailand
11. How would you feel if you were told Blogging has been banned from the internet?
Gutted!

Some questions for my nominees, totally random:

1. What book are you reading right now?
2. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
3. What are you seriously scared of?
4. Do you have a collection of anything?
5. What's the worst injury you have ever had?
6. What's the last thing you purchased?
7. What would you want to be written on your gravestone?
8. What is your current desktop picture?
9. If you could meet any famous person, alive or dead, who would it be?
10. When was the last time you turned off your mobile phone?
11. What did you do during your childhood summers?

And finally, the blogs I'd like to nominate for a Liebster Award (in no particular order):

1. Lionheart Horses - a former fellow expat who has since moved back to the UK blogging about the classical training of her two PRE horses. She's really, really good at it and has taught me loads......

2. The Long Horse Ride Blog - Megan's amazing journey from Beijing to London between the last two Olympic Games. Not content with that, she is now riding across Ireland.....(not sure how many followers this one has, but I love it)

3. Becoming the leader my horse needs me to be - another expat blogging about her horses (one of which used to be mine)

4. Tails from Provence - not sure if you're supposed to nominate the person who nominated you but I like her blog so why not?
 5. I Am Pierre Menard - not horsey at all, but perfect for us Tolkien fans.....

6. Crazy with a Chance of Rain - "Purveyor of Awesitude". Says it all really.......

7. The Marathon Jogger - my other half writing about his midlife crisis.

8. Big Gay Longcat's Big Gay Longblog - because he loves Avon from Blake's 7 as much as I do :-)

9. Adventures with Shyloh - Shyloh is a very pretty Haflinger mare...

10. Le Puy - another expat horse blog "My life, My Horses and My Attempts to Train the Classical Way"

11. Chamfron Stud - they breed the most beautiful spotty horses, and post lots of great photos of them :-)

Actually, having just spent hours working on this blog post, I realise being nominated for a Liebster is actually quite hard work!! So feel free not to accept the nomination, fellow bloggers ;-)