Introducing our final Ambassador for 2016 Bella Woodhouse

Introducing our brilliant Ambassador Bella Woodhouse

“I’m Bella Woodhouse, a young rider based in Pembrokeshire, Wales. I’m 17 and currently in part time education and hoping to go to college in September to study Horse Care and Management.”

“Me and my pony Robbie are thrilled to be part of the Horslyx Ambassador Team for 2016, and I’m very excited to be working alongside such a great company. I first started using Horslyx on my first pony who was bought in the hope of putting me off horses, much to my parents disappointment it didn’t work and it didn’t take much before I caught the bug at the age of 6 and have been riding ever since.”

“My current horse Skyline Robin (Robbie) was bought spur of the moment, after taking my old pony on a 9 hour trip to Essex to be sold, it just happened that Robbie came in to be sold 2 days earlier and even though we said we wouldn’t rush into buying anything again we just couldn’t leave without him – and looking back it was definitely a good decision! Robbie is a 14.2hh, 17 year old Connemara who has given me the confidence boost I needed after my last horse, who was a fairly highly strung mare. In the few months I have owned Robbie we have both come on leaps and bounds, and I am hoping to get out to our first show together in the next few weeks. When Robbie first came to us he was very nervous – which is to be expected after a 9 hour lorry journey! Thankfully he came from a lovely home previously, his old owner sent him with his mini garlic Horslyx and that is why we started using them again, it’s his absolute favourite and if you give him some he will do almost anything for you!”

“Where I live we are incredibly lucky to have 5 beaches within hacking distance and lots of woodlands to adventure through. This makes hacking a lot more fun rather than just doing roadwork all the time, and not only are there beaches but on the way we have to go past the hotel where my parents work which is just above the beach and Robbie seems to think it’d be rude not to stop and have a carrot and a slice of cake! I’ve had the pleasure of riding lots of different horses and ponies over the past 2 years from 128cm show ponies to big heavyweight hunters, although my favourites have always been the section C’s as they’re all so full of character.”

“I recently joined our local RDA Dressage group and am hoping to get out a lot more with them and see if Robbie can turn a hoof to dressage. I have been incredibly lucky with the support RDA has given me and my family since my accident in November 2012 which left me with Post Concussion Syndrome and Chronic Pain Syndrome, and if it wasn’t for them I probably wouldn’t be where I am now. I’m also incredibly thankful to my parents for letting me have this opportunity to have horses, even if they would rather me doing something a little less ‘risky’. If my mum had her way I’d be wrapped up to my eyeballs and above in bubble wrap! We’ve had many hospital and vet trips or just having to close your eyes and hope for the best – hopefully we’ll have a few less moments like this now we’ve got a horse that doesn’t seem to have a ‘crazy streak’.”

“We are hoping to get out this year and make 2016 ours after the past few years not really going to plan. We will be doing some M&M showing and workers as this is what I enjoy most and what Robbie did after he’d been showjumping for 5 years as a stallion in Ireland. I am hoping to get to some qualifiers later in the year and see what Robbie can do as we’ve still got a lot to learn about each other. We might even get to some hunter trails or even do some BE, although this may take some convincing and probably a lot of bubble wrap!”

“We’re very excited to see what this year has to bring, and to have the support of Horslyx will make it even better! I’m over the moon about being chosen to be part of the team and now have one very lucky pony as Horslyx is his favourite, without them I dread to think where I’d of ended up when the vet last came and Robbie had to have various different jabs and bloods taken, but with his mini Horslyx in hand he couldn’t really care what the vet was going to poke in him next! I cannot wait to get out and about in our new gear, hopefully it’ll give us some good luck in the shows this year! I hope you enjoy reading about what me and Robbie get up to over the year and that you all succeed in whatever you and your ponies may be doing!”