Nixon Equine Vets Archived News
Nixon Equine Vets latest news items can be viewed on our practice news and events news pages. Older news itemscan be viewed here. From time to time we may also add a few funny equine related pictures and anecdotes sent to us by friends and clients (feel free to email us yours) just to amuse you ....
- Nixon Equine Winter Dressage Championships - MKEC 12th March 2006
- Christie Wallace riding The Bandit Wins Preliminary Restricted Championships
In freezing conditions there is nothing better than a win to warm the heart, stop teeth chattering & bring a smile to the face. Christine was definitely smiling from ear to ear when her score of 71.82% went up on the board very early on in the Preliminary 10 restricted setting the standard for the rest of the competitors at the Nixon Equine Winter Dressage Championships. The down side was the long and anxious wait until the end of the class to find out if she had won but it was all worth it as she stepped up onto the podium to accept her sash, bouquet of flowers and a Nixon Equine Rug presented by vet and sponsor, Jane Nixon. This 18hh gentle giant was Christie's dad's hunter and had drag hunted and hunted a little with the Pytchley before turning his hoof to dressage."He is terrific cross country and literally gobbles up big hedges," said Christie's dad."But after the hunting ban and after Christie had her baby she thought it was probably safer to do some dressage." Christie, who trains with Turville Valley Riding Club's Mark Townsend said, "I did lots of riding club activities with him the year before I had my baby. We were on the riding club's eventing team which took third at the National Championships last year and second in the hunter trials but we will now concentrate on dressage." - Sian Tankard riding Just Harley followed on into second place with 70%. Sian who trains with Catherine Cawdron has owned Just Harley for five years."We are now at novice level and moving up into elementary and hope to affiliate this year," she said. "He warmed up really well and did a fantastic test for me so I am very pleased with him."
- Meera Mehta riding The Gold Digger and Gillian Hasberry riding St. Flannans Niamh and Kirsty Farren riding Irish Whisper shared third place on 67.27%. Poor Gillian had come all the way from Leicester suffering from flu. "I dosed myself up to the eyeballs in order to get through the day," she said. The eight year old Flannans Niamh is a pure bred Connemara bred locally by Kate Simmons at Adstock. "I ride the mare's brother so it is nice to keep it in the family. She is a very spooky pony but we managed to hold it together today."
- Michaela Burke riding Miss Havisham could not take the pressure of waiting after she went into the lead on 71.66% in Preliminary 18 open! As the following competitors went in everything seemed to be going her way but then in came Eleanor Cloake riding her Welsh section C Brysmith Iron Spirt. She rode a superb test but with an error of course. It really was nail biting waiting for her score to go up and it was indeed a close call.
- Eleanor pipped Michaela to the post by just 0.84%. Fourteen year old Eleanor is a member of the Whaddon Chase Pony Club and trains with Sabrina Jones, Nick Turner and Harry Payne. She was extremely pleased with the win as in addition the judge nominated her to be put forward for the Nixon Equine Training Bursary. If she goes on to win that then she will receive £500 worth of training vouchers. "I got him when he was five and I was six and he does absolutely everything from dressage to jumping, hunting, mounted games and side saddle. I have also competed in the CTR's Style & Performance Championships," she said. "We have joined British Dressage and have started to do some small competitions. I did get a bit flustered with the error of course today but luckily managed to get back on track." The partnership went on to take tenth in the Novice 25 later on in the evening.
- The 11 year old Irish bred Miss Havisham was a gift to Michaela from her boyfriend. "She was a show jumper but was not very careful so we took up dressage," said Michaela who trains with Amanda Wood. "I was really pleased with her today." Bedfordshire South Pony Club member Tija Cowie riding her ten year old enmare Tobias took third on 70.83%. "We have done everything including riding club dressage and the Trailblazers," said Tija. "I was absolutely over the moon with him today."
- List one Judge Mrs Whitely commented that it was a long class but not difficult or boring. "I found it very interesting and I was pleased that I was asked to judge it," she said. "I had some very good riders with correct horses in fact far more than I expected."
- The Novice 25 judged by list four judge Mr Stanier went on well into the evening. Karen Edwards-Wilson riding Jafeica took first on 71.6% and Cordelia Stephens riding Ballymena High Hopes second with 70.8% who also went on to take fifth in the Elementary on 61.71%. Laura Gulliver riding Little Bee having taken fourth in the Preliminary 18 went on to take third in the Novice 25 with 70.4%.
- The Elementary, judged by list four judge Douglas Hibert, saw Caroline Hutley in first place with 68%, Emma Ross riding Dee in second on 67.43% and Claire Glentworth riding Mister Tom third on 64.29%.
- Centre owner and manager Fiona Gifkins said that as this competition has proved so popular they will run it over two days next year. Qualifiers start September 2006.
- Report by: Gill Stuart
Photographs by: Simon Battram
Article Published In: Chiltern & Thames Rider - Nixon Equine Winter Dressage Series2005 - 2006
- Nixon Equine Veterinary Practice, in conjunction with Milton Keynes Eventing Centre (MKEC) will be running a ‘Search for a Rider’ competition through out the winter. The aim is to find and then fund a number of talented riders in order to promote riding to maximal success with minimal strain to both horse and rider. Riders will be selected at indoor events held throughout the winter of 2005/2006 at Milton Keynes Eventing Centre. They will be judged on their balance, aptitude and natural ability, in both dressage and jumping categories. A “Rider of the Day” will be chosen at each qualifying event, who will then be eligible to take part in the final which will be held at the Nixon Equine veterinary clinic on Saturday 3rd June 2006. The final will be in two parts; dressage and jumping. Each will be judged by a panel, including a professional rider from that discipline. Riders may only ride in one final (i.e. dressage of jumping). Dressage riders will ride a short dressage test on a surface. Jumping riders will ride a short dressage test and jump a round of show jumps on grass. Five riders from each category will be chosen to present their horses in hand and will be interviewed by Stewart Hastie and Jane Nixon. The winner from each category will be given an £500 bursary to be spent on training from an approved trainer.
- The Olympics 2012 Competition Horse @ Addington Manor EC February 2006
- CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Lesley Peyton-Gilbert riding Stewart Hastie's horse Free Willie (winner four year old Sport Horse at The Royal Show and at Gatcombe); Stewart Hastie talking with Jenny Loriston-Clarke; The Panel on Thursday
- In conjunction with, and in celebration of, the launch
of the Nixon Equine Veterinary Practice and Performance
Assessment Clinic, Jane Nixon and Stewart Hastie hosted
a conference at Addington Manor designed to investigate
and explore the production of the Competition Horse
with the help of some of the very best experts around.
Among the speakers on the first day, which covered
the developing horse, were Simon Curtis who is a farrier
from Rossdales in Newmarket and is the only farrier
to be made an Honorary Associate of the RCVS, who
covered limb deformities, especially in foals, and
how the farrier can help to correct them; Dr Pat Harris
who gave us the benefit of her studies into Nutrition
and its effects on early development and performance
and Roger Smith a senior vet from the Royal Veterinary
College in Potters Bar and currently starring on TV,
who talked about the growing horse’s tendons
and ligaments and the effect that nutrition and exercise
has on their healthy development and subsequent performance.
The morning finished with a fascinating talk by Dr
Gerd Heuschman, a Vet and Bereiter from Walendorf
in Germany, on the skeletal and musculatory workings
of the horse. These were later ably demonstrated by
Suzanne Meisner, a Master of Riding from Walendorf,
with the help of horses provided by Jennie
Loriston-Clarke and Lesley Peyton Gilbert.
The second day looked at the mature horse, and in particular, coping with the many problems that beset the trainer and rider of the older competition horse. After the introduction, Sue Dyson a senior vet with the AHT took to the floor to discuss some of the problems such as Thoraco-lumbar pain, Sacro-iliac pain and Hind limb lameness, with particular emphasis on the methods and difficulties of correct diagnosis; following which Andy Bathe, a Vet with Rossdales in Newmarket, looked at the head, neck and forelimb and the problems that might arise in those areas. Andy also ran through the many technical aids available to the modern vet, such as MRI and digital X-ray, for diagnosis and treatment. Gerd Heuschmann took the floor to end the morning session and looked at the way badly fitting or positioned saddles and bits can affect performance. After lunch, a ‘Question and Answer’ session was held chaired by John McEwen (Director of Equine Sports Science and Medicine at the BEF and recently appointed Senior Vet to the FEI), assisted by Yogi Breisner (British National Coach and World Class Performance Manager), Jenny Hall MRCVS (Vet to the British Olympic Eventing Team), P G McMahon (the world renouned Irish vet), Dr Dietrich von Schweinitz (a Veterinary Acupuncturist), Mrs Amanda Sutton MSc ACPAT (a Physiotherapist) and the other speakers from the Seminar, to answer questions. The day ended with a demonstration of problem and other horses both in hand and ridden by Gerd Heuschmann, Suzanne Meisner and the Classical Rider Sylvia Loch.
- Visit www.addingtonequestrian.co.uk or www.gail-storm.com for stables/B&B near Addington
