A Taste of Summer...

We've been getting a little arty with our photography recently! 

Look at the beautiful sunflowers in this photo taken by one of our customers. Tom is driving the tractor and he is cultivating the field ready for Julian to plant rape seed.

This rather moody looking photograph is of Steve driving the Combine Harvester and Julian driving the tractor next to it. It looks like the heavens are about to open! Luckily we only lost a couple of days of harvest due to the rain.

And of course a bit of rain is always welcome as it keeps the grass green and the ground softer so we can enjoy hacking our horses! 

Do you have any summer photos that you would like to share with us? You could post them to our Facebook Page or Tweet Us. 

Polo Sucess!

Tom has success at Tidworth, when his mare named Almara won the title of “Full Swing Polo – Best Playing Pony 2013”. This was made even sweeter by the fact that Tom has produced Almara all by himself. He bought her off the race track 7 years ago and has worked extremely hard to get her to this level. Look at the lovely rug she won:

Toby has also had success on the polo field when his team won Ledner under 21’s Polo Nationals last weekend!

Well done boys!!  

Hay Harvest

The hay harvest is finally over! As an Arable farm, we grow our own hay for our horses as part of the riding school and livery yard.

The team spent days out in the fields harvesting, although unfortunately we had a disappointing crop due to the bad weather. Hopefully next year the yield will improve, as the hay is essential for our business.

The hay will be used over the winter in hay nets for our horses, keeping them happy until spring when they will be turned out into the fresh, green paddocks.

Park Farm Summer Show

What a wonderful day the Park Farm Summer Show was! The day kicked off early, with a wave of activity coming from the main yard. Children started to arrive to wash and plait their ponies from 7am.  

 There was a buzz of excitement in the air, mixed with a little panic from several not so “horsey” parents who needed a little help with plaiting, but with the help of the girls on the yard, the preparation went smoothly. The ponies were gleaming and the children looked really smart in their new show clothes! Thank goodness the shop was open as lots of competitors realised they had forgotten vital plaiting bands and hoof oil.

Up in the showground, people were starting to turn up and work in their horses and the secretary’s tent was manic until midday taking hundreds of late entries! Lots of people had woken up to glorious sunshine and decided to make a late entry. It certainly made a change from last year when we had a very drizzly, grey day.

We had several highlights from the day. Emily Brown, who is a keen helper and livery at Park Farm, won the Junior Open on her new pony, Bond. Emily has only had Bond for a couple of months, but has come on in leaps and bounds. Bond, as an ex-polo pony isn't an easy ride, but Emily and her mum Sharon have worked really hard and their efforts have really paid off!!

Another great achievement was made by Craig Hendry, who works full time at Park Farm and owns ex-racehorse Pudding. Craig has had Pudding for just under a year and managed to sweep the Open Showjumping to take the prestigious “Casemore Cup”.

Posie, our oldest and most precious pony also did really well at the Show. She won first place in the Fancy Dress class with 3.5 year old rider, Zoe Cox dressed as a gorgeous pink ballerina!

And it wasn't just all horses that had the glory; Magic, our flat-coat retriever did well in the dog show – he came second in the veteran class with Josh Little.

Overall, we had a fabulous day. We loved seeing so many people having a good time and everybody worked so hard – the effort really showed! We hope you will join us next Summer….

Winter League 2012/2013 Results

Over the Winter, Park Farm holds a 'Winter League'. This is a series of Dressage and Show Jumping competitions which are held every three weeks. 

We usually see a mix of both Riding School Clients on our own horses, as well as 'outsiders' coming to compete on their own steeds. The league is really relaxed and open to everyone - adults and children alike. 

Over the series, which runs from September all the way through to April, the competitors accumulate points every time they get placed in either discipline. At the end of the series, we can present the winners with their prizes! 

Before we make the announcement, we would like to say that everybody tried really hard and there was always a good turnout. It was brilliant to see lots of new faces and new horses, as well as watching our old favourites compete!

Drum roll please.....

Overall Winner – Claudia Herbert & Eric 101 Points

Overall Junior – Claudia Herbert & Eric - 101 Points

Overall Adult – Frances Reggiani-Elms & Boris - 90 Points

Junior Dressage
1^st      Claudia Herbert & Eric – 44 Points

2^nd     Melissa Jones & Domino – 24 Points
3^rd     Joint: Sophie Hext and Zoe Duck – 12 Points 

Adult Dressage
1st       Frances Reggiani-Elms & Boris – 76 Points                                                                                 2^nd     Natalie Randall & Park Farm Horses – 52 Points                                                                               3^rd      Gill Bond & Park Farm Horses – 40 Points 

Junior Show Jumping
1^st      Emily Brown & Park Farm Horses/Bond - 68 Points                                                                    2^nd     Claudia Herbert & Eric – 57 Points                                                                                               3^rd     Bradley Harris & Park Farm Horses – 52 Points

Adult Show Jumping
1^st      Rachel Dearman & Park Farm Horses – 37 Points                                             
2^nd     John Lamond & Park Farm Horses – 31 Points                                                 
3^rd     Frances Reggiani-Elms & Boris – 14 Points 

Claudia with her Trophies!! 

We will be starting the next league in September (not actually that long away now!) and are looking forward to seeing you all again. 

Remember, the more events you participate in, the more likely you are to be in the trophies at the end of the year!! 

See you in September...

Our first Blog Post!

Hello to all Park Farm Fans! We have decided to start a blog to keep our fellow Park Farmers up to date with the latest happenings here as there is always something new and exciting going on and we don’t seem to have enough space on the website for it all anymore!

Park Farm is a third generation farm, that was purchased in the 1930's from Oakley Estate by Julian's Grandfather. Over the years, the farm has been home to pigs, poultry and cows, as well as used as an arable farm. Around 30 years ago, the farm began to take on a small number of horses as liveries. 

Sally married Julian in the early 90's and opened the shop on site. It has slowly grown from a tiny tack shop to what it is today - a large country store! 

During this time, the livery yard was expanded when chicken barns were converted in to stables and then in 1993 the Riding School was formed...

The school started with Poise, the first ever pony on the farm! She is a little bay Dartmoor pony and is still here today! She is the perfect beginners pony and has taught hundreds of children how to ride.

The Riding School gradually grew and now we are a fully fledged, BHS approved riding centre and competition yard. We also have a string of polo ponies that belong to Tom and Toby, Sally and Julian’s sons. 

We hope that you will enjoy our blog, we would like it will become a fun way to keep you up to date with everything that is going on in and around Park Farm. Feel free to make comments and add photos of your adventures with us too.