Child.Pony.Sleep.Repeat

This week’s interview is with mum of two sports mad teenage boys Sophie Adkins, who is living and working on the Isle of Wight whilst trying to juggle one son who is setting himself goals to be on Team GB one day for Dressage, and the other son is a county level cricket player who has training and matches weekly.

In Tales from the Foaling Unit Elaine Shaw and I discuss the difference between dealing and livig with mares vs geldings and if its nature vs nature!

The Non Horsey Husband (gate crashed by the Non Horsey Child!) and I have a quick talk about travel and competition time, and how horse sports shape up compared to other sports!

This week I am talking to Hannah Oliff Lee, who is Mother to 6 month old Tom and is juggling being a mother, a veterinary nurse and training towards being a physiotherapist for horses too.  Hannah not only rides and events her Welsh Cob, but she also breeds and drives Welsh ponies and Hackney's and is a big cheerleader for the Hackney Horse and trying to help a breed that is currently registered as endangered.

In Tales from the Foaling Unit, Elaine Shaw talks about the first week in the yearling barn prepping for the Autumn Thoroughbred sales.

The Non Horsey Child and Husband both come onto the podcast for a chat Albie about his busy weekend and Josh to be miserable about spending all our money on a house!

This week’s interview is with a slight twist as it’s with my first Horsey Parenting couple! Jim and Zoe Pilcher have 5 children between them and Jim has always been a farrier despite being born in a town and having plenty of stumbling blocks put in his way early doors, and Zoe has always been a groom, and now works somewhere really family friendly, along with taking care of their own 3 horses!

This weeks Tales from the Foaling Unit I discuss with Elaine Shaw in the shadow of Fathers Day how she goes about picking a stallion for her broodmares and what she looks for and what she tries to avoid.

I include ome Fathers Day funny horsey stories I've been sent in as well as one about my own Dad on my ex racehorse.

The Non Horsey Husband Josh and I talk about Fathers Day and his childhood memories of attempting to enjoy horses, whilst it seemed doomed from the start!

In this weeks Episode I speak to Terri Duffield and midwife in the North East with two daughters. Terri came to midwifery later in life, studying after her children were born and had to learn to juggle shifts, children and then her lovely husband surprised her with her own horse too!

Tales from the Foaling Unit Elaine Shaw is on holiday and I hope she is enjoying the rare Irish sunshine!

The Non Horsey Husband and I talk about studying later on in life when you have children and horses and where careers are vocations or work and what we would hope for our son Albie.

In this week’s interview I’m speaking to my lovely friend Netty Pope, who is mother to two children Eva and Alex. Netty is now a full time freelance gardener but before having her children she was a hunt groom, point to point work rider and had horses of her own. Recently there has been less time for horses but Netty finds just as much happiness through her gardens and plans to get a mother daughter share soon!

In Tales from the Foaling Unit, we are now talking to Elaine Shaw about the other half of her job which is Yearlings. How she gets the barns ready, the sales she aims for and the work that goes into making everything and everyone in the barn ship shape and shiny.

The Non Horsey Husband is flat out this week with chicks arriving soon and our last full day off together for the rest of the year has now been and gone plus, we are exchanging on buying our house with lots of emails and phone calls going on, so I’ve given him the week off!

In this weeks interview I speak to Helen Shiach who kindly answered all my questions about juggling a career in midwifery, a lifelong passion for horses and bringing up two young daughters at the same time. Helen is now retired from being a midwife and gets to enjoy her own horse a lovely cob and cheer on her girls as they enjoy their own horses now as adults.

  In Tales from the Foaling Unit with Elaine Shaw, the Foaling Unit is Empty!! Hurrah! Elaine and I talk about how the unit goes from full to closed and whats involved in that final week when all the babies are born.

The Non Horsey Husband and I are having half a "plonkcast" as its Bank Holiday weekend and Josh is enjoying a bottle of wine as we sit by the fire pit and talk about being fit for birth, horse mum style!

An interview with Mum to 6 month old daughter Martha, Hayley Foy.

Hayley is a farrier and has built up her business entirely by her self over the years. She worked shoeing horses up until her due date and with the help of an extra pair of hands to shoe alongside her, she has also returned to shoeing as soon as she felt physically capable.Martha joins her everywhere and is a breastfed baby too so sometimes halfway through a set of shoes there can be a pitstop!

Sadly due to my being in hospital this week for an iron transfusion I've not had the opportunity to record my Tales from the Foaling Unit segment with Elaine Shaw.

The Non Horsey Husband Josh and I talk about maternity leave, the costs and the reality of leaving your baby to go back to work.

An interview with mum of one, Liselle Coutanche. Liselle talks to us about how she found bringing a tiny premature baby home and struggling with PND, but mainly we get stuck into talking about the brilliant fun it is to have a 14 year old daughter who is as keen on horses and eventing as you are.

In Tales from the Foaling Unit Elaine Shaw  briefs us on the conformation you are looking for in a 24 hour foal to set it up for success in the future. I will do a live conversation with her next week quizzing about conformation further.

The Non Horsey Husband Josh and I talk about the difference between dreams and goals for your children, and how you can be dictated to by various time, money,  and ability constraints, he definitely understands how expensive a horsey hobby is!
 

An interview with mum of one and soon to be arriving second baby, I talk to Equine and Human physio Alice Walker about how hard it can be having  a difficult birth with your first baby and then on top being prepared to lose the independence, time and lifestyle that you had. It is then taking time to be honest with yourself and your partner so you can put things in place for you to be confident to do it all over again with baby number 2.

In Tales from the Foaling Unit I chat to Elaine Shaw about her best and worst memories and the very real risk that putting a mare in foal can be, as well as the days tht mke it all worthwhile.

The Non Horsey Husband and I have a conversation about how stressful Albie's birth was for us and how we are getting ready for the next time around.

An interview with mother of three grown up children with children of their own, permit holder, racehorse breeder, and owner Ann Lee.
Ann Lee talks to me about how she balanced being a mother,  farmers wife and fulfilling her dream of riding in a point to point.

I talk to Elaine Shaw in Tales from the Foaling Unit as she has had a super busy week and her own two broodmares have had heir foals, and their sheepdog has had a litter, so very busy over in Ireland.

The Non Horsey Husband Josh and I talk about some top tips that we found helped in those very early days, and how I relate to Ann's where there's a will, there's a way!