Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2008 | Page 77

EQUESTRIAN - Sponsored by Brickfields and Foghill Tack life Above: Happy horses make good competition horses, Tim's stables are certainly five-star accommodation. Above: Tim's traditionally styled tack room has a lovely old fashioned saddle horse for cleaning saddles. It is decorated with the name plates used on the stables at international competitions. a test when the horse is under performing? We do it every three months so that we build up a dossier to look back on for each horse and from that we can see abnormalities. Our physiotherapist visits our yard every two weeks and over a six week period she will have checked every horse and knows what is normal and what is not. All our horses also have a dental check every six months too!” Happy horses clearly make good competition horses and Tim's horses look over their stable doors into a garden with trees. “They can all see each other and have mirrors to keep them company. I'm very pleased with my stables, which are large, light and airy,” says Tim. “I designed them myself and they have a 12-foot overhang made of clear Perspex with a UV filter, so our horses get the best of both worlds.” Later this month, Tim will be in France competing in the Grands Prix in Nantes and Bordeaux – both of which he won last year - before going on to compete at Vigo in Galicia, south-west Spain. The horses will then have a short break before preparing for the outdoor season which starts in late April. Royal Windsor will be one of Tim's first big outdoor shows this year. Island Life - www.isleofwight.net 77