Eloise Thomas

Eloise only began to learn to ride at 11 years old, but soon after learning the basics with a private instructor she was lucky enough to have her parents buy her first pony, a Welsh 12.2hh mare. This mare taught Eloise the basics of riding and especially how to fall off! Her next horse was Toby a 15.1hh Arab x, by this time her passion for dressage was already imprinted in her mind and having done a few tests on her first pony she got stuck in and competed Toby on a regular basis. Here Eloise gained points at Novice and was selected onto the BYRDS Eastern region C squad, being placed 10th at the area festival finals. Toby unfortunately began to show signs of lameness and many competitions had to be put on hold, including search for a star, team commitments, BD regionals and training sessions.

In between a hopeful recovery Eloise was offered her current horse Sterling, a 16.2hh Belgian Warmblood, who had been through 7 homes in 5 years. Sadly he had been pushed to hard and had been a very valuable Show Jumper, who had been so good he was only about £100 off of being a grade A jumper. Eloise concentrated on his dressage, taking 6 months to get him to drop his head and seek a willing contact but after persevering with the help of plenty of lessons they started to compete and train with BYRDS. The pair gained a place on the regions B+ squad. Eloise stayed at novice for sometime whilst persuading Sterling he could perform the higher level Dressage moves, then last year moved up to elementary.

Sadly during this time Toby was referred to the vet school in Cambridge where he was diagnosed with a tumour pressing on his spinal cord halfway down his neck . After a painful time it was decided to have him put to sleep

Eloise got stuck in to working Sterling and started competing at BD and Unaffiliated Dressage at least 4 times a month at a new yard. She was then struck with another setback with Sterling suffering a freak shoe accident, leaving him with a 50/50 chance of surviving. Fortunately with imprint shoes, box rest and a good recovery programme he was slowly brought back into work, shod with his natural balance shoes, and is now getting his fitness back.

Eloise came to Maxavita wanting a product to help get her horses hooves back to the condition they used to be in and to keep his joints supple so they can make the move up to medium level and above.