The Bradshaw Family

So this weekend has not been the best. Dan has been in hospital for tests for chest pain. Luckily his heart and lungs are in excellent health, so he’s going to have some outpatient tests to see what’s going on
Fingers crossed it’s nothing serious. We have had a huge amount of stress lately, so maybe it’s related to that?

Koda has been looking after us, as always!
So he thinks he’s earned a well earned break today… 😂
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We were looking at pics of him whilst sat in the hospital yesterday. Can’t believe how much he’s changed over the years! He grew into his ears 😂 and his mask really did fade
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In other news, I’m slowly bringing Woody back into work. We started with groundwork to make sure he was comfortable in his bridle. And since we’ve enjoyed a short ride in the arena, and some hacking out this weekend. We are building it up slowly.
His behaviour has much improved, though we do have some tricky days when it’s been raining/colder temperatures, so I think he’s definitely reacting to the grass. The grass has been so stressed with the unpredictable and wet weather. I would keep him in more, on hay, but I feel he also needs to be a horse and be moving around, plus socialising.
So I’ve adjusted his hard feed and supplements to try manage his reaction to grass changes 🧡
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Hope everyone is well!
 
I hope Dan is ok - good that his heart and lungs are ok ! Stress can do awful things …..
I loved the photos ….always gorgeous not to mention Koda ❤️❤️❤️❤️
 
Glad that Dan's heart and lungs are good. My husband did this to me too a few years ago and it was stress that was causing his chest pain. Glad Koda is taking care of everyone.
 
I hope that Dan is doing ok. Stress can trigger terrible physical symptoms that make us fear the worst. I hope he’s finding ways to lower his stress (not easy I know). Btw I’m loving his new beard
 
VickiA said:
I hope that Dan is doing ok. Stress can trigger terrible physical symptoms that make us fear the worst. I hope he’s finding ways to lower his stress (not easy I know). Btw I’m loving his new beard
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Thank you

And yes, the beard is much better! I had to let him live out that phase 🤦🏻‍♀️😂
 
So glad you had such a lovely time in and around Whitby ❤️ I do miss North Yorkshire when I see such lovely photos coming from Harrogate but my heart and family are now down here in Cornwall so I‘m very happy to be here.
Sorry Dan has been off, stress can play some awful tricks on you. Hope you find a way to reduce it x
 
Bill & Ted said:
So glad you had such a lovely time in and around Whitby ❤️ I do miss North Yorkshire when I see such lovely photos coming from Harrogate but my heart and family are now down here in Cornwall so I‘m very happy to be here.
Sorry Dan has been off, stress can play some awful tricks on you. Hope you find a way to reduce it x
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Thank you.
Cornwall looks lovely. We should visit there next 🥰x
 
Hello,

Sorry for the lack of updates. We have been very busy. I'm back at work after a summer break, we are looking after the yard (and all of the horses) whilst the owners are away and I've had loads of photoshoots booked in.

Dan is feeling better - thank you to everyone who has asked/offered support. He still has the occasional chest pain and is waiting on his outpatient appointments. He's hard at work, making the most of longer days (they are already shortening....).

The piggies are doing great. Boris has lost a little weight, so he's popping along to the vets in a couple of days. The other two boys are perfectly healthy and happy. I need to get some good pics of them when I get chance. If they will stay still long enough 😂

Koda is good and loving life. He's been on lots of adventures (as he does, every day). I can't believe he's 4 already. He's no longer a baby! We were comparing pics the other day, of how much he's changed:

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Woody is also doing much better. The vet is still visiting once a week to change his tooth packing (but we are using much less packing now as the new tissue starts to fill in). You don't want to know my vet bill total so far............ 😂
He's started work again now. We did start gently with hacking and building up (thankfully, he's not lost too much fitness). His behaviour can still be up and down (he is definitely reactive to the fluctuating sugars in the grass - this year's crazy weather has been a nightmare). I'm hoping to get him booked on some dressage training clinics next month and then get competing again. We missed out on our Area Festival championships this summer, so I'm hoping to qualify him for the winter ones.

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Oh, and I had to share pics of Koda with his best-horse friend Murphy (one of the young Irish horses on the yard). They really love each other 🥰🥰🥰

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We hope everyone is well!
 
So sorry everyone, I've been more absent than ever! It's been a crazy busy few weeks.

You'll have all seen my rainbow bridge post for Boris. We had been back and forth with the vets over the last few weeks, but we think he was suffering from something quite aggressive. We really do miss him (I miss seeing his beautiful face and big lion-style mane every day) 💔


The new semester has started at work. We have a lovely bunch of students this year (1st years, 2nd years, 3rd years and Masters degree students). We've had a few busy weeks getting everyone inducted and getting everything ready for the semester to start. We've already had the students doing lab work (investigating nutrient content of various horse feeds) and on trips (we went to the British Equestrian Trade Association expo - where students got to talk to a range of different companies and potential future employers). I'm really enjoying the modules I teach this year - particularly 'Management of the Equine Athlete', 'Equine Biology' and 'Equine Rehabilitation and Therapy'. We've also had new horses arrive, and some young horses (from the rescue charity World Horse Welfare) ready for students to work with and develop over the year. Plus we are getting going with our university competition teams. That's why I love my job, it's not just lecturing (and the tons of work behind the scenes that comes with that), it's the developing horses and students along the way (that all have a shared passion for everything equine)! It's just a shame I hate travelling to my job so much. 80 miles a day, with three busy motorways is already taking it's toll! My days starts at 5am (as the horses, Koda and piggies - plus the businesses - need to be sorted before work), 2 hours of travelling, finish at 5pm, sometimes up to 2 hours of travel back (then horses, Koda, piggies and businesses to spend time on again).... so days finish at around 9.30pm (then we eat if we get chance). I will need to be careful this year, as I get so tired. I get tired driving - especially once winter sets in and it's dark driving to and forth on the motorways. Plus I still need to find time to train and compete Woody this year. I have a lot of photography bookings for weekends, so that business is going well! Plus our other business is certainly keeping Dan busy!

We moved Woody to our new home last weekend, as I didn't think our current yard was working with his management. We have moved to my vet's yard and we love it. The facilities are out of this world... we have a large outdoor riding arena, indoor arena, and a gallop track/track for hacking out, that goes all the way around the property. Woody has a much bigger stable and a lovely paddock that he is sharing with his new friend Asanti. The two of them together remind of of a favourite childhood film (Black Beauty and Ginger). Koda also loves our new place, and loves getting out around the gallop track! Everyone has certainly made themselves at home :

13 September 2023

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Koda is doing great. Despite being attacked by a loose dog the other night.... He is fine though, no injuries and no lasting trauma. He was straight back to playing with his buddies the next day!

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My remaining two piggies are also doing really well. It feels so strange to say '2 piggies' now. We just have Rufus and Merlin left. Rufus is getting older and will be 6 in January, but I think lovely little Merlin is keeping him young! I tried to get pictures of them, but they were not for keeping still! 😂 They are loving life having an entire bedroom to themselves, so much floor space!

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Unfortunately, should Merlin outlive Rufus (which is highly likely), we are going to have to think of a plan for lovely Merlin; as our time keeping piggies is coming to an end :( We have to end the cycle at some point. Life is always changing and Dan and I are so busy. We are thinking about different steps for the future, and sadly, I think I am not going to have the time to dedicate to piggies that I once had; and that isn't fair. It's not been an easy decision, but one we have been thinking about for a while now. Merlin is such a lovely boy, so I do hope we can find him a new friend/herd somewhere. I've been considering having him neutered, to give him better chance of finding a new loving home (as he'll be able to have wives). It will break our hearts to see him move on, but at the same time I can't keep him alone forever if he does end up our only remaining piggy.


I had a lovely birthday on Monday (though it was just a normal day of work...). Thank you so much to everyone on here for the lovely messages! Means a lot! 💓

I do hope everyone is well. I look forward to getting 5 mins every morning (usually when I arrive at work) to catch up with all of your updates 🥰
 
Gosh ! I feel exhausted just reading this post.
With all the travelling it’s good that you love your job so much.
You must be a brilliant teacher.

Glad that Koda is Ok and the 2 piggies.
I can relate to that as we’re now down to 2 and need to end the cycle after Micah and Ruth. This is due to retirement and new life opportunities rather than a manically busy working life.

How is Dan doing now ?
 
Merab's Slave said:
Gosh ! I feel exhausted just reading this post.
With all the travelling it’s good that you love your job so much.
You must be a brilliant teacher.

Glad that Koda is Ok and the 2 piggies.
I can relate to that as we’re now down to 2 and need to end the cycle after Micah and Ruth. This is due to retirement and new life opportunities rather than a manically busy working life.

How is Dan doing now ?
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He’s doing much better, thanks for asking 😊

He’s still exhausted with work, but his neck is much better than it was
 
Lovely to see Woody looking well and to hear how happy he is ❤️❤️
Your Saturday assistant looks very helpful 🥰 is Aida permanent or just there to have fun 😂
 
Roselina said:
Lovely to see Woody looking well and to hear how happy he is ❤️❤️
Your Saturday assistant looks very helpful 🥰 is Aida permanent or just there to have fun 😂
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Thank you!

Aida just joins us on photoshoots to have fun! She wasn’t supposed to be part of the photoshoot, but I couldn’t resist 😂🥰
 
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