Quadrille and Talland Quadrille I may not have mentioned that this year - for the first time since we heard of quadrille as a discipline, we will not be competing.  I won't go into details but this year the team has experienced (in no particular order): Close family bereavement which saw Tory and I unable to focus on horses at all for about six months.  Lame horse due to illness - retired.  Lame horse due to carriage crash - recovered.  Broken ribs, slipped disc, broken back (3 different people), divorce, house move.  Our targeted 'spare' horse proved not to enj ..read more

So, Easter already.  Beau has had a very light few months because I have been so busy elsewhere in my life, so it seemed wrong to bring him into work, drop him back, bring him up etc.  He doesn't care, he is quite happy simply being a fat fluffy horse in the field.  I have ridden my friend's beautiful Friesans though and WOW!  That trot!!   Now that the lighter evenings are here though it makes sense for me to ride after work.  If only i could find the energy!  I don't know about you, but I give 100% to everything which means that at the end o ..read more

I have been quiet for a while, family comes first, even over sharing our escapades, and so i have been unable to ride.  However, looking back on 2018 - it was one heck of a year! - I have put this together.  I love that I can remind myself what we got up to by scanning back on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram and I can relive it all from the comfort of the sofa ;) Here's a reminder of what we did, and a reminder of how much fun you can get up to with your horse - even holding down a full time job.  Go on, give it all a go!! In May, Beau turned 21.  We spent his birthday at a dr ..read more

Putting your mind to it In the pipeline is a blog about all of the amazing things we got up to in September, including BRC Quadrille, Blenheim Horse Trials demos and Beau, Sardra and Seamus being formally thanked for their participation in the Northampton town carnival parade.  Whilst i work on that though, I really felt I had to share my thoughts about how attitude and mindset really is everything in riding - and in general life Where should we focus? It's a dog eat dog world out there, and in between holding down careers, caring for families, trying to maintain a social life, shop ..read more

Not just for men..... My partner is not flamboyant.  He does not like to dress up and owns just 2 suits for black tie do's and weddings.  But he has always been disappointed during trips to the tack shop.  If I wanted to I could come out with a pair of pink tartan breeches and a glittery gilet, but he could only ever come out with beige or black, or a muted grubby olive if very lucky He decided to do something about this, to bring a little colour into his and Parker's life - so he founded Equestriman! I am so very proud of him.  We started with a trip to BETA this Januar ..read more

I don’t know about you but I always seem to be skint.  If I ever have any spare cash I spend it immediately on a lesson or a competition, or if I am feeling very flush (or have a desperate need), new tack for my beloved horse.  Tack is a tool, a fashion statement, a way to show off your horse’s best features, to show you understand the new field of equestrian science or simply to display your own good taste in saddles.  It can help or hinder your horse as much as bad riding, and if chosen well it can improve your riding too.  Always use a qualified saddle fitter to help yo ..read more

We all have off days, horses and humans.  The important thing is not to be disheartened, but to learn from it and move on A couple of weeks ago Beau and I performed a dressage to music test at prelim level.  In theory this should have been easy, because we have all the elementary moves at home.  However that particular day Beau was having none of it We are all taught from our first time in the saddle that if something goes wrong it's our fault and not the horse's.  This was true that day as much as any other, there would have been lots of tools in a better rider's kit t ..read more

The day started with a cracking work out, must make horse clean, must make horse clean.  So she had a good brush for 45 minutes resulting in me looking like I’d been dragged through a white hair hedge backwards and slapped in the face a few times. Sardra looked fab and was very happy for the love and attention. Little did she know that we were off to day camp to improve our mindset, and see if we could better our dressage scores. Hard work was coming! On arrival at Moulton College, Alison was there to great us with a goody bag full of items from Equissimo, Equilibrium, Laura Mary Art ..read more

Cherwell Valley Riding Club has this year, in addition to hosting 3-day stay-over camps at Bury Farm EC, decided to hold day camps on specific disciplines.  Genius! At the beginning of May a dressage day camp was arranged, with 3 instructors offering very different skill sets and viewpoints, across 5 sessions - 2 on foot and 3 ridden Tory and I arrived with Beau and Sardra, settled them into their stables, and went off in search of a brew.  In typical CVRC fashion there were lots of people there on their own so we all helped each other settle in, then sat and got to know each other ..read more

I grew up in Cheshire, and when i was very little i remember a village fete with knights and jousting horses.  I can't be sure but i think that is how horses got into my blood.  I can remember being completely awestruck (and possibly even speechless) at the sight of the brave knights and beautiful horses.  That day has stayed with me all these years, and never since that day have i seen horses at a carnival - until last week!  We had the honour of being invited by the Mayor and Mayoress of Northampton to lead the carnival procession through the town on Saturday June ..read more