Posts Written By Chloë

Riding Jack over the past few weeks has been both uplifting and disappointing in equal measures, but yesterday we had a small breakthrough. Soap is very quick to react to light aids but Jack is the polar opposite. At present because he is not established in self carriage it takes A LOT of leg to get him to work properly. Despite going to the gym in an effort to get stronger and fitter I find that after 30mins schooling him I am pooped!…but then I found my spurs! I had totally forgotten I had a pair of spurs as wearing…

I couldn’t resist! It is Christmas after all!…

Jack is back in regular work now that the issues he had with his feet (which were a result of the long time he spent on box rest) have finally been sorted, so work has begun in ernest to turn him into an event horse! In prep for a dressage competition we have next week I hired the indoor school at the same venue and took him there for some schooling. The last time he went out was May and he came out the trailer at that show in a muck sweat and quivering like a leaf! It took about…

In a bid to ride in the daylight and not get drenched, frozen or blown clean out of the saddle by gale force winds my friend and I decided it was time to hire a local indoor arena for an hour of uninterrupted schooling. We both felt very smug as we entered the indoor and the heavens opened, and 1 hour later still dry and having had a productive session we agreed it was an ingenious plan of ours, so we booked in for another session! Soap did some lovely flatwork he’s really got the hang of working more over…

Over the winter I try to do as much dressage as possible in preparation for next seasons BE tests, and Sparsholt Agricultural College is one of my favourite venues. The arenas are fab, and even though it has a relaxed atmosphere the organisation is always very slick. I entered Soap for 2 long arena tests Prelim 15, and Novice 38 and today was his first attempt at a Novice test in competition. Unfortunately due to crazy 40+mph winds and rain all week I didn’t manage to get much practise in before the day (nothing like being well prepared!) so was…

Christmas has come early in the GHE household because I have just received a parcel from my sponsor Mountain Horse full of fantastic winter clothes to keep me warm and dry in the coming months. I am testing out the goodies one by one starting with a base layer set – thermal long johns cut to be worn under full seat breeches, and a thermal top. I wear these under tracky bums and a hoody in the mornings when I get up early to muck out before work, and they keep me toasty warm. Yesterday I put on the Arctica…

Soap has come back in after his end of season 3 week holiday with Jack soon to follow suit, and Dustry is now turned out 24/7. Both seem to have adjusted to the change in regime well, but Soap had to have a serious buzz cut before I could begin any proper work with him as he had turned into some sort of furry yeti! This is him at ‘maximum fluff’ and then‘après clip’ which he has accesorised with lots of mud! After his clip I had a lesson with my dressage instructor Elizabeth Peerless and we worked on getting…

Well for the past few weeks I have been getting to know Dustry and teaching him the basic ‘stop’ and ‘go’ voice commands on the lunge and today I had a little sit on board! He behaved very well despite the high winds and the sound of guns at the adjacent shoot. He felt surprisingly big, and strong for a 3 1/2 yr old. I will ride him briefly again tomorrow then that will be him finished for the winter as he will be turned out 24/7 whilst Soap comes back in from his holiday for a full clip, and…

It seems like a very long time ago now that I entered a BE CDT day in March to kick off our season, after that day inspired and eager to have a productive year I wrote down my aims for 2009, you can see the original post here, and to recap my aims were… MY AIMS FOR 2009 Dressage – to gain a score(s) in the low 30’s SJ – to get a clear(s) round (with or without time faults) XC – to get a clear(s) round inside the time Overall – to be placed at Intro and move up…

*drum roll*…..say hello to ‘Dustry’ my latest ‘project pony’. As well as producing and competing my own event horses I also bring on the odd ‘project’ from time to time. I look out for horses with a nice nature, good conformation and the potential to go far. In the past I have re-schooled ex-racers into sensible sane riding club horses, rehabilitated, and re-schooled a neglected Irish sports horse, and most recently a few years ago broke in and brought on a new forest pony broodmare. I really enjoy producing these ‘project horses’ and get a huge kick out of bringing…