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So today I took Dustry for his 2nd BD competition although we are still competing unregistered, but after today’s result maybe it’s time to get a BD membership?… We had prelim 15 and prelim 19 tests, the same as our last dressage outing. After a few ‘whizzy’ moments in the warm up (forgot red tail ribbon and Dustry does not appreciate people entering his personal space!) we went to do our first test. He was so much calmer and attentive in the area away from the other horses and hustle and bustle of the warm up, and produced a lovely test. No green baby wobbliness like last…

My lovely sponsors at Mountain Horse have agreed to let me give away a jacket from my latest delivery of sponsorship goodies to 1 lucky GHE fan! Up for grabs is a Mountain Horse ‘Grace’ jacket in medium (size 10/12) , it comes in a very stylish dark brown and anthracite colour scheme. RRP £120!   To be in with a chance of winning it you need to jump through the following hoops… 1/ go to facebook and ‘like’ the GHE facebook page 2/go to facebook and ‘like’ the Mountain Horse facebook page 3/Leave a comment on this blog post…

For weeks now my instructor Amanda Brewer has been asking me if I have been doing my ‘homework reading’ and up until today I had guiltily been avoiding picking up the rather dull and boring looking book she had recommended that I read, what a mistake! This book is probably the most sensible, insightful, and philosophical work I have ever read about dressage training and how to build a harmonious and successful partnership between horse and rider. I wish I had started reading it years ago! The book is called ‘Dressage In Harmony’ – from basic to grand prix by Walter Zettle. It is book No4…

So seeing as I have had such great success with a new product I thought it only fair to share my latest secret weapon with GHE fans! Dustry has a bad habit of scrunching on his bit at times when working. It’s not through tension or pain, it’s just a left over bad habit from his racing days, and up until now I have just ignored it, but now that we are starting to get out and about competing it needs to be stopped, because it will cost us valuable marks in the dressage phase if the judge hears him scrunching on his bit it will…

So today was Dustry’s first ‘grown up competition’. Over 7 months ago now he went for his first ever dressage test a walk and trot test at a low key local centre, so it was almost like his dressage début all over again!. We went to do 2 long arena prelims 15 and 19, but mainly we went to behave, warm up well, get through the tests, and generally have a positive educational day. I set my alarm for 4.45 (I think this is a first!) and we were on the road by 6am, primed, prepped, and plaited. Super groom Kate came…

So Dustry seems to have recovered from his illness enough to begin working again, but to be on the safe side he is getting more days off than usual during a week just to make sure he doesn’t get too pooped by being worked again (judging from the divots I found all across his field the other day he has plenty of energy!)   Today I took him for a lesson to help get us back on track and re-focused. We planned to have a fairly short lesson to make sure he wasn’t overworked, and spent the time running through…

On Monday morning when I arrived at the yard Dustry was suspiciously quiet and subdued, I instantly knew something was wrong! After a visit from the farrier to rule out an abscess (he was recently shod, seemed to have a hot foot, and find moving hard, and was favouring the verge on the way to his paddock) the vet was called. It seems he has some sort of infection (bacterial or viral) and it was causing him to have a high temperature, lose his appetite, and just generally feel uncomfortable and sorry for himself. He was given antibiotics and painkiller, but after a…

Neck strap, check. Kan back protector, check….this can mean only one thing CROSS COUNTRY!!!!!!! Today Dustry jumped his first EVER xc jumps, and I mean ever he hasn’t even popped a twig out hacking so this was going to be a true litmus test! When we arrived he was very lit up, and seemed to have forgotten all his ‘don’t barge the 2 legger, and walk all over her’ manners. Once a little more settled, I tacked up and lead him round the outdoor arena which settled him more. He likes to know what’s going on, and tack on means…

Firstly apologies for the delay in getting these videos live I have been plagued by pathetic upload speed for the last few weeks, waaah! So this is what I’ve been up to with Dustry in my last few lessons… we have been working on an essential flat work skill, crucial for when it comes to stringing a course of fences together, and that is cantering over poles on a circle. Sounds easy right?…well it’s not!!! Since I began reschooling Dustry my instructor Amanda Brewer has always emphasised the importance of training a balanced and supple horse, that works equally on both reins. One exercise she uses…

…to spot this whilst snooping about on the internet thank you very much Cape Horse Link!