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I came accross Equine Premium on my BE CDT day as they are one of the CDT sponsors. Jonathan from Equine Premium saw my blog, got in touch, and kindly offered to drop in some product when he was in the area. Soap is not on any additional suppliments and with his planned increased work/competition load this year I thought it sounded like a good idea. Jonathan popped round with a pot of “gut balancer” and a syringe of “quick fix”. Equine Premium products are probiotics designed to help horses get the most out of their feed, and keep their…

After all my extensive preparation we set off for Tdown. The ground had recovered really well from Thursday, and was almost perfect going. I picked up my numbers, got my new hats tagged, and walked the XC before my dressage. A few questions on the XC a downhill double of fat bull finches which I walked at 10 paces, so to Soap a short 2. I watched a few go through it with many having a run out if they tried for a long 1 stride, so made a mental note. The only fast option was a corner on top…

…or so the saying goes, so with our first Intro of the season at Tweseldown fast approaching this Sunday I have been preparing like mad! My preparation includes… – Pacing out 1 stride doubles until I know the “feel” for 7yds – Practising tricky sections of the dressage test, working on straightness, rythm, collection, and nice square halts. – Sorting/testing out my XC/SJ bit and being happy with it – Jumping on grass with studs and new bit – Organising my boots, bandages, drink containers, and general gubbins for the day – Ironing shirts and stocks – Making sure I…

As a late Christmas present to myself in January I entered a BE CDT DAY @ West Wilts. The day was hosted by BE accredited trainer Clare Turner, and started with course/line walks, then a mounted lesson where we put what we had walked on the flat into practise. After lunch we discussed fitness, balance, safety, planning our events for the season ahead, and how to overcome any pitfalls that may arise. The whole day was hugely informative, and some of the stuff discussed was a real eye opener. Clare Turner was fantastic she has a really infectious enthusiasm, and…

In response to my sponsorship request the nice people at Charles Owen have sent me 2 new hats! (these will help in protecting my few remaining brain cells!!!) They have given me the new this spring PRO II skull in silver, and the Hampton black velvet. I tested out the PRO II xc schooling the other day. It was a hot sunny day and before my 45min xc lesson I had already been hacking in it for 1.5 hours. It is really light, and the ventilation helps to avoid sweaty “hat head”, and when I took it off because of…

We went to Sparsholt to do 1 or 2 clear rounds and a class of unaff SJ so that we could put our new brakes, and past lessons into practise. The Pelham was a little too strong on Saturday, so I loosened the curb chain and put it in a little sheepskin tube, and this seemed to work nicely. I am still adjusting to the new contact, and think that I need to work on carrying my hands further forward with a shorter rein, but we are getting there. Soap warmed up really nicely so we went to do a…

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of making eventers out of ex-race horses, and currently I have 2. I’m an even bigger fan of the Racing Post website because you can look up horses’ breeding, and race history for free. Having a little dig about to find some more info on Mr Jack Fry I discovered his grand sire is non other than Mill Reef! I found this lovely picture of Mill Reef being ridden by Geoff Lewis in 1971. So it turns out the scruffy little grey thing that I’m begining to reschool has quite a pedigree! Jack…

Thanks to my sponsors Equestrian Vision for providing the prize, and Equine Adverts for hosting the competition you can win Badminton 2008 on DVD. All you have to do is click here to enter and answer the competition question… Who has won Badminton 6 times, on 6 different horses?… Good luck!

He may not look much at the moment, but he’s going to be fab! Jack Fry is a 12 year old tb ex-Point to Pointer who we aquired after he fractured his leg. He had a very fine spiral hairline fracture which meant the poor chap had to spend several months boxed in a huge splint. He recovered well, and is now starting to come back into work. He is now doing his 1st months lunging, and long reining in preparation for ridden work. Depending on how he recovers willl determin his new career. I am hoping that we will…

In an atttempt to keep costs down I asked my instructor Steven Way if there was a way I could have a XC schooling lesson for less. So…………. 6 mucked out boxes, and 2 hacked out eventers later I had earned myself a XC schooling lesson with him at Boomerang for just £10! I took Soap in a Cambridge Pelham XC schooling for the first time, and I think it’s going to prove a good choice. The whole lesson was really a case of him and me getting used to having brakes, he had a few temper tantrums, and I…