https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f4ad1c_8cb782e98bf94ce8ae5d3609f87a5f0b/480p/mp4/file.mp4 After the horse whisperer told us we needed to go to Dallas Burston, I went... Bodie naturally took charge and went for a jump. No solids for us, as I'm still not quite ready for that. But had some excellent guidance from Verity and Denise. I'm sure we'll be back, swearing as per norm ..read more

We all go out and get our saddles fitted, it's one of those basic care needs for your horse, but we don't all go and get our bridles fitted. So for the first time I had a bit and bridle fitter, Ruth Fisher to be precise. Bodie was in an Micklem, which I thought was doing her some favours, I thought because the marketing was so good for it that I was easing pressure and life was going well for Bodie. I was so wrong! Ruth came and inspected Bodie, she checked her mouth, her head and showed me where there were some pressure points which Bodie was flinching out the way from. The Micklem was putti ..read more

Mini breakdown! I booked myself into the 'New Year, New Me' showjumping, this one was held at Catesby Equestrian. I got there, got in the warm up arena and I was surrounded by kids and whizzy ponies. I was only doing the 50cm and the 60cm, so naturally it felt like I was on the kids table at a wedding. Bodie had the best time and got faster and faster and faster! These kids were all warming up, going over the fences, parents were shouting directions at the kids, one kid fell off in front of me. We had 10 minutes to warm up, I did a short walk, short trot and a short canter. I hadn't been over ..read more

"Who loose jumps a 30 year old horse?" But here she is having the best time! With the help from Verity and Denise chasing her into the funnel and off she goes springing over the jumps. We did this in an attempt to maybe bring back a bit of my very crushed confidence. Bodie went down the grid a few times, perfectly. There was one time that she came in at a trot, misjudged the fence, barged into it and then went vertical in the air to try and clear the next fence coming up. It was difficult for me to watch. I kept replaying it in my head and saying, she mucked up, she mucked up. It took me a fe ..read more

What you might see here is a photo of a girl smiling next to her horse. But I know the emotion behind this photo isn't quite what it seems. On the 26th July 2021, I made the kneejerk reaction to leave Ashtree and join Flecknoe Farm Stud. It was not an easy move, I was utterly cut up. It really was a very difficult time. I felt that more hacking would be suited to Bodie after riding up the main road had started to become busy again post Covid lockdown and I appreciated how quiet the road was prior to this. I was moving from a routine and a yard that I knew well, to being the new kid on the blo ..read more

It's Tuesday, it's half-term, it's up to 20 degrees today and the horses are out in their summer paddocks! I get so excited when they move paddocks, warmer days are coming, everyone is in a better mood, we all get that well missed serotonin hit, our horses are a bit more chilled out and staying at the yard until 8pm chatting to the other liveries, whilst the summer sun warms our bones is something that I love. We went out for a hack today, but not our usual hack, DMA collected us and if I'm honest I didn't really know where I was going. I jumped in the new lorry and said 'Oh, I've only ever a ..read more

March is Endometriosis Awareness month Today is Endometriosis March day, this is usually where people gather together and raise awareness and donations for Endometriosis UK , unfortunately this can't happen this year. I feel it would be wrong to get to April without a dedicated plug. I can’t speak for other women, there are varying degrees of endometriosis from the very mild where it causes no problems, to the severe where it can render a women with disabling symptoms. I am fortunate in that I can (with a bit of surgical intervention) get by. I can work a relatively normal day and have relati ..read more

I absolutely love hacking with my friends, we usually laugh so much that little snorts come out and it's also an excellent time for therapy, I can often start a hack in a bit of a mood and then find when I have come home, I have chewed the ears off my friends and I feel much better. My last exploratory hack was to my parents at Christmas and although we have done some solo hacks in between they have been to places we are comfortable with. As I walked up the Staverton Road and Bodie did a spectacular spook at a tractor up the main road, I decided I needed to give myself a bit more a confidence ..read more

As February is swiftly making an exit, I have to say I have been rubbish at riding! There was almost a 2 week break for Bodie whilst the snow and ice hung around. I do feel awful about it, like this little meme 'You don't stop riding because you get old. You get old because you stop riding' and although this was made for the human counterparts, I think this is very accurate to those older horses out there that are still in work. With March comes Endometriosis Awareness month. It's not something I want to constantly bang on about, but it is worthy of a mention. I have been very lucky to have m ..read more

Snow? check. Mud? check. Complete and utter lack of motivation? check. I have been awful at riding, really awful. As soon as my bones get cold outside, I want to curl up and hide away from the weather. Changes in the ways of working, using a mixture of both online teaching, face to face teaching, setting up pre-recorded lessons, marking students work, giving feedback, nudging those students who haven't sent a submission in, trying to mark photos of students work that have been sent in, which very often are 20% work and 80% background including dining room table ornaments, wildly coloured bedsp ..read more