A month of changes for Kayleigh Grant

The last time I wrote was the beginning of November and I was recovering from my back operation – which so far has been brilliant, am really pleased with the result. Texan enjoyed his 6 weeks out in the field (I think!) and I rode him for the first time on the 14th November he was lovely, his usual buzzy self, I had my mum and Heather at the side of the sand school saying “enough Kayleigh” but I and he felt fine!

November was a really busy month looking back, Heather and I decided we were ready for a move so we decided to take our two from DIY to Part Livery and become ladies of leisure and to try and free up our time a bit so we could concentrate on our riding. We are now at a yard which has superb facilities 60x35, rubber flood lit sand school, XC course, 12x12 internal boxes, bliss! The pair of them settled in really well which was good as it was so stressful! The other great thing about the new place is the hacking, it is amazing, literally all off road and around quiet country lanes. There is a golf course a 15 minute ride away which has a bridleway the whole way round!

With all of this hacking we were doing, I was still being quite cautious with him as he still didn’t have any shoes on, but he seemed to be coping really well. I made sure that whenever the farrier was up I got him to cast an eye over them but he said they were fine.

The first lot of snow just before Xmas completely put us off track, we were due to go to Hand Equestrian for the New Year show, but they didn’t leave their boxes for 5 days as we were snowed in! So we decided to pull our entries and just enjoy the time off work! Thankfully we had no more snow between Christmas and New Year and we managed to enjoy some really lovely riding and exploring the roads.

Then we got the second batch of snow which was just as ridiculous as the first lot! So again they were in for another 5 or 6 days, our poor yard owner got through so much hay! The snow cleared and they were let out for a couple of hours each day and we finally managed to get out and ride on the weekend of the 16th January, (Seems a lifetime ago now!) we just plodded around the roads which was nice as the sun was shining!

I then went up there on the Monday night to ride, and decided to do a bit of schooling as I got Tex out he seemed very reluctant to come out of his box but he did, so thought nothing of it, however he didn’t feel quite right when I got on so didn’t do to much in the end. I got off and un-tacked him and thought he was standing very odd, slightly laminitic, but thought to myself they surely can’t get laminitis this time of year?! How wrong was I……. I finally put it down to foot sore as we went out on a ride over the weekend, so I left a note on the board asking for Tex to stay in the following day which he did. I got up there the next night to pull him out, to which he hobbled out on his 2 back legs…… first thing in the morning I called the vets who confirmed that they could get laminitis this time of year so out the vet came that afternoon….. he has been in ever since the 19th of January, finally let out this weekend for the first time! He was a complete angel on box rest, unless his girlfriend Pia went out which caused so much havoc Heather agreed that Pia can stay in to, as he would do the same for her! I just had to stay with him every time she rode, which was a pain but it kept him quiet!

We decided to get x rays done of all four of his feet as he was insured and because hasn’t got the best of hooves we thought it would be beneficial for my farrier to see what he was playing with when he finally shod him…………. this opened up another can of worms! The x rays showed us that although he has got good strong bones and joints his front feet are very wonky and his pedal bone is very close to the sole of his feet. The farrier decided that pads and wedgies on the inside to re align his forelimbs would work the best for him.

Between the Vet and Farrier, they have assured me that with this corrective shoeing and patience it will all come right, they reckon that he will be back jumping by the summer. He had his new shoes fitted last Wednesday and so far so good, he is literally 99.8% sound, the vet is up on the 26th to re-assess but I can hop on this week but to a strict exercise regime, lots of walking and little trotting.. taking it very slowly to build up the muscles in his legs to support him. I might just have to take up dressage now for the next few months!

I am due to get on him this week – so fingers crosses its uneventful, I am just glad he can now go out so he can get rid of any exuberance he may have! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog I will update you next month with our progress!

Nicola Latham's latest blog: A long hard winter...

Its been a long hard winter this year. All the horses that were being produced came home for a well earned spell of R&R (rest and recuperation). Its not been an easy year at Windsor Wood Yard. Tough decisions have been reached regarding horses and riders for the next year partly due to the current financial climate.

Tommy Tucker (lightweight cob) has been sold to Martin and Janet with the condition that he retires back at Windsor Wood once his showing career is over and that he comes back during the winter months for his R&R. A heartbreaking decision for Paul as this horse was his pride and joy and a firm favourite with all who know him and his cheeky character.

Beconsall Pickpocket (Munch), the large hack, sees a change of rider for the forthcoming season and we are honoured to have Alistair Hood on board. Both parties are very excited at this prospect and hope for great things this year. Munch arrived in Alistair’s yard on Sunday 31 January and has settled in straight away. Alistair rang Paul on Monday 1 February having already ridden Munch and forming a plan for the coming season. We think Alistair must have been like a child waiting for Christmas morning waiting for the morning to arrive so he could ride Munch straight away. This enthusiasm is infectious and we are all eager to get going again now.

Kingswood (Alf), large riding horse, remains at home with Suzanne Hibbard keeping the ride for the upcoming season. Freshly clipped out and trimmed up, Kingswood is looking the picture of health and contentment. We seemed to be dogged by the weather at the moment but hopefully he will return to work and fitness over the next month or so with a first show aimed for April.

Tess and Tintin's latest blog: It's still winter!

First of all we are very excited to be part of the Forest Farmacy squad and being able to use the wide range of natural supplements for our horses.

So finally the season is approaching, no more snow, lovely sunny days and perfect going. That is our wish list for this year! We have been really lucky this winter as our neighbours have been so kind to let us use their fantastic indoor school - what a treat! The horses are back in full work and so far they are looking good (which really should be expected when the season hasn't even started yet..)

This season will be interesting as our little daughter Iris, now 10 months probably will have started to walk by then, making her parents even more busy than ususal at the competitions. Our first outing will probably be at Tweseldown with a couple of horses, hope the spring has arrived by then! But before that we will do lots of show jumping, dressage and more fitness work.

We have had some good results with the Forest Farmacy products, I tried Power against Pain on my retired advance horse who injured a low ligament which couldn't be treated and after a couple of weeks he was sound as a bell. We have also just started a couple of horses on Joint Power and it will be interesting to see the results. We have one horse with sweet itch and one with skin problems so watch this space for updates!

Find out a little more about squad member Jonny Betteridge

Jonny is an up and coming young rider that is just starting out on the Eventing scene. Having ridden on and off from the beginning of his life, he recently made the decision to start affiliated Eventing. In his first year of affiliated Eventing Jonny competed successfully at Intro level and managed to gain some very kind sponsors that are helping him to fulfil his dream to event professionally. Jonny aims to gain a place on Junior and Young rider teams in the future, and eventually to compete at the highest level. He currently only rides and competes the one horse Presley, who was brought as a replacement after his previous horse sadly had to be put sleep for various internal issues. Bad luck after more back luck hit Jonny throughout the 2009 season leading to him being unable to compete in many events, and not having much preparation for the ones that he did compete in. These misfortunes include Presley being injured at his first event after the dressage, leading to him having three months off. The other catching his head-collar on his stable door, leading to him doing some bad damage to his neck and back. Presley's particular forte lies in show jumping and Jonny has had many BSJA wins and placings on him. He currently has £534 in winnings which he has won throughout the various BSJA competitions he has attended. Jonny's Mum also owns an eventer with International event rider Chris King. By pure luck Jonny and his Mum spotted Mexico walking off a lorry last september, and after seeing him being ridden for literally 5 minutes his Mum decided to buy him. Chris King then came to try him about 3-4 months after his Mum had purchased him and decided to take him on. What a find he turned out to be! after doing nothing in 2008 as a 5yo he has progressed up-to novice level being placed in every event which he has attended in the 2009 season; getting some particular good scores in the dressage phase including 24.0 and 29.0. Next season Mexico will hopefully progress up-to Intermediate and compete in his first CCI* hopefully culminating the season in a CIC**.

Find out more about Jonny by visiting www.JCBeventing.com

Sarah Jane Brown updates on a busy month at Shoestring Eventing

This month we have actually started to get into gear a bit. Although there has not been a huge amount of competitions we have managed to get a fair bit of training in and new boy Ashley has done the majority of his basic fitness work.

We have had a couple of fantastic lessons with Caroline Creighton (BE accredited trainer and resident trainer to Lucy Weigersma). We have been working on improving the quality and energy of Sarnita’s canter using a variety of exercises to engage the hind leg and get her in front of my leg.

This showed to be much improved at our first competition in 2010 when we were 2nd in a strong 1.10 open although the day was slightly spoilt with 2 down in the following Foxhunter. We have had a couple of sessions with Pammy Hutton which really changed my flatwork schooling. She basically pointed out that I had made a very amateur mistake by presuming that as we were now advanced the horse had to be up in front but in doing this I lost her engagement. By working for 2 sessions deep and round the engagement returned as did the suppleness and the fancy movements! In February we are off to Talland for 3 days so hopefully we can cement the improvement.

Ashley has progressed fantastically well. I have still not done a huge amount with him as I have been trying to get basic level of fitness however we are starting school work and he has shown a willingness to learn and a quick brain. He is changing shape and muscling up all the time, I’m hoping to hunt him a little before the season ends in preparation for him to hopefully start eventing in May. He has already been promoted from a short term project to no.2 horse!

This weekend we tried our first ever JAS competition with Sarnie at West Wilts. Probably a long way to go for a single class (4 and a half hours each way) but it was nice to do something different. Unfortunately she didn’t go her best and reverted to being behind the leg but despite this finished 6th and qualified for the finals at Addington. The distance may prevent us going but was great to qualify. Things are getting busy now so plenty more next month. In the meantime keep up to date via www.shoestringeventing.co.uk

Rhiannon Ball's January blog

Well, since December quite a bit has happened. I travelled to Liverpool for the Oliver Townend Nationals. I can not begin to describe how cold it was - even in my lorry with the heating on full! I was amazed at the substantial size of the venue - it was unbelievable. The competition was fantastic! Chisum did very well and finished 8th in the under 25 nationals - a result that i was overjoyed with. We then returned home to have snow falling the following week, this put our competition plans on hold (no menage and horsebox snowed in), but all the horses got a well deserved brake and a chance to play in the snow.

As soon as the snow cleared it was all go again, this involved re-introducing the youngster to his schooling and pole/jump work and re-starting Chisums flatwork training, in preparation for a dressage show. The preparation paid off - he did an amazing job; in the novice he came 3rd with a good 68% and further improved in the elementary finishing 2nd. This has given us the boost to continue trying at our least favourite discipline.

Max, the 3yr old I broke in October is going superbly, he is in his 4th year now so i am hoping to aim him at the BYEH qualifiers as well as the BSJA 4YO classes. He had his first outing the other day and jumped an impressive double clear. I am now in the process of getting all the horses fitter, something im struggling with as revision for my forthcoming GCSE exams are needing more attention than i had thought!

I also received some exciting news; I have qualified both my horses for the British Dressage Winter National Championships. Chisum has qualified for the prelim combined training while Charlie has qualified for the combined training novice finals. This should make up for missing out on the Summers which I had qualified for.

The Organic Horse products I am using have worked wonders! The Horse Power provided Chisum with the energy i needed without an 'over-excitable' or 'un-rideable' horse. The Joint Power definitely helps Chisum move more freely and a lot more willingly. I also received several compliments on my horses condition, which I have put down to feeding them Coat Power, it has bought out a healthy shine to their coats.

Georgina Rose's blog: Finally something to talk about other than snow!

At last I can write about something other than snow! The horses are now all back in work, and I am starting to see the 'light at the end of the tunnel' with Januray out of the way and only Febuary left as the only real wintery month remaining

Merlin, our 16 yr old, is contuning to produce some brilliant jumping work, and I have every confidence that it is purely down to the Joint and Respiratory Power we have had him on. I've never been able to do as much with him as I'm doing now in the 5 years we have owned him; when the sun comes out I will make sure to take some photos and show you his transformation!

Penny is loving being back in work, she thrives on exercise and I think was quite relieved to have something to do. I'm aiming her at a Winter League Qualifier in mid feb as long as the weather holds, and then its looking towards the hunter trial season beginning in March which I am really excited about as she is really on song so far.

Having just turned 4 (ahh) our little NF gelding, Wally, is continuning to impress in his attitude to everything, being just as level headed as he was before all of that time off! His schooling is coming along nicely, and he is now hacking happily around the farm again. I hope to introduce some polework back into his routine again soon, with the intention of jumping him come spring in preperation for sale.

My new business, Rose Equine, is off to a flying start this month as everything starts to happen now the weather has given us the opportuntiy! We have completed fencing a new paddock in readyness for new horses, had alot of interest regarding lessons, so now just waiting to start buying stock in and we're away!

This month I have also had my first two driving lessons, and all I can think about is passing my test so I can get started on a horsebox!

After being an agent for Organic Horse over xmas, I have continued to advertise the products and have had alot of interest - I have sent several people catalogues so hopefully more satisfied customers! I cant wait to see the Organic Horse Squad jackets , and am looking forward to sporting them out and about in the upcoming season - theres lots to look forward to, so roll on spring!

Sam Penn takes to the stage in her latest blog!

Well, its been a fairly crazy few weeks with lots of dressage and showjumping outings and lots of lessons, so at the moment things look to be progressing well and hopefully we shall be ready for our first outing which is planned to be to Isleham. Mary Ann Horn is my dressage trainer and she has been helping me get to grips with the moves that I will be finding at advanced level such as half pass and flying changes, having an experienced horse like Smurf has helped enormously with this although poor Brooke has a lot to learn, but he is getting to grips with it pretty well and my new 'magic potion' called Perfect Performance from Forest Farmacy is is really helping to keep his anxiety levels under control. As ever Brooke's showjumping has been super with two 1sts and a 3rd from two outings.

Coevers Diamond Clover has progressed exceptionally well over the winter and is being much more polite about his dressage now regularly scoring 65%+ at novice level, I am hoping he remains as nice outside the safety of four walls and in large open spaces, although I am learning not to get involved in a test of strength as he will win everytime, sometimes though, that is easier said than done. His jumping has been fab, he has already got 4 double clears at both British Novice and Discovery level plus 2 already from his only two starts in Newcomers in which he has been 1st and 3rd, I will be quite sad to see him go when the time comes but he will very soon be for sale as his owners are rather overstocked.

Perhaps my biggest piece of news was of my 'stage debut' in our local village pantomime, I played the part of the Genie in Aladdin, dressed up all in pink with large fake boobs and a pink wig (with tiara)!!!! It was great fun but I dont think I shall be giving up the day job and moving to Hollywood just yet.

I cant believe we have already done entries for Isleham, eeeeeekk, its nearly that time again....

Tilly Tillbrook's blog: A difficult month but hopefully no more false starts

Just as we got going with our new saddles, the snow hit – disaster! Firstly Area 12 dressage was cancelled, then both the BD competitions I had entered, plus all the BSJA in the area, and whilst Boysie had great fun out in the snow, as it melted he did a trash job on his rug leaning over the fence to pick at emerging grass. Oh well, everyone is in the same boat I suppose! It got me fit anyway as I ended up cycling the 12 mile round trip to the yard.

Just as the snow melted, I had some sad news which involved me being away for the week due to the death of my stepfather. I abandoned Boysie and raced down to Dorset to support my mum, canceling lessons as I drove!

Finally, I got back on a week ago, and we’ve been out for a couple of jumping lessons and had Tessa Thorne over to help with our flatwork. I held off entering anything as me doing so seems to precipitate either extreme weather events or family tragedy, so lessons seemed the safest bet for the time being.

However, I have just put my entry in for Aston le Walls unaffiliated, and whilst I’d love to say the preparation has started in earnest, in fact I am manically busy catching up with all the work I had to put off due to the snow, and packing for my holiday in the first week of February!

With any luck, we’ll actually get going properly next month, and all these false starts will be over.

Just before I sign off, I must give you an update on the Organic Horse products I’ve been trying. I’ve been feeding Boysie the Joint Powder, Gut Powder and Coat Powder. Firstly, I have to congratulate Organic Horse on such an easy to feed way of packaging supplements – though I suspect if you have large hands getting them into the pouches may be tricky as you get to the bottom of each pack. I particularly like the fact that each pouch minimizes packaging, and if refills could be sold in a paper bag which I could recycle, that would be even better for the environment. I don’t think I’ve ridden enough to give any honest feedback on the joint supplement yet, but I can say that Boysie’s feed smells great and he loves the herb powders – so far so good. He’s feeling very well, and there have been no recurrence of any gut problems, so feeding the gut powder gives me a bit of peace of mind that I am doing all I can to support his systems. I’m really pleased with the coat powder – after all the drugs he’d been on, he had developed a bit of a scurfy coat, but a month of feeding this and he’s looking very glossy again, which is wonderful. I’m hoping it will mean less elbow grease for me in the summer when I need to get him smart for shows too, you never know your luck!

Roma Oakes' latest blog and piccys of the new boy Baker

The heavy snow has played havoc with our plans but we did manage to get some riding done and I think that Baker is learning that he can trot at various speeds and length of stride. We haven't cracked a relaxed medium trot yet but we are getting there. I even had a jumping lesson on him on Tuesday! I would have been happy to get over a small cross pole but Joan had us building up to a three fence grid and it was really fun. Baker enjoys his jumping but he didn't get out of control and when I got the turn into the grid correct it was easy to keep him steady and relaxed. It made a nice change to doing flat work, but it has also had the benefit of improving our walk/canter transitions and holding a steady canter round a corner so I'll definitely be doing it again.

I've been using the Forest Farmacy 'Ring craft' drops to help him with his concentration and I really do think they have helped, he isn't as easily distracted but I think we still have a bit of a way to go on that front. I also spray on 'Clean Limbs' after we have worked to help his joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles etc to adjust to his new job as a dressage horse. He really objected to the spray at the start and danced about all over the place trying to avoid it but then Joan suggested that I hold up one leg at a time and spray like that - it worked like magic!

We are also adding 'Coat Power' and 'Joint Power' to his feed, he's not thrilled about the taste but he is getting used to it. Apparently the first time it was given to him he looked at it in disgust, but then his natural Irish greediness took over.

We managed to get through the snow to a show on 31st Jan and did two prelim tests. We scored 60% and 60.4% in these. The good thing was that I was able to speak to both judges and they both said the same things - he has fabulous presence and paces but needs to get his chin off his chest. We are working hard on that, but it was good to hear that they both thought he has great potential. Hope you enjoy seeing the photos - at last!

Selina Anna Campbell's blog: All is fun and love in snow... if you don't have horses that is!

Now the snow has gone, the real work can commence. I have been out and about quite a bit in the last month. We have qualified for the National Festival of the Hunter at Cavan, Ireland and have made it to the final of a few Derby leagues we have attended. This has been quite a steep learning curve for both Mya (No Illusion) and I as the Derby courses really do come up on you quick and fast!! I couldn’t do it without the help of Nicola, my travelling coach and best friend. We are having an absolute ball!!

Getting excited about the possible (finger crossed) arrival of Mya’s half brother/sister in May all being well... We were at the vet in the middle of January and when I asked him if he could tell what sex the foal is, he said he could tell me with 50% accuracy..what a comic!?!

On another note, I have been using the Emergency Herbal spray by Forest Farmacy which stems blood flow from cuts and cleanses at the same time. Mya can be a little clumsy, so we have had to use the spray on a number of occasions. It works very well and the spray is not too pressured as I have had to use it on Mya’s face a few times without any objection..result!

So, this month sees the end of a number of Derby leagues and intense preparation begin towards working hunter competitions! That’s about all from me so far, but if I get into any mischief, I’ll be sure to update you..

Jenna Copley's blog: S'no let up for us!

Despite the poor weather, training continued, although jumping was replaced with long walks in the snow. I have now tried various methods to keep snow from balling in the hooves, good old vaseline still won, but plasticine also worked well, but was rather expensive!

I have put a stop to the snow now though, I bought some snow rim pads for the hooves and had a set installed in the front of my second horse, Peer's, shoes. I was keen to test them out, but all snow is now off, clearly worth buying them for that!

So January started with BE Jump Training 100 at Hartpury, our drawn time was quite late at 5pm, so was under lights in the indoor school. We were warmed up by Nick Guanlett, which was pure bliss for me! Not only did you get instruction, but you also got someone putting up the jumps and the warm up jumps to yourself. As a regular lone showjumper, it was lovely to have someone on the ground for a change! The tips were pretty good too! The actual jumping went very well in the first round, but we were running out of puff in the second, although I was definitely more tired than the horse! I was gob smacked to be placed 2nd and we have now qualified for the BE Jump Training Final.

The second big thing in January was an Andy Austin Masterclass for 'HORSE' Magazine. Paladin and I were selected for the masterclass, which was a lesson whilst they take lots of photos. I got a huge amount out of the lesson and it highlighted what a difference a pure discipline trainer can make. I have been putting all that I learnt into practise - and have been learning to hit the 'sweet spot' on big oxers, as we did have a problem with taking off too far away.

Paladin and I will be featured in a 5 page spread in the March issue of HORSE, lets just hope the pictures aren't too cringe worthy!!

Oli Lawrence's blog: Exams and multi tasking!

It’s all go here. In the last week, we’ve been to Devon and back, bought a horse and done some BD and BSJA, not to mention my exams at school during all that.... With the season almost upon us it’s been all go to get ready.

So, our first dressage competition of the new year was also a test of my new years resolution – to map read better! We only took one wrong turning on our journey there – well how was I supposed to know it wouldn’t be sign posted?! The test itself was a little tricky with Dell deciding to be slightly immature, at least he’s getting it out of his system now!

Thankfully all my exams are now over for the moment but I’m sure the summer set will come round before I’ve realised it.... Oh why was I born in the most examined country in the world? Results wise though we’ll just have to wait and see – tremble...

However, just before my exams I was searching through Horse Quest (Yes, I’d done my revision!!) and saw an advert for a 6yo grey gelding. So we were off to Devon pronto and found a little super star. Meet Gray an iron grey 6yo gelding so keep an ear open for him.

With the season so close it’s time to get the brain into the 550 mpm and 600mpm (metres/minute) rhythm. We’ve been measuring distances, although we only knew the length of the gallops in furlongs - furlongs to metres ermm?! As you can imagine that one took a while.... With that sorted, we’ve got a very neat plan for doing timing practise at the same time as their fitness work – Yes, boys can multi-task!!

Kelly Dickson's blog: A bad start but a good ending to the month

The month started off the same as December ended, with snow and ice. We finally got rid of it around the second week of January. The task then was to try and bring back some fitness. Some schooling, lunging and a bit of hacking was needed but didn't manage to do any jump practice as the school and field were still quite hard and frozen.

I booked our first outing for the 23rd to go to Sparsholt for the Discovery class. Just when I thought things were improving letting me finally go somewhere, my lorry broke. The morning I was due to go I went to top up the water only to find out it was pouring out of the engine as fast as I was pouring it in. I am now waiting for my mechanic to shock me with how much it will cost to fix, hopefully not too much.

I did manage to eventually go somewhere the week after. I borrowed my sister's lorry and travelled down to Summerhouse on the 31st. It was very cold and frosty. For those of you who are not familiar with Summerhouse, it is outdoors on an all weather arena. The ground was still quite frozen by the time it was my class so had to be careful with his legs. I entered the Discovery as I was desperately trying to get that last double clear. I was very nervous as his hasn't seen a jump in 2 months let alone go to a show, hence he was quite spooky.

Charlie was a star, he was very forward and took me to every fence, not backing off once. Maybe went a little bit fast and a bit bold but we can work on that next time. He jumped lovely to get a double clear and 5th place. So now we are out of the Discovery class due to winning too much.

First aim of the year is now in the bag, and looking forward to trying for the other aims I have planned for the year. The JOINT POWER supplement must be working well at the moment as Charlie seems full of energy and wasn't bothered about the hard ground.

Anna Bailey's blog: Back to work with lots to do...

I had a busy month in December with teaching, having a couple of horses in to school and Cairo to sell. Its amazing how busy you can be even without competing, it makes you wonder how you can fit in shows as well....

Timmy ended up having a month off as I needed his stable so he managed to grow a nice thick coat and then got turned out with Gringo who was still healing from his nasty kick. I managed to get Cairo out to Royal Leisure a couple of times. The first outing he had one down in the jump off but I was pleased with the way he went as this was my first show with him. We then went back the week after to jump a lovely double clear but was a little too slow so no placings. He did however pick up his first dressage ribbon at Golden Cross just before Christmas finishing 4th in the Prelim. He really is a super horse for anyone looking for a eventer this spring?!

Christmas and New year came and went so now due to the disgusting amount of mud we have all the horses are in and back in work. Timmy has been fairly good about his holiday and then coming back into work so maybe he is finally growing up.... He has been doing some road work and schooling and even had a jumping lesson last week which was ever so exciting! He is off to dressage this Wednesday as his first outing since November so hopefully he will stay in the arena!!!! I will be testing the Forest Farmacy Evening Performance calming products so fingers crossed!

Gringo is all fixed and now being ridden. He was very good about me sitting on him so fingers crossed he will stay like that. He still does not understand the concept of leg on means go forward which will improve over the next few weeks (hopefully). Yesterday he decided he was fed up with me kicking him so stopped, turned his head around and tried to chew my foot! I then resorted to someone chasing me with a lounge whip to get him to go forward - poor boy! He is going to be a stunning horse so I cant wait to get him out to show him off.

More exciting news is that I am setting up a new website to promote the Equine Sports Therapy. Along side the teaching I am now working on equine massage, stretching and laser treatment. It is a fantastic way to keep all horses whether they compete or just hack in peak condition. I offer a full MOT, looking at the horses movement, shoeing, saddle fit, teeth, diet and assess the muscle development and muscle state in order to work out a way to fix them. Until it is up and running please see www.annabaileyeventing.com for updates.

Jo Barry's blog: Getting back in the saddle after the snow!

The snow has gone and has returned but it did allow for just over 2 weeks of riding in between. The spell over Christmas is the longest that I haven't ridden in many years...4 weeks and 4 days, not that I was counting!! Thank goodness it placed itself over Christmas and New Year so that for at least 2 weeks I almost didn't notice!

At the start of January I tried to get some care issues dealt with...teeth were checked and done ( I get them checked every 6 months) and flu jags and wormings were given.

Once the snow disappeared I tried to start work gradually with the boys but they were determined to push things on and get back to more serious work, it seemed they had missed the gym! They faired better than me...I ached for the first week, legs were fine but my stomach muscles and seat bones knew they had been rested!

Freddie had two weeks of work before we headed down to Cheshire for two days training with Stephen Clarke. It was good to have input and reassurance that things were going ok. It is difficult when you train mainly on your own not to start being too hard on yourself and obsessing over certain ideas and issues. Also I think when you have had a break it is easy to romanticise over how well your horse had been going before the break and it leads to disappointment in their standard when you re-start and in reality there is very little difference in how they are going!?!

The reality, I started work in front of Stephen and he thought Freddie looked great...I was left feeling a little ashamed that I hadn't felt satisfied with what we had achieved since our last visit. Stephen reads my personality well and trains me accordingly making me look and concentrate on the big picture rather than stressing about the detail. His approach is to create an idea about a movement then once that is understood then tidy up the areas that need work, I think it leads to a less pressurised way of learning.

So, home again and now trying to plan a schedule towards the Winter Semi Finals at the end of February. The snow came back today but I hope it will be just short-term. The plan is to take Freddie and Rafa to a competition locally this Saturday to remind them what life is all about and then I head down to Carl's mid-February with them both for 4 days which hopefully will set them up fully for the Semis.