"In the second instalment of our behind-the-scenes blog, I'm writing from the Dressage Deluxe National Dressage Championships at Stoneleigh Park. The team is here to tweet, pap, report on the action and have lots of laughs... while working extremely hard of course!

Early morning exercise

At a competition like this you never know who you might bump into while wandering around the grounds. For our crew this can create quite a dilemma. While out and about getting our bearings, myself and our camera-girl Katie bumped into Carl Hester. Well, obviously we had to grab him for an interview, but with just one radio microphone on them it was up to Katie to sprint back across Stoneleigh Park “at the speed of Usain Bolt” (according to her) to fetch the second one from the press tent. By just 10am she declared herself done for the day.

Carl just kept popping up, but the best bit was when I got to have a chat with his adorable sidekick Snoopy the Daxijack (Dachshund cross Jack Russell). He wasn’t too keen on the microphone at first, but he soon opened up. Take a look through our gallery below to see Snoopy telling me about his day.

When the H&C team escape

As much as we love being confined to the press office while trying to make technology become our friend, it’s also great when we get the chance to escape and take in some of the other entertainment on show. This afternoon we were treated to a freestyle to music lecture with H&C favourites Richard Davison and Charlotte Dujardin and a masterclass by Laura B.

Our favourite bit of interval entertainment, though, was the "Bad Boys" Pas de Deux performed by Charlie Hutton and Henry Boswell. Talk about heart-throbs! We decided that we definitely heart these boys as we watched them performing their routine to music by the likes of Alexandra Burke and Alesha Dixon. We were oh so sad when we didn’t get a chance to flutter our eyelashes at them over a microphone.

Farouche in the flesh

The final of the Shearwater Potential International Dressage Horse Championship was also fascinating as we watched the top young horses be ridden by Daniel Sheriff and judged on their potential to be world class performers. Woodlander Farouche, ridden by Michael Eilberg, took top honours without a shadow of a doubt. It was breathtaking to see this stunning mare in the flesh. No exaggeration – H&C journalist Jess nearly fainted! She’s truly a credit to British breeding (the mare, I mean, not Jess). Michael told us afterwards that she’s going to have a bit of a well-deserved holiday.

Smile

Our paparazzi team were out in force again today, shooting the crowds and hounds at the BD Nationals. Check out our gallery below to see if you were snapped. We also took lots of photos of the warm-up arena, as well as the Elementary and Advanced Medium classes, so don’t think you were safe from our lens even if you were on horseback.

We’ve seen some fabulous competition here today and it’s clear that the standard of British dressage is higher than ever, and with horses like Woodlander Farouche rising through the ranks, hopefully Team GBR will have plenty more medals coming their way next year."

Jenny