"So this is my first blog for Horse & Country! I have been staring at my screen for ages wondering how to start, so here goes.

All about me

"I am 29 and grew up in the bronx of Essex. I come from a non-horsey family but have been madly in love with horses for as long as I can remember. After I left school, I was stable jockey for Tina and Graham Fletcher for five years, before setting up my own yard. I used to show jump mainly but slowly I turned into an eventer, and started producing young horses for sale. Since then I have won the Burghley Young Event Horse final and achieved top ten placings up to CCI three-star level.

I now live in Tetbury in Gloucestershire where I share a yard with my partner Spencer Wilton, a dressage rider. We have a fantastic set-up with an indoor barn, covered horse walker, indoor and outdoor arenas, and lots of fantastic hacking. We have a Labrador called Babs, nine naughty chickens and a field full of young homebred horses.

Show jumping dreams

After a busy season of eventing, in the past few months I have put my show jumping hat back on. There’s nothing I love more than to pack up the lorry with a couple of horses and go jumping for a few days with Who Boy (owned by Jen Goodman) and VIP (owned by Rachael Hart).

In September we headed off to the new national show at Hickstead and had a really good kick-start to our show jumping campaign. We placed in nearly every class and won lots of money - well, more than you win in eventing certainly! I even got to live one of my childhood dreams five times over by jumping in the main ring, and finished third in the Grand Prix! 

We then did the new show at Bury Farm, at which Who Boy (Boyce) had a win and VIP had a late placing in the 1.40m class and qualified for the Grand Prix. Sadly the Grand Prix did not go to plan but it is still early days in our partnership, and VIP is not always at my yard as he stays with his owner a lot of the time. Since then I have been to the Hand and Addington Premier shows and the boys have kept up solid performance with wins and good placings.

A sad farewell

It was a very sad day for the world of jumping to lose the legendary stallion Hickstead. The only positive in the whole thing is that he died doing something he lived for. This horse was a true champion and deserved the admiration he got from his fans all over the world. My condolences go out to all of those connected to him.

She makes my Christmas

Only today did I realise that Christmas is approaching thick and fast, thanks to a friend on Facebook who shared the link to Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas. It really got me going as it's my favourite Christmas song. Once I had stopped skipping round the kitchen like an idiot the shock hit me that it’s only a month away and I have not even thought about what I want for Christmas, let alone what I am getting anyone else!

Staying on the topic of music, you must all check this song out:

Is this Sweden’s answer to Eurovision? If so, I want the Cheeky Girls to write a song for me so I can take on the Swedes with a rival horsey dance song!

I hope I did not completely bore you with my first attempt, and I am sure as I ‘blog on’ I will keep you all up to date in the world of Jay. Meanwhile, feel free to check out my website or you can find me on Facebook or follow me on twitter @jayhalim82. 

Over and out,"

Jay