Hey guys. I hope you are all well, and I have to say things have all been ticking along quite nicely for me. Finally we may have found a new groom, so fingers crossed it all works out.

Don’t you find at this time of year you feel the need to have a spring clean and a good sort out? Well mine started with getting my car cleaned! Firstly I had to muck her out, which took a good 10 minutes, I then took her down to the local car valet and £30 later she came out looking like new! What’s going to get cleaned or thrown out next, I wonder?

So the boys have had an easy few weeks since Patchetts, so I popped them down to Hartpury for an outing. Jen Goodman’s Who Boy won the 1.25m and VIP was second in the 1.35m. This was the first time I had jumped them there, I also used this show as a pre Bluechip Championship run, which is held at Hartpury College. Boyce has qualified for the Winter B/C and 1.25m and VIP is jumping an Open class and the Winter Grand Prix on the 12/13 April.

A few days later I went off to Hand Premier show. The three boys jumped great, and I had some good results. Boyce was fourth in the Winter Grade C qualifier and won a 1.30 class by nearly 4sec - the class had 87 starters in it! VIP jumped really well in the 1.40m classes and finished the week off with a steady double clear in the Grand Prix to finish seventh. We are going for consistency at this level so not worrying too much about fast jump offs.

My very small team of horses is now looking even smaller as Athene H is to go back to his owner at the end of the month. Dutch has been going really well and we have built a good partnership but his owner is cutting back on costs, so he has to go back too. I now have a couple of spaces for some new rides...

As you may have noticed, the team from H&C have made some changes and I think the new look website is ‘looking good’. This does remind me that my website is long overdue a revamp, so watch this space. While I am on the subject of looking good, have you seen the new member of the H&C team - Dean Dibsdall? I cannot wait to see what he has to offer in the upcoming show 'Dean Dibsdall: Model Farrier', but I can tell you guys that I think my farrier is hotter!

Until next time, Jay’s world is over and out!

Jay