"It seemed a short week with the Bank Holiday; I had a rare day off on Monday which was fantastic. Great to catch up with friends too, often don't do this enough when we're mid season.

I took four horses to Bury Farm on Tuesday for lessons with Anna. As we had a few dry days and sunshine we worked Jasper and Kenny outside on the grass, which proved very helpful. I tried to trick Jasper into thinking he was performing a test but no chance!!! Far too intelligent for that. Anna was impressed at how much better Kenny looks and is going; he really is an exciting prospect for this year. I also had lessons with Harry who was his usual brilliant self and Tweedy who did some excellent work. These two will do very good tests soon.

With the South of England coming up and some in their first BE100 classes I was back to Lodge Farm for more XC schooling. The ground is great there, it drains well. It has everything for babies, lots of steps, ditches and water. I filled the lorry up as usual; they were all reasonably well behaved! I did however fall off Tweedy who was incredibly fresh and felt it amusing to deposit his rider in front of about 20 riding club members who must've had a giggle! Not one for being embarrassed about these things though I got back on and laughed at the situation. Bambi was the superstar, definitely ready for a novice now, looking forward to that soon. I also cantered Jasper as the ground was so good, he felt great, was a little on the strong side though!

I was lucky enough to be invited to a talk/dinner on Metacam, a drug I actually use on a few occasions already with great results. It has a much quicker withdrawal than bute and acts in the same way, except it won't upset the gut if used long term as bute can. It is however more expensive but the withdrawal period makes it attractive for competition horses. The evening was lovely and met some new people, gradually knowing more and more.

I always struggle for time with paperwork and now I've moved this is still no exception as there are even more things I can do instead of this! I did spend all Thursday afternoon staring at figures which I actually find quite tiring, I'm much better at riding... It's a nasty shock when you've your own yard and you have to do all the books and bills. Hopefully one day I can afford a secretary!

We took Leanne out for dinner for her final night to say thank you for the work she's done over the last month. I think she found it rather tiring at times but really helped us, so she was very much appreciated. This is a great scheme for pupils and for us, really gives them a chance to see what real life in yards is like.

We then had three days at a gloriously sunny South of England Show (for the first two anyway). Tweedy and Bertie were in their first BE100 classes and after walking the course I thought there was enough for them to look at, especially the last water where there was a big log in or trot around it and two parts coming out. The ground looked great in places but would be wet in others... Bambi was also in the 100 with Bert in the Open section, they were all brilliant, their marks were all good, 28 (Bambi) 31 (Bertie) and 32 (Tweedy). They then proceeded to jump beautiful double clears each, I was held up with Tweedy with someone I caught up that wouldn't move out of the way so had eight time faults and finished 7th. Bambi went towards the end of the class so I carefully went around the mud and had three time faults to finish 5th and Bertie was faultless (in all aspects!) and came 3rd. It is so rewarding when these young horses do well. I now would like to find some owners for Tweedy and Bertie; I have very high opinions of both.

I took a few to work as the ground was so good. Harry, Romeo, Kenny and Imp for the two days prior to his test which really paid off as he scored a 17 in the open novice! He show jumped clear but not XC I still have work to do unfortunately. I swapped Amber into Ken's place as he didn't need the run, she did do a nice test but was in the OI section and their standard is much higher. She jumped double clear though so this was all I was hoping for in such a fierce section. The ground was deep in places and I went about 8th to go and found it deep enough then so went steadily and carefully. I honestly believe that sort of ground pulls tendons and I was surprised there were lots of good horses run quickly. This was still only her second run, I have plenty more yet! Jasper performed a great pre Badminton test so hopefully he can reproduce this in a few weeks time...

I hope the sunshine continues for Belton, I've five running there and would like some dry ground to run faster on, I only have a few top horses and intend to keep them all on the road as best I can!"