"Things have been completely manic for me over the last two weeks. Apart from the house sitting i'm doing for my parents - which involves lots of high maintenance pets/animals - I have also decided to move to Kent with my yard as I feel i'm too far from events, and especially in the winter there are fewer and fewer really good competitions round this area that don't require you to travel for miles.

So I have the most phenominal yard i'm renting in Goudhurst, just below Tunbridge Wells. It boasts two indoor schools, an outdoor school, a cross country course, a field to do my galloping in and not only all of this but also it backs onto a 3000 acre woodland with big hills so no hacking around busy roads!!!

I am hoping to reduce the time I spend travelling; the M25 i'm sure will not be great at times but I won't have to drive to Gallops/for cross country schooling etc etc. Hopefully should make a big difference in my fuel bills too!

So things are rather busy. I also have 15 horses in and one more arriving tomorrow. The place is looking cluttered with boxes full of stuff ready to be moved. I've done some of it but have lots and lots of kit, so many trips backwards and forwards for now. As soon as i get a chance we'll take lots of photos of the yard. Exciting times!

The horses have been very good, the young ones are really coming on and ready to go to competitions or schooling days. Bertie in particular is flying along now, his jumping is superb and is so bold. So pleased he's in my yard. Brian is back and going too, it's like he never had a holiday. He has an amazing brain for a young horse - just picks up where he left off. I did however get bucked off one naughty horse this week at high speed! Very amusing for the spectators!

I went to Addington with six last tuesday, their first show in eight weeks and it showed, as they were rather fresh. I also fell off that morning as I rode some before we left. For some reason this time of year I always fall off. A lot. I think it's because they are getting a bit fitter but still not turned out so doesn't take much for them to be very fresh. They all jumped well at the show, lots of clear rounds, Jasper came 2nd in the 1.15. Amber jumped double clear in the Foxhunter and Tweedy jumped well too.

I hoped that Tuesday would tire them out, but sadly they were still quite fresh at dressage at Keysoe the next day. Although Harry performed really lovely tests as did Imp to come 1st and 2nd, Ken was still a bit fresh, needs more outings. Lastly Jasper was great. 1st and 2nd in the mediums which was good for the first dressage show in long time. Unfortunately Bertie damaged the lorry by pulling back and ripping two whole panels off at the bottom, you can't imagine how bad it was! A few thousand pounds has fixed that!

We seem to be having a few things going wrong at the moment, my parents boiler was broken for four days - it was very cold! And my poor Dave (Mightaswell) we've sadly decided to have put down as he is so lame still. He had an infection in the bone and it has never recovered. Very sad, he was such a lovely horse and i hoped he would be a good hack for someone but is not be be. Rest in peace Dave.

I also maybe looking for a home for my Good Sport, 15 years old and needs a quieter life than I give him. He will be fine for lower level eventing so if anyone is interested please contact me. He is unbelievable, so talented but quite cheeky at times.

I took Harry and Romeo to the Equine Pathway training day at Quainton Stud which proved to be very helpful. They both jumped well around a course working on softness and perfecting various things such as keeping my leg soft all the way around the course. Lizzie Murray trained us on the flat, we had three of us in the group but it worked well, working on lateral movements, lots of travers, leg yield, shoulder in etc. The horses went well and became softer and felt more supple. I always find these days very helpful and come back inspired with new exercises to work on.

I have also visited a local primary school, Rougham, to see the children there and take Jasper to be patted and loved! He is an absolute star and stands still happily for appoximately 60 children to say hello. An angel. So were the children, very well behaved and it really did make me happy to see the children so excited by him being there. I am always keen on these sort of visits as it's great to give something back when possible.

So lets hope the forecast of snow for this week is wrong again, thankfully we haven't been too bad at all here and my horses are just starting to go back out in the field again now which they love.

Well more packing to do!!! Can't wait to be properly moved in. I will be available to teach more from in two weeks time, so please feel free to contact me. I am also doing a demonstration on the 22nd February at Hadlow and i'll be taking Tankers Town... hope to see you there.

Signing off now!
Sharon."