“The build up to Pau is going to be quite busy and intense.  I’ve a lot to cram into the few weeks! I am on a serious health kick and have nearly cut out all alcohol and am cycling like crazy around the forest again and running around my XC courses. I plan to be the fittest I’ve ever been. I'm also doing a good job of avoiding the dreaded cold that everybody seems to have and am determined to keep it away.

Lessons with Anna

I went to Bury Farm to have some incredibly valuable lessons with Anna Ross Davies on Monday. We worked on various different things with the horses. Bertie has to learn to stay in a better self carriage and I have to let him make mistakes so I can correct them and therefore he can learn the correct way quicker. His transitions improved and he did some lovely work. Amber was basically the same; we also worked on the preparations for movements in the test at Osberton, correcting her when she was too strong/ keen. Harry’s lesson was perfect really - he tries so hard, Anna calls him the school prefect! Red had his first lesson with Anna; he responded very well, as he can draw back and shorten the neck, we were constantly trying to stretch him and allow him to. He became more confident as the lesson went on. We have lots to work on before Osberton but he responded so well I am sure his test will be pretty good!

Great going

The ground has continued to be brilliant out in the fields so I have been cantering them all for Osberton. Jasper has been cantering well and Kenny also started again the end of this week, ready for Pau. Jasper is surprisingly fit; trotting around the hills really must get their lungs going as they are in good health now! He can do three times around the field quite happily; I am aiming for five ideally by the end of October so this should be achievable. At last the splint looks and feels hard and settled so time to crack on which is very exciting, life without Jasper working hard is just not the same.

A swim for Jasper

I had a midweek trip back to Newmarket to see my family and friends so took some horses with me. I swam Jasper to aid his fitness, it does make him blow hard as he is a very fast swimmer, but it doesn't take him long to recover, unlike galloping. However, it's good to keep it up as you never know when you may not be able to gallop - horses always manage to injure themselves at the most inconvenient times! We collected a mare from Newmarket for Gabriella, which is going to point to point again after a while off. They are collecting pointers at the moment so it will be fun to follow them over the winter!

My little pony!

I have also ridden my first pony for years! Tashe Atkinsen has a lovely bay eventing pony which needs jumping, so I gladly offered. He is quite scopey and brave so it’s good fun; nice to be able to just enjoy riding for fun, rather than permanently having goals. This is to be a job for a while so it will also be satisfying to see improvement in him.

An outing to the South of England

We went to the South of England event this weekend, a relatively local one now for me. The ground was superb and was nice to jump in the main arena which had some atmosphere and was a reasonable size. I had Bertie in the novice, he never fails to please! He was so improved from his lesson and the weeks work and performed a very relaxed test to score 30. He then jumped his usual double clear and finished fourth. I am so pleased with him, he is incredibly brave, and never questions me which is fantastic. A good placing too as the section was very competitive.

Red was in the open novice, as was Harry. I decided Harry needed a XC run as he has Osberton 2* next week and hasn't run since Breda, so I wanted to make sure he was as ready as he could be. He was a little fresh in his test, (he is very fit now and a little cheeky!) scoring 30. Red was much more relaxed and the outline was altogether softer and scored 33. A vast improvement from his Purstons' mark. He then went on to jump a lovely show jumping round but just touched the last, but his xc was again faultless. He will be very reliable and quick, a perfect combination for a very good event horse. He finished seventh and Harry jumped double clear and finished fifth. I had three time faults which cost me second, but the aim was the bigger picture of next week. All these horses are destined for far better things than a good novice placing.

We went back the next day with Amber, who was just to do dressage as she too is at Osberton. She performed her best test for a while and scored 26.4, joint lead! I hadn't been planning to jump her at all, so hadn't since Breda which showed when we had a fence down. She was slightly too keen and had the front bar of a parallel which is most unlike her. I withdrew her, even though the ground was good, she has already run around that track and didn't need to again. I made the most of returning though by filling the lorry with ones to work. It was well worthwhile, I schooled Kenny and Jasper in the 2* arena which had the flowers up still. It was so good to school them quietly in the arena without pressure; all horses need this especially my two red heads that have a tendency to get excited! I also took Nelson to school. He has grown so much that I have taken him very carefully, he won't be ready this year to event, and I’m in no hurry as he is a lovely horse. He has super paces and a very good brain; he really wants to please, so should be exciting to start next year. I rode Bomber too; he needs as much exposure as possible to the outside world! He is improving all the time but can get distracted if there is a lot going on, hopefully soon he will be bored by it all!

A good weekend again, all set for next week hopefully! My team of horses are really coming along, and it’s great to be having a good season; I’ll be doing my best to keep the good results coming!”