"It's the end of September already, and Christmas preparations will begin in no time. We are all looking forward to the cold, wet, mud, rugs and all the other things that go with winter at a busy riding school.

Today we had a video day course in which riders were videoed during a lesson and then had a feedback session, followed by a second lesson to improve what they had seen on the video. The feedback session was very animated and full of interesting sound effects as everyone realised they didn’t actually enjoy seeing themselves on the television!

Last Thursday was our John Bowen dressage clinic. I had a good session with Queijada, although she is still very unimpressed when John comes into the school to assist with a piaffe whip. We were not actually meant to be demonstrating airs above the ground! We had 17 other horse and rider combinations and everyone had a great day.

We had a very busy weekend now that the kids are back to school and people are settling down into their normal routines. On Sunday we held a Dressage Day course for the Intermediate Rider and it was a really successful course including two rides, lectures and a demonstration by some of our Advanced horses, Marcus, Pik Dame, Deskant and Krystal.

This week I am having the school painted and the gallery revamped in preparation for our ‘Dressage Unravelled’ demonstration with John Bowen on the 24th October. It will be lots of hard work, but also lots of fun preparing the school and then also the horses and riders for the event. Everyone is welcome to attend; tickets are £15 if paid in advance. Feel free to call the office for further details.

The revamped gallery also makes a nice area for our vaulting group to meet and work on the barrels and for the static horse. I am really pleased with the way the vaulting group is taking off; especially as my son Zak is one of the star members! We have already had several placings at competitions, including the British Championships. It adds a great variety to the kids' time spent on the horses and is also invaluable in terms of balance and co-ordination. I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone - adults, children and non-riders alike. In fact, this weekend we are holding an Adults Only session as well as our normal sessions.

I think we are in for an exciting week as clipping has commenced and the horses tend to get a little spirited. Also looking forward to the staff and clients' social evening at the local Chinese Restaurant on Sunday where we can all talk about horses, eat far too much and have lots of wine."