Here is a round up of recent events at Contessa by Assistant Yard Manager, Sarah Jackson.

"Even though the children have gone back to school, Contessa is a still very busy with plenty of events having taken place… On Monday 6th September we hosted a BHS CPD day taken with FBHS Nick Turner, focusing on indoor eventing. There was a good turnout and Amy, Sarah and regular client Sharon rode Jaya, Real and Charly respectively. This was a great opportunity for all those involved and a valuable day's training. Later in the month we had a John Bowen dressage clinic. All horses and riders went very well and we will see if they have done their homework for the next clinic on the 24th November. We would like to welcome Jo White to the Contessa team, who is here as a working student training towards her BHS exams. The horses and ponies want to thank Amy for making them more comfortable now it’s colder by giving them a clip and getting their winter rugs out. In October we had day courses focusing on other equestrian disciplines, including western riding and adult only vaulting. They proved very popular and so may be a more frequent feature in our calendar. During half term we ran pony days for our younger riders and at the end of the week held a Halloween themed pony day. This was very popular and all the children had a great time riding, playing games and dressing up the ponies. A big thank you to all the staff that ran the day, it was a great success! On Saturday 30th October we had the championship show for our 2010 dressage season. The horse and rider combinations had qualified throughout the season that resulted in a strong warm-up class followed by the walk-trot and “pick your own” championship classes. C Redman on Ridgewood High Five won the warm-up class with an impressive 68.4%. In the walk and trot championship all riders and horses performed very well, but Heather Rowe riding Contessa’s own Solo came out on top with 66.6%. Mark Phillips and Harry Chandler on their own horses came a close joint second. In the final class the standards were very high and we are pleased to say that Contessa’s yard manager, Amy Wright and Jayanti came first in Novice 34. As winners of the championship classes both Heather and Amy came away with a trophy, one of which was kindly donated by regular client, Steve Machin. We would like to congratulate all riders and thank you for your support throughout the season. We hope to see you all next year! In the weeks ahead we will be looking forward to our John Adams jumping clinic and John Bowen dressage clinic and start our preparations for Christmas, including holding the Contessa Children’s Christmas Party, information for which can be found on our website or by calling the office.”