Posts

A summer event day with Archie starts long before we drive through the gate. I check the weather, the venue map and the timetable, then work out how much…

The final halt is a small movement with a surprisingly large effect on a dressage score. After the centre line, the transitions, the circles and the last…

Adjusting stirrups while mounted sounds like a tiny piece of tack management, yet it can quickly become a balance problem. A single hole too long or too short…

Before a dressage test, I want Archie attentive, supple and quietly listening rather than physically tired. My warm-up has changed through seasons of eventing,…

A tack trunk can look perfectly organised in the wash bay and still sound like a toolbox falling down the stairs once the trailer reaches the first cattle…

There is something about a permanent cross-country lake complex that changes the way I pack the float. The water elements are not pulled in for the weekend,…

There's a sinking feeling when you ride a bad distance into an oxer, your horse chips a stride, and suddenly the lines stop flowing the way they did in…

Archie's first attempt at a flying change was, frankly, a mess. He swapped in front, then scrambled in behind, then threw his head up like he'd been stung. We…

For a long time, my everyday eventing tack included a simple nylon girth. It was light, easy to hose off and inexpensive to replace when it became grubby or…

That final salute rings out, the judge clicks the stopwatch, and my brain is still rattling off the next movement while Archie is already puffing like a steam…