Posts
My rider safety vest is part of my competition kit now, just like my boots, gloves, and number bib. Before I started eventing with Archie, I thought of a vest…
Archie has never been the sort of horse who arrives at a competition wearing the same expression every time. Some mornings he is bright-eyed and busy, looking…
A dressage arena can feel very different when the judge is positioned at C, especially if most of your schooling has taken place with a trainer standing at the…
Eventing gives me three different tests of horse and rider, and each phase tells a slightly different story. Dressage reflects accuracy, suppleness, rhythm,…
Our first clear round at a new venue was never meant to become a landmark moment. I had arrived with the usual mixture of optimism and nerves, hoping Archie…
Cross-country days ask a great deal from both horse and rider. We gallop over varied ground, leave the saddle for banks and drops, land from awkward angles,…
A competition weekend can make Archie look as though he has endless energy. He travels, warms up, focuses on dressage, jumps in the arena, tackles the…
There are fences that test a horse’s technique, and there are fences that seem to test every part of a partnership at once. At our autumn event, Archie found…
Competition mornings with Archie begin long before we load the lorry. I like having enough time to groom him carefully without turning every brush stroke into…
Walking a show jumping course is one of the parts of competition that looks calm from the outside but feels intensely busy from the saddle. Before Archie and I…