I still haven't fallen off - so that's beaten last year record by 18 days already! 2013 must be a good year! On the 6th of January we headed to Felbridge for some more dressage practice! I got to ride the lovely Business as well as Coco! Business hadn't been out competing in over a year and his only outings had been hunting! Considering he was very well behaved! In the first test he was very tense and inconsistent in his head because of the tension! However he still got over 64% and finished 4th which was great. In the Novice he settled down nicely and performed a beautiful test with fantastic mediums. He just started to tire in the canter work which was a shame. But still finished with over 65% and finished 3rd! He is a really smart horse and I feel very privileged to get to ride and compete him. Coco was also good, especially considering we were told we had 2 horses left when we had 3 - so we kept stopping and starting which confused him a bit. There were a few small mistakes but nothing that we can't work on. Sometimes Coco just tries too hard. Which is lovely. But it does sometimes result in a slight misunderstanding of my aids - so I must learn to make them much clearer so he can understand. Read more

We have taken Indy over to Southgate Stables at Sutton Valence where she is to commence her professional racing career. Christie, who has been riding her twice or three times a week at home since we commenced her training in September, has said that she would like to stay involved and continue to ride her once a week - the yard are happy for this to be the case. First run on the oval all weather track goes well. Read more

Lunar Eclipse is one of those feeds you may feel you don’t need – your horse is not a loony mare perhaps! However, its charms are extensive and you never know when it will be really useful!

The hormonally challenged are prime candidates for this excellent balancer. I don’t mean just those with girly hormones either! With the ground conditions being less than favourable at the moment, more horses don’t have their usual access to turn out, so do not have as much opportunity to burn off surplus energy (and hormones!) in the field. A switch to Lunar Eclipse until turn out time might just make the difference between manageable and scary.