November 8th dawns – well actually it hasn’t as the alarm went off at 1.15AM & it’s pitch black!  Fran & I left Malsbury Cottage in Wexford at 2.15 AM to drive to Dublin Airport to change Faith into Fran as dear Faith had a family bereavement, the wig wouldn’t stay on Fran’s head & he point blank refused to take off the moustache, so we were told we had to check in at the…

Honesty, Energy, Time Those that attended the course walk were in for a treat this year as we were lucky to get input not only from Eric but Captain Mark Phillips himself. At the very beginning of the walk the first thing Eric explained was that as a rider you need to know your horse, your own style and clearly have an objective. Are you here to be competitive? Are you here just to complete…

What a super day I had at The Royal International Horse Show on Saturday 28th July.  The day was spent with many other F & I members and their guests where we had the luxury of the BHS box    with a supply of drinks and a lovely lunch right next to the main ring.  I wouldn’t like to try to work out how many times I have been, but I always love it and…

at Bold Heath Equestrian Centre, Cheshire on 5th July 2018. We had five groups of eager riders for the training day with Nick Turner. Mark Baker and his team at Bold Heath had built a fantastic track for us, with a testing series of jumping exercises for us. They have fantastic outdoor arenas at Bold Heath, which we planned to use but due to the penetrating rays of the sun they kindly let us have…

BALLYPATRICK STABLES, FETHARD HORSE MUSEUM & COOLMORE STUD, 26th June 2018. ANOTHER FABULOUSLY ORGANISED DAY BY FAITH PONSONBY BHSI BALLYPATRICK STABLES On arrival we were greeted and shown round by Olga Doyle (Greg Broderick’s sister). Greg represented Ireland as the only Irish show jumper at the Rio Olympics in 2016. I think to say we were blown away by the organisation of the whole operation was an understatement. There was design and thought oozing out…

We were lucky to have the opportunity to study the Burghley young event horse classes with the assistance of Nicola Baguley who has bred and ridden winners here. 
Firstly we studied the 5 year olds starting with the dressage where the marks are awarded with future potential in mind as a opposed to it being based totally on the performance on the day. A discussion on the influence that the strength and maturity of the…

THE BRITISH HORSE SOCIETY CHARITY OF THE YEAR MY TAKE ON OUR FOUR FABULOUS DAYS So, Faith Ponsonby and I offered our services to the BHS as volunteers on their various stands and what fun we had. We started in the Carlton Hotel near Dublin Airport as with a very early flight to Bristol Thursday morning, the decision was made that driving up to the airport in the early hours of the morning, 3am, was…

The F&I Badminton XC Course walk with Nick Turner, kindly organised by Ann Bostock, report written by Charlotte Tarrant BHS Stage 5 Performance Coach. This year the XC at Badminton ran in reverse to last year however it still started in the main arena with the traditional flower box. It’s not a challenging fence but horses and riders must stay focussed. As the horse and riders exited the arena they went left, through the collecting…

16TH & 17TH APRIL CELEBRATING THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BRITISH HORSE SOCIETY So off we set on Sunday 15th April from Co. Wexford at 4am to Dublin Airport for the 7.10am flight to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, myself Himself (Fran) and an APC (St 4 Coach) Tara Sweeney BHSII.   Arriving in Liverpool our first stop was the Anglican Cathedral which is the largest Church of England Cathedral in the UK if not the…