A study evening at Kirkley Hall (by permission of Northumberland College) led by Sandra Morrison BHSI and Alastair Parkin BHSI 19th March 2018 What a thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking evening with Sandra Morrison and Alistair Parkin at Kirkley Hall in the company of much knowledge, experience and enthusiasm from everyone. The evening was open to non-members which allowed for a Pony Club member to come along with her a Mum as well as local Riding…

Sarah Macdonald and I were fortunate to attend the 26th National Equine forum on 8th March.  The Equine Forum hosts short talks from industry experts, on current and up to date subjects. This year the whole conference was Live streamed, and if you visit You Tube, “Equine Forum 2018” the whole day can be viewed. Topics covered included talk from Stewart Everett on, CED- Central Equine database, and how the data from the Passport Issuing…

Wednesday, 14th February at Wellington Riding, Hampshire Valentines Day. What better day to spend quality time in the presence of Richard Waygood and venue host, David Sheerin along with good friends and colleagues. This was a fully subscribed riding day, but also offering an excellent opportunity for spectators being allowed into the arena to be close up, watch & be involved in discussion & the questioning that develops between Richard and the riders. We had…

Monday 22nd January 2018 A great day was spent in the company of Pammy and the horses at Talland. This was a wonderful opportunity to either ride or observe and discuss what was happening in front of us. The riders had a great time with a fantastic variety of horses working from novice to Grand Prix and to have Pammy’s experienced eye to help with any situations that came up. We were able to observe…

Day 1 During the initial warm-up when many horses came into the arena a little distracted and inattentive (especially the less experienced ones) Chris encourages riders to use plenty of counter flexion on straight lines to encourage horses to truly accept the outside rein and then to straighten and press them away from the inside leg in the corners to help aid true connection, straightness and balance. Following on from this a sequence of 5…

Addington Equestrian Centre once again hosted the F and I conference and we arrived with a great sense of excitement and anticipation. We had been privileged to watch Christoph Hess last year and he was superb. Now we were to be in his presence again. He started coaching at 8 am and finished at 17.45 pm. His enthusiasm did not deplete once during the full two days. He is gifted in his ability not only…

“We are all forecasters today and experts tomorrow!” Chris Bartle, Blenheim 15.9.17 As a guest at the course walk I had expected to be overawed by such an important and respected figure in the eventing world but when Chris pitched up on his bike he was quietly spoken and understated. He was so unintimidating, calm and easy to understand, with such a lovely approachable manner that I soon felt I would be happy to jump…

That’s what it’s called and that’s just what ‘the girls’ did – dressed up for Ladies Day at Hickstead.  The F&I Association’s yearly trip to the Royal International Horse Show means we have use of the BHS box which is fabulously placed for viewing the Main Arena and equally well placed for visits to the other arenas and more importantly the shops!  We can bring along friends, spouses and partners for an extremely reasonable cost…

The F&I North West had a great day training at Forest Gate Farm with Richard Carruthers B.H.S.I. The session consisted of 2 groups working over show jumps and xc fences on the arena We were riding a selection of horses mainly young or inexperienced as well as borrowed horses so we could all take advantage of the day. The sun shone as we were all put through our paces over a variety of lines, corners…