The training day with Judy Harvey was very well attended considering the weather!!  Judy and her husband Malcolm landed back from the States on Sunday afternoon and drove straight to the yard and put up two gazeebos after listening to the weather forecast which for once was correct. Monday morning dawned……… very wet. As we all know riding is an outdoor sport and there was not one complaint as Ann on two horses, Gemma and…

TRAINING THE DRESSAGE HORSE  THE F & I PERSPECTIVE Monday 11 May 2015 It is many years since the F & I Association held anything in Scotland so it is not surprising that the Scottish membership has dwindled.  It was great therefore that Erik Mackechnie in conjunction with BHS Scotland has given it a kick start to set it in motion again. Patrick Print FBHS very kindly agreed to host the day and Gail Smith…

Badminton for me started with David (my son) riding the Guinea Pig Test on Thursday morning. Despite wayward changes, we were very pleased with the test – and what a fantastic experience to be able to trot down THAT center line…! I was therefore already “in Badminton mode” so it was fantastic for me to have the opportunity to walk this years course with Nick Turner – already thinking ahead to next year! Nick started…

A very successful evening was organised by Faith Ponsonby BHSI, Irish Representative, and Jillie Rogers BHSI Chairman of the Association of Fellows and Instructors of the British Horse Society on 7th April. “Cross Country Matters” was the topic delivered to a full house at Ballylanigan House Mullinahone Co Tipperary by kind permission of Faith and Peter Ponsonby The evening was delivered by William Micklem an International Coach and Fellow of the BHS.  He reminded us…

This day of training was planned with the concept of being interesting and informative with combined theory and practical management sessions.  The focus touched on fittening and training the athlete, both as a horse and rider, and the correct usage of 2 medical technologies that enhances recovery from injury for horse and rider with the use of pain free, non-invasive techniques.  The day was set in the Equine Unit of Moulton College and luckily, the…

I must admit I went to Wellington with a tinge of disappointment having pulled out of my jumping slot, scheduled for the afternoon, only the day before but, I told myself it would still be good for me to go and watch Richard coach and how right I was!!! With three sessions in the morning and the same in the afternoon there was a great cross section of horses and riders for Richard to work…

Jude showed her stamina with a full days teaching at Wellington Riding on 10/3/15.  There was a real variety of types of horses at various stages in training and Jude showed her wealth of experience and versatility in coaching us all through exercises and work that produced results.  It is always interesting to watch and listen to someone you respect and pick up on their eye for detail and ways in which they work.  All…

Lord De Mauley opened proceedings on the Defra View to develop a data base by the end of the year mainly aimed at preventing unsafe meat getting into the food chain. He spoke of the current bill now going through which will enable local authorities to go on to private land to retrieve fly grazing animals and the ability to destroy them after 96 hours.  He talked of the need for a quick response to…

On the 26th January 2015 we were privileged to be able to ride at The Talland School of Equitation, Under the watchful eye of Pammy Hutton FBHS.  The morning. Was split into Two groups both of which were able to ride in two sessions with a variety of horses ranging from youngsters to horses working advanced /Grand Prix. In my group we were lucky enough to have Webster who was bought as a PSG schoolmaster, I found him an…