Having been asked to write the report upon the training I decided rather than report upon my view alone, a more accurate picture would be provided for those unable to attend, if I asked willing participants to summarise their view upon how their experience had benefited them. Responses such as ….. “Great to have fresh solutions to problems and to be able to ride in an encouraging and supportive atmosphere” “Lovely to see progression between…

First of all, thank you to Andrew for organising the day and the coffee on arrival. Carl showed us five horses ranging from 7yrs to 11yrs, he told us that his first important criteria is “has the horse got the ability to go to Grand Prix” – he likes a horse to be quick in mind and body as he wants to steer through a Grand Prix . When you are the horseman that he…

A good day was enjoyed by the eleven F and I members and their guests at Hickstead on Ladies day. We had use of the BHS member’s box along side the main arena next to the water jump which made excellent viewing for the Queen Elizabeth Cup….. 13 feet of water followed by a 1m 50 set of planks!! We appreciated how difficult this line was to ride as we had a very informative course…

As BHSII’s with our E and C exams looming, it was with great interest and excitement that we attended the training day at Judy Harvey’s yard. First was Amanda Holloway who was riding a welsh X. Judy’s emphasis was to work on rhythm, keeping the tempo slow enough to improve the quality of the trot and response to the leg. The session ended with an interesting exercise on improving the flying changes. Amanda started them…

Walking the course with Nick Turner (previous Badminton competitor, now Brazilian Eventing Team Coach and Snr Selector for British Eventing) was a fantastic way to learn all about the challenges of this true four-star course. The big message of the day from Nick was how critical it is that the rider has absolute understanding and control of the speed, power and straightness of the horse. If you misjudge or get to a fence at the…

As always, Kenneth Clawson delivered an informative series of coaching sessions, encouraging all participants, riders and audience alike, to think and to participate. Emphasis was on awareness of the horses’ regular stride patterns, together with control and accuracy. The Counting of Strides, and in particular the riders being challenged to be consistent in being able to ride defined numbers of strides on circles on each rein, caused some amusement!* Although the same basic floor pattern…

Adam Kemp FBHS gave us two days of clear, systematic training at our annual two-day course. With 12 sessions each day he certainly had plenty to do – and we had plenty to watch and discuss. Horses ranged from Novice to Small Tour and highlights for me included watching Adam work with Sue Pimbley on the start of passage and half-steps (Sue was thrilled with the two days and progress made). Becky Monk’s new young…

Around 25 of us lucky souls managed to congregate at Hickstead on Saturday 31st July 2010, for what is fast becoming our social highlight of the summer – the RIHS. There were even a few BHSIs who, despite distinguished careers in the horse world, had never done the Hickstead pilgrimage – so it was quite an occasion! For those who came early enough, there was a chance to pick up a running order for the dressage…

For many years I have admired Judy’s riding, training and judging but thought she probably only had time to help the top flight riders such as Ruth Edge. Then I discovered that Ann Bostock is a regular customer at Great Horwood and with the training day presenting itself in the F&I news together with an unusual ‘window’ in my diary there was a perfect opportunity to be seized with both hands. I feared the day…

The Annual National Equine Forum was held on Thursday 4th March 2010 in central London. As part of the Forum, and as a result of the interest shown at last year’s forum in Tim Hadaway’s presentation on Greenwich and the proposed site for the equestrian events of the 2012 London Olympics, a tour of that site was arranged for Wednesday afternoon with Tim as tour guide. Alison Craig and I participated and, interesting and informative…