We have had a busy couple of weeks at the yard with 5 competitions. Starting off with Royal Windsor where we took Times Square II (Alfie) on the Friday for the Novice Hack Class. This was his first show so a very big ask for a four year old but on saying that he bahaved beautifully for myself and then gave the judge Martin Hucker a lovely ride (it was nice to see him coming back to line with a big smile on his face and commenting on how lovely his ride was and how mannerly he was. He finished fourth in a good class and I was delighted. We all did decide that now he has put on so much more weight and "chunked" out that he would be better campaigning now as a large riding horse. It is often difficult when these babies suddenly start to mature and grow and put on weight and seem to change before your very eyes. Anyway the long and the short of this is that we have changed his category with the British Show Horse Association to a riding horse. It was nice to have proud owners Steph and Mo Haslam there to watch and support from the ringside.

The next day at Windsor we took Toby Ginny Duncans highland in the Olympia qualifier where he went beautifully going round and then unfortunately just fluffed his show slightly - he was a bit keen to get on with the job so was not stripped. Watching from the ringside I was delighted with Ginnys new found confidence in her ability - I was a very proud trainer!

On the Sunday we took the four year old dressage horse Socialiser for Denise Hall to Addington for the 4 year old Potential International Dressage Horse where he behaved beautifully and finished with 71.9.

This weekend Toby went to the David Broome Centre for another Olympia qualifier where he finished 5th. He was foot perfect and this time his show was faultless so I was delighted with him - he now has a well deserved day off and then he is practising his jumping to make his debut as an M&M novice worker.

I took Times Square II and Daldorn Racing Bow to Stevenage Showing show on Bank Holiday monday. Times Square won the Novice Riding Horse (in his new category) and then we were absolutely thrilled when he went on to be reserve Champion - what a star!! "Bow" made his debut at his first show here and he was pulled in top in the Royal International qualifier in the large hacks and unfortunately went on the wrong leg with the judge briefly and was dropped to second. He is only four so I can forgive him for getting his legs in a knot. He also went in the Novice Hack class where he managed to get everything right this time and won his class so I was a very proud mummy with my two four year olds. They both behaved beautifully in the ring and were very mannerly.

During these two weeks I also went to the College Equestrian Centre and was one of three trainers to give a showing clinic which I really enjoyed. I had some lovely combinations to help - its so nice to be able to pass on the knowledge we have all spent years learning - teaching is one of my passions!

It has been a busy week for us here at the yard - Zorpari has now gone on an extended holiday and in his place has arrived a lovely 6 year old Dutch Gelding by Wolfgang belonging to Anna Harvey who Holly is taking on to produce for sale as a dressage horse. He has had no competitive experience due to the fact that there was no time to produce him. He has come to us having been backed and ridden away and has the most lovely willing temperament with a very sensible attitude and lovely athletic movement. Holly loves his canter!! He is 16hh and has lovely conformation. We will bring him on over the next few weeks and then take him to a few dressage competitions. He already is becoming a lovely ride.

We are very lucky to have just been sponsored by Buff clothing who make the original multifuntional headwear so check us out for our new trendy looks at the shows and on the yard! You can check out their website on www.buffwear.com. I have to say that Holly being the more glamorous one looks great in all their styles.

We are also lucky to have been sponsored by Dalmar Equestrian boots from Ireland this year who have provided us in the very latest modern lightweight carbon fibre air cooled tendon boots which are so important in protecting our horses legs. Dalmar has applied the benefits of the latest materials transferred from Formula 1 and Aerospace Industries to create the worlds lightest racing boots. The joy of these boots and their event boots which we have is that they do not absorb moisture during work which keeps those all important tendons cool. They also have carbon fibre strike protection so in the event of any accidental strikes the force of impact is distributed over the entire length of the boot and immediately deflected away from the horses flexor tendons and suspensory ligaments. At last I feel I have the ultimate boot to protect my horses and their comfort - As anyone who produces horses will know it is incredibly difficult to find the right boot to protect their horses legs and now I feel all my prayers have been answered!! Many thanks Dalmar!

We are off to Windsor horse show next week with Times Square II which will be his first time out for his owner Steph Haslam and Brungrange Toby will be contesting the Mountain and Moorland class for his owner Ginny. Toby has been busy practising his jumping at home and jumping water trays and all sorts of scary things to prepare him hopefully for his Novice M&M worker debut.

Socialiser will be coming out next to do a 4 year old Potential International Dressage horse qualifier. He has enjoyed the benefits of Annabelle Galt who does all our horse massages and it has really made a difference to him in his relaxation and looseness as he can be quite a bright young man who sometimes just needs to take a chill pill!

Its been a busy few days. Sam (Socialiser) went to Addington dressage and competed in two Novice classes and was 6th in the Novice 35 with 64.61 despite being rather green and in the other Novice test he scored 63.22 again being rather wobbly. Hopefully he will grow in confidence and trust and thus gain the higher marks he really deserves.

Ginny and Toby went to Area 7 Show at Addington today and much to my delight went and won their class and went reserve Champion and have now qualified for the Royal International. I was absolutely thrilled for them both - she rode with much more determination and aplom and was really focused on the job - its lovely to see her riding with much more confidence in her ability! This is the first time she has qualified for the Royal International. She is now focusing on Windsor in two weeks time.

We had some sad news re Zac (Zorpari) and he now has to have a halt to his dressage career for two years - both Holly and I are completely devastated as he is the best horse we have ever owned both in temperament and ability. It really has knocked us off our perches for a while.

The young hacks went to Addington to ride round and experience their first show and were both very well behaved so are on target for their first shows in a couple of weeks time.