Pyecombe April 2022

In the blink of an eye, or so it seemed, we were ready to go to a show again. The horses all had a few days in the field and 10 days of hacking before starting work in earnest again. It's nice to let them relax and get their heads down after a long journey, but I feel that if you let them have too long off you lose some of the benefit of the work put in on the Tour and also the increased fitness they get from the Tour.

I have also taken Zarnita back to Breen Equestrian and Doonaveeragh Emma has gone to Bea Fuller at Owlsbury Stud, both are nearly ready to have their foals - Emma's is due any day now.

Having built up the flat work and had a few little jumps at home both the horses and I had a visit from chiropractor Caitlin McCaffery, for extra insight into how the horses had come out of the Sunshine Tour and our long journey.

I had a lovely day on Tuesday at the Breen Equestrian Stallion and Stud open day. This was very cleverly done, showing off the stallions and some of their progeny together. It was fun to see the familial traits of parents and offspring, and particularly good to see so many of them later in the week at Pyecombe. Having worked for Chloe and Shane it is lovely to see how, with a lot of work from the Breens and Greg le Gear, the stud has grown and developed into the exceptional operation it is today.

We had a training session with Alex Hempleman where all three horses felt fresh and happy before setting off for two days at Pyecombe.

It was back to the real world for April and I getting the yard done to leave at 7 on Thursday for the first class in the main ring. Both Askeaton and Khalissy jumped very well in the Newcomers, but I felt Arietta was greener than I expected in the Foxhunter. All three horses jumped in the Foxhunter on Friday. Khalissy and Askeaton jumped really well, but once again Arietta felt very green and I didn’t think I made a very good job of riding her.

So having had a quiet weekend and a lovely day in Teddington for Immy’s christening, we set off to Trevor Breen for a lesson on Monday morning.

Arietta made very quick progress on the Sunshine Tour, and I know she is green, and not as established on the flat as I would ideally like. But I always find that if I’m scratching my head it’s best to seek help sooner rather than later. The upshot is that I really need to ride them all better between the fences, and especially Arietta. I am inclined to be incredibly lazy! When in doubt she’s a bit inclined to stage a takeover, and I need to keep her properly between hand and leg. We’ll get there, but it’s well worth keeping her at a slightly lower level until I am completely certain we’re doing it 100% right.

We’re off to Hascombe tomorrow. It will be exciting to be back competing there so long after the last shows at the old ‘Royal Leisure’.

As always many thanks to April Kitchener for always having the horses looking beautiful, and to our fantastic sponsors, Saracen Horse Feeds, Protexin Equine, MacWet Gloves and Just Equine.