The Sunshine Tour is the most fantastic show. It’s in a truly lovely part of Spain, with 18 arenas, 6 of which are grass, over 1,000 stables, 4 restaurants, and a fantastic vet clinic, and a super friendly organising team - it even has it’s own App, I don’t think you can beat it anywhere in the world, and we are so lucky to have a show like this in Europe. If you’re lucky enough to be able to compete at the Sunshine Tour it is the most fantastic opportunity to develop your own riding and your horses. But just taking the opportunity to spend a weekend watching is truly an education in itself. With classes from 1.10 to 1.50 every day and a 1.55 Grand Prix on Sundays you can watch the very best in the sport at work. From Tuesday to Thursday the young horses jump, and the best horse producers in the world like Greg Broderick are there developing horses and riders and showcasing what they do. We’re lucky to be involved in a sport where most people are very happy to talk about how and why they do what they do, and will always help with course walking etc.

For the first time the horses travelled down to Spain without me and I flew. My lorry is getting quite old for such a long journey, and having had a blow-out on my last Spanish Trip, I didn’t feel confident about making such a long journey in my lorry by myself. Post-Brexit it is very difficult to do the journey in only three days. It’s slow getting on a ferry in Dover, there are customs checks both in the UK and France, and a vet check in Calais. Probably adding a total of three or four hours to the journey on the best day. To stick to the drivers laws (9 hours a day) and to ensure maximum rest and hydration for the horses, it’s hard to get more than 2/3 hours from Calais on the first day, and really that leaves you three eight hour days to get to the show. I do it in 4 days with three overnight stops. I aim to leave by 5.30 each morning, and with the necessary stops you can usually get to your stabling each day by 3 pm, so you can unload in the light, graze the horses if possible, get an early night and hopefully arrive at the show by lunchtime on the fourth day. Even if horses travel in optimum circumstances they can get dehydrated on the journey. Unfortunately Breakdance did arrive a bit dehydrated, but luckily the vets at the Sunshine Tour are really excellent, with a full-blown veterinary clinic, and drips already set up for horses arriving with dehydration from the journey.

The weather was really lovely when we arrived and it was lovely for the horses to be able to have their rugs off during the day and to be worked and walked in the sunshine. It’s a long way down to Spain, however well the horses travel, and they do arrive with slightly suppressed immune systems, so they are very sensitive to insect bites and the water which has different microbes and a lower chlorination level than the water in Northern Europe. Arietta has very sensitive skin, so it only took her a couple of days to have a big skin reaction and her own trip to the vets. Luckily we had a whole week before the competition started so she could have comprehensive treatment and be drug free before she competed. Because the horses are working a lot on sand, even when hacking, and there are literally thousands of horses working in a limited space it’s really important to keep to a very good regime of washing and drying their legs after work. I never use a brush, but shampoo them carefully with baby shampoo or fairy liquid using my fingers so that I can feel any tiny scabs that might be forming. Ask you vet what creams you can use under FEI rules if you do get a small problem, the sooner any infections are treated the sooner your horse can be back competing.

Both horses settled really quickly and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the good weather and watching all the activity in the aisle. As I was doing them myself, and they are the only horses I have ever had who do not continuously try to escape, they were able to have their doors open and to feel very involved in all the activity most of the day. I hand walk them morning and afternoon in addition to exercising them so that they have as much time out of the stable as possible. There is a field where you can hand-graze, but the grass there quickly got quite over horsed, and the grass stopped interesting them very much. The horses always seem to get a bit hairy on the journey, so I also gave them a quick clip in the first week, they are both really good to clip, so are quite happy standing in the aisle while I clip them. I never clip below the knees at a show, so they don’t get any little scratches that can allow infections to get in. Also it is now against FEI rules to clip the lower legs at a show due to hypersensitivity concerns. Be mindful that clipping their whiskers and the hair inside the ears is also now against FEI rules. The whiskers are like cats whiskers, they are part of the horse’s proprioceptive system.

It’s always lovely to catch up with old friends and to make some new friends on the tours. Although I’m constantly amazed at how long it takes me to look after two horses, there is still plenty of time to ride around chatting in the sun, and to share a coffee or a glass of wine. It’s a part of the shows and the travelling that I have always loved and really value.

Unfortunately the help I had organised for competition days didn’t work out, but Gemma Stevens was amazing and allowed me to join her team of pupils, which was fantastic, and Maisy Williams helped me on competition days. It’s 100% true that the harder you work the luckier you get. What Gemma manages to fit into a day is phenomenal, and Maisy was fitting me in round riding her own young horses. When you look around the show you see which riders are really hard working and hands on, and it’s no coincidence that some of the hardest working riders have got a lot of medals between them. Roger Yves Bost was stabled just below me, he is at the yard all day, he hand walks all his own horses; on every tour Penelope Leprevost is one of the riders always there on a Monday, the non-competition day, working her horses, and there are a other notable top riders always there riding whatever the weather.

The first Friday of competition was lost to an amazing storm. Lashing rain and winds so strong you could hardly stand. In retrospect, with four weeks of jumping ahead it really didn’t matter. I jumped Breakdance in the 1.10 for the first two days and he settled and jumped really well. Arietta jumped the 1.20 and 1.25 and jumped clear both days, so she was off to a really good start.

After a stormy first weekend the weather settled down to give us two weeks of fantastic sunshine and 25 degree days. In week two we jumped on grass, which I love. There are sand and grass clear round rings which are available all show, so Gemma gave us all a good practice on the grass before the competition started. I stuck to the 1.20’s with both horses. Breakdance jumped really well the first day just to have the last fence, and Arietta jumped clear for a minor placing. The second day Arietta jumped clear, but Breakdance had 26 faults, which is a lot, followed by 18 faults on the last day in the 1.25. On reflection I forgot to put his overreach boots on the first day - when he jumped really well, so he’s not going to wearing overreach boots to jump again! Arietta jumped clear again the second day and just had the last fence in the 1.25 on Sunday, so her good form continued.

The plan had always been to try and jump a couple of 1.30’s on Arietta by the end of the show, so in the 3rd week, which was Gemma’s last week, having been placed in the 1.20 on the Friday, I jumped Arietta in the 1.30 in the main sand arena on the Saturday. I was very nervous, and she was quite tense in the ring. On paper it doesn’t look like a great round with 17 faults, but actually she jumped very well. She got away from me a little down the first distance, which meant she was a bit disorganised in the double that followed, and for some reason I completely missed her to a fence in the jump-off, but actually she felt good and confident. Breakdance also had a good week in the 1.20’s and 1.25. With a clear round on the middle day.

Gemma went home after three weeks, and Maisy went for a little holiday, but luckily Mark came out for the final week which was lovely, although he did miss the best of the weather as we had a slightly rainy fourth weekend. The format in the fourth week is different, it is only a CSI2*: the first three weeks are a CSI1* and a CSI4*, but the fourth week is used as a bridge week between the two tours. The first day I jumped Arietta in the 1.30, which I thought was huge when I walked it, but she jumped beautifully just to touch the last fence, robbing her of a good placing.

Breakdance jumped another good round in the 1.20. On the second day I wimped out of the 1.30, which was probably a mistake, but it looked huge, and jumped both horses in the 1.20 accumulator. I was already cross with myself for being a wimp, and then rode Arietta like a complete idiot to the joker, robbing her of 3rd place. I was very upset with myself. However, I managed to make a much better job of the whole thing on Breakdance who jumped a fantastic clear, and finally won himself some money. On the final day the 1.25 speed class was in the main sand arena, so it was a nice class to finish for both horses. Breakdance went early in the class and had a couple of green fences. It was a little bit bigger than he is used to, and in a very imposing ring, but I was relly pleased with him. Arietta jumped towards the end of the class, and she was fantastic. She probably took out more strides round the course than planned, but she absolutely flew to finish 3rd, she won some nice money, a rosette and finally, on my fourth visit to the show, a plaque for the feed room door. A very nice way to finish the show.

I’ve done three Sunshine Tours, one tour in Oliva and one in Vilamoura and tried various different ways of managing my own accommodation. The first year I did the horses by myself and stayed in the lorry. I loved it, but I did get very tired, and felt rather trapped at the show. The show was just a straight 6 weeks then, which was a long time to be in one place. The following two years I stayed in very cheap Airbnb apartments in Vejer. I absolutely love Vejer, and loved wandering around in the evenings, but it does get quite lonely being on your own every evening. This year I stayed in the Gran Conil hotel, which does an amazing deal for the show. This meant that there was always company if I wanted, I had an enormous breakfast included with my accommodation and access to the hotel pool and gym (if I had the energy after averaging 38,000 steps a day at the show). However, it did mean early starts to muck the horses out, and late finishes as I did late stables before I went back to the hotel. Also with no access to a washing machine and the hotel charging 7 euros for washing a T-Shirt I became a regular fixture at the launderette in Conil. It was amazingly competitive trying to get a machine before the apartment landladies, but a surprisingly sociable place to meet other riders. I am now a top advisor on how to use an automated launderette. I think if I make it to the tour again I would try to rent an apartment closer to the showground and have a little car for some exploring.

My lovely friend Jane Lom was in Andalucia for the second week of competition, so we had a dinner in Medina Sedonia, which was absolutely beautiful. Mark and I had an afternoon in Seville, and did some beach exploring before the competition started in the fourth week. Andalucia is the most beautiful part of Spain, I just love it and am determined to do more exploring.

Barry Dove very kindly brought my horses home, looking after them absolutely beautifully and reporting every morning on their well being. I collected them from Clacket Lane on Thursday, 7th March and Parkers delivered all my tack and equipment straight to me on the Friday.

It really does take a village to get all the ducks in a line and get the horses to a four week show in the best possible health and fitness. Many, many thanks to Ed Lyall who always goes above and beyond to make sure the horses are feeling fantastic and our fantastic farriers the Casserlys. Big thanks to Alex Hempleman who worked so hard to bolster my confidence and make sure I was riding the horses as well as possible, Jenni Winter Leach from Flying Changes Coaching who helped me so much with my confidence and psychological fitness, Emma Varley at Kempt Lifestyle and the team at Dynamic Performance Hub who got me strong and fit for the challenge, Steff Gibbs who makes sure the horses always look beautiful and of course Mark who is endlessly supportive. Many thanks to Gemma Stevens, Maisy Williams and Holly White who all were invaluable in Spain, and also to those who are kind enough to sponsor me, Saracen Horse Feeds, MacWet Gloves, Just Equine, NDS Equine and Arc Equine. They say it takes a village, for me it’s a pretty huge village.

It was disturbing to see that even in 2024 not everybody treats their staff as well as they should. Most employers now are really excellent, paying good wages, employing staff on proper PAYE contracts with all that that implies (paid holiday, sick pay, national insurance contributions, etc). We work in an industry where it is currently very difficult to recruit good staff: the UK and the EU have very strict employment laws the main purpose of which is to protect the employee rather than the employer, and so it is very upsetting to see that a) a few employers choose to completely disregard the law, not only in terms of pay, but also in the lack of respect they give their staff , but b) it is even more worrying that many staff do not seem to have sufficient knowledge of employment law and allow themselves to be treated with a lack of compassion and respect. These practices give the whole industry a bad name and really are completely unacceptable, and are unfair not only on employees, but also on good employers who are in the majority.. In the UK the British Grooms Association does a fantastic job, they give guidelines for both full-time and freelance staff, offer discounted insurance and legal advice, and extend this advice to their sister organisations the International Grooms Association and the Equestrian Employers Association. All grooms operating from the UK should belong to the BGA, they are truly excellent, and have a encyclopedic knowledge of employment law. The minimum wages are below - they are the law and should be adhered to. If somebody is your sole employer you are not a freelance, you should be on a PAYE contract which will include paid holiday, sick leave, pension contributions and employer NI contributions. The contract protects both the employee and the employer, a proper probation period, notice periods etc, and it’s expensive for the employer, so they are entitled to expect a good standard of work for their trust and commitment. There are so many opportunities to gain experience, travel and earn a good wage in grooming. But it’s also easy to get burnt out and disillusioned by working for bad employers. Also £11.44 is the minimum wage for those over 21 and it has risen this year by £1.02, so really all hourly rates should have gone up by this amount, otherwise your real wage has gone down. It isn’t really my job to go on about this, but if you are in doubt about whether you are being treated properly contact the BGA, or ask one of the experienced grooms on tour, or contact Alison McIvor from Show Grooms International, you can find her on FaceBook or Instagram. HMRC have brought successful prosecutions against equestrian employers for not paying the minimum wage. There was an IGA representative at the Sunshine Tours, these people are here to help both grooms and employers, they’ve had long successful careers in the industry. There are fantastic jobs, and fantastic grooms and opportunities out there. From a rider’s point of view I would just say that you can have a fantastic and rewarding job working for someone who isn’t winning 5* grand prix. It’s very easy to feel that many grooms are not interested in working for those of us who are less social media worthy, but you can learn a huge amount in a small set up, where there is probably more time for explaining the best way to do things, and many people who work successfully for less big yards easily and quickly work their way up the ladder.

Bolonia Beach - a few miles South of the Showground

The storks are one of my favourite things about Spain and Portugal

Fantastic photos by Equisportif