Trouble looming?

My riding mate Jane and I planned a v busy weekend... cross country training Saturday, Hamptons sponsored ride Sunday. Too much fun to miss, but quite tiring separately – knackering one after the other!

We have a lesson the Thursday before, and my cob Harry is really quite good – Jane's horse Red, really quite bad! He's a cheeky boy and has been bucking quite a bit recently. He bucks and naps in the lesson, and trainer Fiona says Jane must be firm with him and keep riding him positively forward. This she does for about 40 minutes, then Fiona takes over, much to Red's annoyance. 'We must work him hard before the weekend, and nip this naughtiness in the bud" she says.

The next evening, Friday, they both ride him again in the school to wear him out a bit - will it work on Saturday?!

Dressage and the video stars!

Harry and Red are going to be video stars! ‘Models’ were required to ride a prelim dressage test for the horseandrideruk.com website, and Jane and I were happy to do it, though dressage is, ahem, not our strongest discipline.

Jane says she never knows whether she’s done a good test or a bad one. Harry is great in walk-trot tests, but finds the cantering a challenge – “what’s a cob to do with his feet on these tiny little circles?”

Jane went first, and Red behaved beautifully. I am her test caller, and as I’m not very familiar with the dressage markers, I sent them off in the wrong direction a few times. Harry, left stuffing himself with haylage while we filmed Red, wanders in. He started off well, but by the second test he’s bored - keeping him going forward was like pushing a heavy boulder up a steep hill!

However, the website crew get their film, which is being sent off to dressage judge Judy Harvey for comments. I have a sneak preview, and am relieved to see we all look fine - not too bad, and definitely not too good. Carl Hester needn’t worry about us yet awhile. Watch out for our dressage performance - coming soon!