News from Ernest
A fantastic 2014 - welcome 2015
Well that’s 2014 out of the window and a clean lovely untouched 2015 to look forward too. Most of us will make the same old mistakes as we did every other year despite firm resolve to keep all our New Years resolutions..!
I have made all the usual ones, you know, drink less, eat healthy, join the gym, buy a bike, STOP skipping. The last one of course refers to the wonderful day I decided to show my young daughter Eleanor how to skip. Being the amazing professional athlete I am I asked her to watch carefully. When I reached a Mohammed Ali speed with a very smug look on my face, “OUCH F--K, F--K F--K, I collapsed to the floor in agony. Eleanor then very sweetly looked down at me and asked very innocently “Daddy, what does F--K mean”? I had unfortunately sprained my Achilles tendon. That was back in February, it took until mid September before I was reasonably sound again. The first time I decided to risk jumping a horse I thought I had better make it small just in case it hurt. A 50cm jump was not going to be a big task so I cantered sweetly down to this huge jump, bless Timmy, he popped it very nicely and then landed and shot off at high speed bucking as hard as he could go. Well it didn’t hurt a bit, phew.
I had a couple of really good trips to the USA, both to Virginia and New York. Great weather and excellent clients I am booked for some new dates in the coming Spring. The USA is an interesting place to Coach having every type of rider and horse compressed into ten days. Horses off the racetrack are particularly common and really do present a great and interesting challenge in both technique and understanding. Trying to retrain them without killing thoroughbred spirit is the big deal, so often these great horses are suppressed too much and riders then end up in a major fight. I love the TB and so enjoy their courage and intelligence. They are not always the best jumpers in the world or the best movers but Oh boy do they try. The complete opposite is the very talented warmblood imported mostly from Europe and much easier to train as their mentality lends itself to discipline much more. Americans Historically do like quality in the horses they ride and so do I so every day I am out there I am very happy with the horses I train.
On one trip to the USA I happened to meet one of my very big heroes. Being a western freak, you can imagine how star struck I was to meet Mr Robert Duvall of Open Range, Lonesome Dove and Godfather fame. Like all great people he was , well, just normal. Great sense of humour and his two loves, football and showjumping. Hey Ho.
On a sad note, the last of my great mentors and coaches passed away. Robert Hall, late of the Fulmer School of Equitation in Buckinghamshire. He was a pupil of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and he had a fantastic understanding of correct training with a methodology way ahead of his time. All of my understanding of riding on the flat was based on his teaching. RIP.
What about wee Scott Brash? Over twelve months as the worlds number one showjumper. Scott is the consummate horseman with a head as cold as ice. I really believe that the whole Scottish referendum was based on having Scott represent Scotland at the Olympics, well perhaps not. Watching him work his horses at close quarters is a pure joy and please, all you young riders take note of how correct he is in every area of his performance.
Of course we also have the amazing partnership of Charlotte Dujardin, holder of the Olympic, World, European and World Cup championships and breaker of every Dressage record by a mile. I do seriously believe that we are so very privileged to have witnessed her rise to glory and do not think it can ever be surpassed. Aileen and I were very lucky to have been able to visit Carl Hester at his yard and watch both Charlotte and himself riding and coaching, dear Aileen was so happy, big brownie point day.
Another fabulous day was Hickstead Derby day when we saw another first. A one eyed horse romping home with Trevor Breene. Adventure de Cannan the famous one eyed horse has now won the Hickstead Jumping Derby, Queen Elizabeth Cup, Eventers Challenge and the Speed Derby just got to get the King George v Gold cup to complete the set, no pressure Trev..!
We had a tough World Games with the showjumping and of course the Team manager got it in the neck. It did remind me of a Snoopy cartoon. “It is not a case of whether you win or lose, it’s where you lay the blame”. It just really goes to show that, like football, you’re only as good as your next win. I do hope that whoever takes over from Rob Hoekstra has very broad shoulders. Why are we so very fickle as a Nation. When we won the Olympic and European Gold medals the whole team were conquering heroes. After the World Games, everything that went before was just luck..! Of course it was luck, lucky we had great riders, great horses and great team management. Just as any team anywhere would be “lucky”. We also had great and strong team selection. Before the Olympics Rob was criticised for his team selection, after, it was brilliant? Someone recently asked me why did I not apply for the Team Managers job, that’s easy, I like my head just where it is.
This year I had one other sad occasion. The demise of my precious silver Mercedes C Sport (Petrol) after 385000 miles the heart was willing but the body was pooped. Gone to the big scrap yard in the sky.
Aileen is enjoying her job at the Royal Ascot Racing Club and both Eleanor and I have enjoyed our race meetings. I kinda miss not having the lovely Aileen on my arm Royal Ascot week but I get to ask another pretty girl to accompany me, thanks Henrietta. Taking applications for 2015.
I am enjoying Coaching even more than ever. Earlier in the year British Showjumping eventually decided to allow me UKCC Level 3 status. I am picking up new venues almost monthly and some are sadly falling away. Unfortunately, Parwood in Guildford has died a death, no takers there but Littleton near Reigate continues apace thanks to Jennifer Grassly, Tewin in Welwyn Garden City is galloping, Wales and Scotland continue to be very successful and I am still teaching regularly at my home base, Mills Stables in Heathfield, Oxford. I make regular trips to Attington Buck’s, Austen O’Conner is a great host and Amy Andrews in Melksham, Wiltshire never fails to get me a solid days work.
This Summer My handy son came to the house and we built a pretty cool deck and then Aileen and I built a pretty cool rock garden. That was fun and so relaxing.
Christmas as ever was a pure joy. On top of my sky dive I now get to drive an Aston Martin around a racetrack at a silly speed. Eleanor is always good value loving every second of the festive season including writing to Santa to ask him to please wipe his feet. The goose was delicious and copious amounts of champagne plus a really great visit to Olympia courtesy of our great friend Mel Nagele started the celebrations in fine style.
To sum up I must thank Aileen my lovely partner for all her hard work and support and of course Eleanor for being Eleanor.
Wishing you all a Very Happy and Prosperous 2015 And remember, it's supposed to be FUN..!
I have made all the usual ones, you know, drink less, eat healthy, join the gym, buy a bike, STOP skipping. The last one of course refers to the wonderful day I decided to show my young daughter Eleanor how to skip. Being the amazing professional athlete I am I asked her to watch carefully. When I reached a Mohammed Ali speed with a very smug look on my face, “OUCH F--K, F--K F--K, I collapsed to the floor in agony. Eleanor then very sweetly looked down at me and asked very innocently “Daddy, what does F--K mean”? I had unfortunately sprained my Achilles tendon. That was back in February, it took until mid September before I was reasonably sound again. The first time I decided to risk jumping a horse I thought I had better make it small just in case it hurt. A 50cm jump was not going to be a big task so I cantered sweetly down to this huge jump, bless Timmy, he popped it very nicely and then landed and shot off at high speed bucking as hard as he could go. Well it didn’t hurt a bit, phew.
I had a couple of really good trips to the USA, both to Virginia and New York. Great weather and excellent clients I am booked for some new dates in the coming Spring. The USA is an interesting place to Coach having every type of rider and horse compressed into ten days. Horses off the racetrack are particularly common and really do present a great and interesting challenge in both technique and understanding. Trying to retrain them without killing thoroughbred spirit is the big deal, so often these great horses are suppressed too much and riders then end up in a major fight. I love the TB and so enjoy their courage and intelligence. They are not always the best jumpers in the world or the best movers but Oh boy do they try. The complete opposite is the very talented warmblood imported mostly from Europe and much easier to train as their mentality lends itself to discipline much more. Americans Historically do like quality in the horses they ride and so do I so every day I am out there I am very happy with the horses I train.
On one trip to the USA I happened to meet one of my very big heroes. Being a western freak, you can imagine how star struck I was to meet Mr Robert Duvall of Open Range, Lonesome Dove and Godfather fame. Like all great people he was , well, just normal. Great sense of humour and his two loves, football and showjumping. Hey Ho.
On a sad note, the last of my great mentors and coaches passed away. Robert Hall, late of the Fulmer School of Equitation in Buckinghamshire. He was a pupil of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and he had a fantastic understanding of correct training with a methodology way ahead of his time. All of my understanding of riding on the flat was based on his teaching. RIP.
What about wee Scott Brash? Over twelve months as the worlds number one showjumper. Scott is the consummate horseman with a head as cold as ice. I really believe that the whole Scottish referendum was based on having Scott represent Scotland at the Olympics, well perhaps not. Watching him work his horses at close quarters is a pure joy and please, all you young riders take note of how correct he is in every area of his performance.
Of course we also have the amazing partnership of Charlotte Dujardin, holder of the Olympic, World, European and World Cup championships and breaker of every Dressage record by a mile. I do seriously believe that we are so very privileged to have witnessed her rise to glory and do not think it can ever be surpassed. Aileen and I were very lucky to have been able to visit Carl Hester at his yard and watch both Charlotte and himself riding and coaching, dear Aileen was so happy, big brownie point day.
Another fabulous day was Hickstead Derby day when we saw another first. A one eyed horse romping home with Trevor Breene. Adventure de Cannan the famous one eyed horse has now won the Hickstead Jumping Derby, Queen Elizabeth Cup, Eventers Challenge and the Speed Derby just got to get the King George v Gold cup to complete the set, no pressure Trev..!
We had a tough World Games with the showjumping and of course the Team manager got it in the neck. It did remind me of a Snoopy cartoon. “It is not a case of whether you win or lose, it’s where you lay the blame”. It just really goes to show that, like football, you’re only as good as your next win. I do hope that whoever takes over from Rob Hoekstra has very broad shoulders. Why are we so very fickle as a Nation. When we won the Olympic and European Gold medals the whole team were conquering heroes. After the World Games, everything that went before was just luck..! Of course it was luck, lucky we had great riders, great horses and great team management. Just as any team anywhere would be “lucky”. We also had great and strong team selection. Before the Olympics Rob was criticised for his team selection, after, it was brilliant? Someone recently asked me why did I not apply for the Team Managers job, that’s easy, I like my head just where it is.
This year I had one other sad occasion. The demise of my precious silver Mercedes C Sport (Petrol) after 385000 miles the heart was willing but the body was pooped. Gone to the big scrap yard in the sky.
Aileen is enjoying her job at the Royal Ascot Racing Club and both Eleanor and I have enjoyed our race meetings. I kinda miss not having the lovely Aileen on my arm Royal Ascot week but I get to ask another pretty girl to accompany me, thanks Henrietta. Taking applications for 2015.
I am enjoying Coaching even more than ever. Earlier in the year British Showjumping eventually decided to allow me UKCC Level 3 status. I am picking up new venues almost monthly and some are sadly falling away. Unfortunately, Parwood in Guildford has died a death, no takers there but Littleton near Reigate continues apace thanks to Jennifer Grassly, Tewin in Welwyn Garden City is galloping, Wales and Scotland continue to be very successful and I am still teaching regularly at my home base, Mills Stables in Heathfield, Oxford. I make regular trips to Attington Buck’s, Austen O’Conner is a great host and Amy Andrews in Melksham, Wiltshire never fails to get me a solid days work.
This Summer My handy son came to the house and we built a pretty cool deck and then Aileen and I built a pretty cool rock garden. That was fun and so relaxing.
Christmas as ever was a pure joy. On top of my sky dive I now get to drive an Aston Martin around a racetrack at a silly speed. Eleanor is always good value loving every second of the festive season including writing to Santa to ask him to please wipe his feet. The goose was delicious and copious amounts of champagne plus a really great visit to Olympia courtesy of our great friend Mel Nagele started the celebrations in fine style.
To sum up I must thank Aileen my lovely partner for all her hard work and support and of course Eleanor for being Eleanor.
Wishing you all a Very Happy and Prosperous 2015 And remember, it's supposed to be FUN..!
Camp Poem - August 2014
During the week at the South Oxford Pony Club Camp I asked my riders to give me a review of the weeks work and what they learned. The result was a complete surprise and it will be cherished for many years. Thanks girls.
Not yet a Sir Ernest Dillon;
Yes please, you to ride in a rhythm.
His patience we'd say is slim,
Can the same be said for him?
When you're a Dillon rider
He demands you to jump in control,
The fences can be taller and wider,
Maintain a serious flexion throughout the body and poll
The strength of your core is important,
But try not to shed any tears.
You'll soon get the basic idea
Ride the horse from the tail to the ears.
The one bit we try to fearfully grasp
Is Controlled Forward Impulsion...!
We might all think it's close to a death wish,
He thinks its better than watching paint dry.
He’s a big fan of Marcus Ehning,
By comparison watching us can be 'paining'.
We work to improve natural shape
Till the self carriage is nothing but great
Gaining confidence is like earning money
and dismounting without permission aint funny
Letting the horse learn is key,
As well as remembering Ernest’s coffee!
I'm going to ride my horse straight,
Using the perfect three beat gait,
I'll look up and out over the steps
And teach my horse to cross country like one of the best.
Release of the pressure is a just reward,
Ride many transitions until you are bored,
Avoid at all costs the bit wiggling club
Wiggling after all is just for the pub!
To train, jump fences from trot,
Its okay to do that a lot.
Make a great canter to get a good jump
Otherwise alas, you’re in for a bump.
Direct and lateral flexion..?
Once you know, it’s not a complication
Ensure your horse is on the aids,
And that the energy coming in never fades.
The wondering round aimlessly club?
You might just as well go to the pub.
A plan might not work,
So don't go berserk,
Just keep to the rules till it's done.
Not quite yet 'Sir Ernest Dillon'
You'll find he's not really a villain
Do it right and I'm sure we will win
Do it wrong, well just don't tell him!
Pony Club Senior members class of 2014.
Not yet a Sir Ernest Dillon;
Yes please, you to ride in a rhythm.
His patience we'd say is slim,
Can the same be said for him?
When you're a Dillon rider
He demands you to jump in control,
The fences can be taller and wider,
Maintain a serious flexion throughout the body and poll
The strength of your core is important,
But try not to shed any tears.
You'll soon get the basic idea
Ride the horse from the tail to the ears.
The one bit we try to fearfully grasp
Is Controlled Forward Impulsion...!
We might all think it's close to a death wish,
He thinks its better than watching paint dry.
He’s a big fan of Marcus Ehning,
By comparison watching us can be 'paining'.
We work to improve natural shape
Till the self carriage is nothing but great
Gaining confidence is like earning money
and dismounting without permission aint funny
Letting the horse learn is key,
As well as remembering Ernest’s coffee!
I'm going to ride my horse straight,
Using the perfect three beat gait,
I'll look up and out over the steps
And teach my horse to cross country like one of the best.
Release of the pressure is a just reward,
Ride many transitions until you are bored,
Avoid at all costs the bit wiggling club
Wiggling after all is just for the pub!
To train, jump fences from trot,
Its okay to do that a lot.
Make a great canter to get a good jump
Otherwise alas, you’re in for a bump.
Direct and lateral flexion..?
Once you know, it’s not a complication
Ensure your horse is on the aids,
And that the energy coming in never fades.
The wondering round aimlessly club?
You might just as well go to the pub.
A plan might not work,
So don't go berserk,
Just keep to the rules till it's done.
Not quite yet 'Sir Ernest Dillon'
You'll find he's not really a villain
Do it right and I'm sure we will win
Do it wrong, well just don't tell him!
Pony Club Senior members class of 2014.
May - December 2013
OLD GRUMPY
I Have had a ridiculously busy 2013 and that is the only excuse for not keeping up to date with this newsletter. So far this year we have moved house (see contact page for address) we have re-located the horses. We moved out of Twin Oaks and are now really happy at Mills Stables, Amanda and Matt Mills are a really nice welcoming couple who run a friendly efficient yard and take really good care of our horses. Coco my sweet little mare has emigrated to the USA, very sad to see her go but hey ho no time to ride her and could not justify having a horse I ride four times a month.
The house move was interesting. I decided to save money and move in the horsebox with the help of my son, Aileen and our young friend Kelly. Moving from a five bedroom three story house dismantling furniture, garden decking, my wonderful massage chair, (approximate weight 150 kilos), rabbit mansion, garden furniture et all. The wisdom of my decision looked a bit optimistic. I must have walked up and down my lorry ramp about 500 times humping God know what, then the joys of unloading, rebuilding furniture (thanks Tom) then the ultimate joy of unpacking 200 boxes and not having anywhere to put anything. Did I mention that the house we moved from was a three story modern five bedroom three bathroom house to a 15th century three bedroom house with no storage, happy days. Any way we are now happy in our very cosy cottage still have twenty something boxes to unpack and our spare bedroom defies description at the moment. I am sure a lot of you will know exactly what I mean. The crowning glory of the move was the very last box I carried down the ramp, I triumphantly shouted yehaa, the last box, then tripped ass over elbow dropped the box and CRASH it was full of crockery. I didn't cry, I was a big grown up soldier and hid from Aileen for a while. Actually the only casualty was my knee and two old plates, sounded worse though.
Little Eleanor started school this Summer, don't know where that time went but she is very happy and at least now gets tired enough to sleep well. The fun bit of an infant starting school is the constant cold bugs she manages to bring home. I think we have had more colds in six months than we have had in last seven years. Well Aileen has colds, I apparently have "Man Flu"....!!
How about Scott Brash? From nearly zero to hero in less than four years. It is such a fantastic fairy-tale story and really does give hope to talented riders that success can come from hard work and dedication. Of course Scott has had the great support from his family however he did not have millions of £s to support him and having followed his career from when he was a very young lad I do know how hard he has worked. I wonder if the general public have any concept of his achievement, the youngest person ever to be World number one, Olympic and European team Gold medalist, Global Champions tour Champion, Leading rider at Paris Master's, Winner of World Cup Qualifiers, European individual bronze medalist. I spoke to his sponsor Phil Harris and he said he believed Scott to be the only young rider he has seen who comperes with a young David Broome, not a bad reference, and as my lovely partner Aileen Macleod keeps adding he is a wee boy from Scotland!
On the subject of team UK I have mentioned before how clever and what insight our team manager Rob Hoekstra has. He fielded an almost completely different team at the Europeans with Will Funnel and Michael Whitaker replacing Pete Charles and Nick Skelton and Ben Maher putting his faith in Cella, his London Global Champions Tour winner and they still lifted the gold medals. I do firmly believe that we have at last recognized the strength in depth of our UK riders. Great success this year from Hickstead Derby winner Philip Miller, great super league debutante Louise Saywell double clear round in Furusiyya, and of course we must remember that Ben also became the first UK number one in twenty years only to be replaced by Scott so we now have a UK one and two. Phew, the mind boggles..!
Nearer to home again Eleanor is crazy excited about Christmas and every night asks how many more sleeps to till Santa arrives. We did find a fantastic website which is Portal to North Pole, brilliant idea. Santa talks directly to Eleanor using her name and talking about her year, her pets her school and showing pictures. How on earth does he get all the information? The nativity play at school brought a wee tear to my eye, "Midwife Crisis" a brilliant plot about a midwife trying to find Bethlehem Palace where the new King was to born. Hilarious and brilliant.
I have been travelling to the USA and getting great support in New York, Texas and Virginia, hoping to start visiting Florida and possibly California this coming year.
I have been conducting a few three day clinics up in Inverness at the really fabulous Darkdeer, and the last one in November I did a Masterclass with David Harland which was well received and the gallery was packed to the ceiling, in fact I think the highlight of the evening was the raffle which gave prizes from a bottle of Malt Whisky (which just by chance I took home) through to a complete facial, but the star of the show was a jumbo tin of Vaseline, huh..? I will also be doing a couple of three day clinics at Ardmeddon in Aberdeen. I have been hiring Addington and having a lot of fun so if anyone wants to join us let me know.
So what are my wishes for the New Year? I want team UK to do the hatrick and add the World Championship gold medal. Scott to remain no.1 for as long as possible. Aileen to start jumping some BS shows. Eleanor to stop bringing wretched bugs home and to progress with her riding. Me to remember to update my newsletter more regularly. I want to get over my Man Flu which has been hanging on like a limpet.
Would love to sell more books err what's it called, oh yes, The Complete Showjumper. And of course World Peace..!
The house move was interesting. I decided to save money and move in the horsebox with the help of my son, Aileen and our young friend Kelly. Moving from a five bedroom three story house dismantling furniture, garden decking, my wonderful massage chair, (approximate weight 150 kilos), rabbit mansion, garden furniture et all. The wisdom of my decision looked a bit optimistic. I must have walked up and down my lorry ramp about 500 times humping God know what, then the joys of unloading, rebuilding furniture (thanks Tom) then the ultimate joy of unpacking 200 boxes and not having anywhere to put anything. Did I mention that the house we moved from was a three story modern five bedroom three bathroom house to a 15th century three bedroom house with no storage, happy days. Any way we are now happy in our very cosy cottage still have twenty something boxes to unpack and our spare bedroom defies description at the moment. I am sure a lot of you will know exactly what I mean. The crowning glory of the move was the very last box I carried down the ramp, I triumphantly shouted yehaa, the last box, then tripped ass over elbow dropped the box and CRASH it was full of crockery. I didn't cry, I was a big grown up soldier and hid from Aileen for a while. Actually the only casualty was my knee and two old plates, sounded worse though.
Little Eleanor started school this Summer, don't know where that time went but she is very happy and at least now gets tired enough to sleep well. The fun bit of an infant starting school is the constant cold bugs she manages to bring home. I think we have had more colds in six months than we have had in last seven years. Well Aileen has colds, I apparently have "Man Flu"....!!
How about Scott Brash? From nearly zero to hero in less than four years. It is such a fantastic fairy-tale story and really does give hope to talented riders that success can come from hard work and dedication. Of course Scott has had the great support from his family however he did not have millions of £s to support him and having followed his career from when he was a very young lad I do know how hard he has worked. I wonder if the general public have any concept of his achievement, the youngest person ever to be World number one, Olympic and European team Gold medalist, Global Champions tour Champion, Leading rider at Paris Master's, Winner of World Cup Qualifiers, European individual bronze medalist. I spoke to his sponsor Phil Harris and he said he believed Scott to be the only young rider he has seen who comperes with a young David Broome, not a bad reference, and as my lovely partner Aileen Macleod keeps adding he is a wee boy from Scotland!
On the subject of team UK I have mentioned before how clever and what insight our team manager Rob Hoekstra has. He fielded an almost completely different team at the Europeans with Will Funnel and Michael Whitaker replacing Pete Charles and Nick Skelton and Ben Maher putting his faith in Cella, his London Global Champions Tour winner and they still lifted the gold medals. I do firmly believe that we have at last recognized the strength in depth of our UK riders. Great success this year from Hickstead Derby winner Philip Miller, great super league debutante Louise Saywell double clear round in Furusiyya, and of course we must remember that Ben also became the first UK number one in twenty years only to be replaced by Scott so we now have a UK one and two. Phew, the mind boggles..!
Nearer to home again Eleanor is crazy excited about Christmas and every night asks how many more sleeps to till Santa arrives. We did find a fantastic website which is Portal to North Pole, brilliant idea. Santa talks directly to Eleanor using her name and talking about her year, her pets her school and showing pictures. How on earth does he get all the information? The nativity play at school brought a wee tear to my eye, "Midwife Crisis" a brilliant plot about a midwife trying to find Bethlehem Palace where the new King was to born. Hilarious and brilliant.
I have been travelling to the USA and getting great support in New York, Texas and Virginia, hoping to start visiting Florida and possibly California this coming year.
I have been conducting a few three day clinics up in Inverness at the really fabulous Darkdeer, and the last one in November I did a Masterclass with David Harland which was well received and the gallery was packed to the ceiling, in fact I think the highlight of the evening was the raffle which gave prizes from a bottle of Malt Whisky (which just by chance I took home) through to a complete facial, but the star of the show was a jumbo tin of Vaseline, huh..? I will also be doing a couple of three day clinics at Ardmeddon in Aberdeen. I have been hiring Addington and having a lot of fun so if anyone wants to join us let me know.
So what are my wishes for the New Year? I want team UK to do the hatrick and add the World Championship gold medal. Scott to remain no.1 for as long as possible. Aileen to start jumping some BS shows. Eleanor to stop bringing wretched bugs home and to progress with her riding. Me to remember to update my newsletter more regularly. I want to get over my Man Flu which has been hanging on like a limpet.
Would love to sell more books err what's it called, oh yes, The Complete Showjumper. And of course World Peace..!
January - May 2013
‘The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft awry ’. Or so it seems when it comes to my newsletter. I have sat down several times to make a start and have either been distracted and gone to do something else or as the say I got writers block. Anyhow, here I am so hope it will be worth the wait.
It has been the longest winter I have known for some considerable years. Every part of the country was hit by snow, frost, high winds and much rain. None of these things are a great deal of help to a show jumping coach, especially when the said coach does not have the luxury of an indoor school, and even if I had not too many of my clients were able to keep their horses in shape to jump them. I think in all we had three false starts with a couple of tantalizing warm sunny days just to be kicked in the teeth by Mother Nature.
One of the more interesting trips was to Scotland. I had a very busy clinic over five days in Perth, Fife, Pitlochry and Aberdeen. It got pretty well whittled down and a lot of sitting about looking at a blank wall or watching day time television made me pretty near stir crazy. Everything comes to an end and so did the ice and snow, unfortunately it was followed up pretty quickly by very high winds and constant rain. Everyone’s sense of humour has a limit and I must confess that mine was reaching that limit. Even being brought up in
Liverpool, the home of comedy, where they say you have to be a comedian to live there, did not help too much but I did rally eventually and now things are pretty well back to its normal exciting self.
The clinics at Twin Oaks in Mursley are going well, it is a great venue and everyone seems to go home with a positive attitude and I hope something to work with. I have one coming up on the 18th and 19th of May which is full up and all we need now is a sunny weekend to help everyone have a great time.
Some of the clinics at Littleton Manor in Surrey have been a bit depleted of late but I am pretty sure that they will pick up again. Parwood in Surrey is getting busier every time we visit and I know I am very lucky to be able to conduct my clinics in such great venues, the going is always first class and the hosting is first class. Many thanks to Matt and Kate at Littleton and to Sarah at Parwood.
North Yorkshire is a great place to teach and Northallerton Equestrian Centre is a wonderful venue. I am trying a new venture up there at the end of the month, on the 23rd-24th-25th May I am doing a three day intensive course. We cover as much as possible with each group riding two sessions a day, I ½ hours in the morning and 1 ½ hours in the afternoon. I cover as much as possible, work on the flat for jumpers, pole work, gymnastic jumping, related distances, combinations and on the last day in the afternoon we build a course, do a course walk and talk then all of the riders have the opportunity to ride the course at least twice then immediate feedback from the coach (me). This format has been very successful in the past and they do seem very popular. I still have a couple of spaces left so if any-one would like to join us please contact myself 07710099210 or Georgina at Northallerton, [email protected] The two day clinics in Yorkshire are a great success with Laura Jennings doing her job really well, she is aconstant star.
Scotland is always a great place to teach, the weather is err, variable, but the people are constant. Great humour and great enthusiasm makes it well worth the long trip. I teach in Perth, Fife, Pitlochry, Inverness (we conduct the three day intensives here at Dark Deer Park) and Aberdeen. Aberdeen is a new venue and Davey is the man to contact, 07543435215.
I recently enjoyed the results of a frosty snowy winter by driving over the deepest pot holes I have ever seen, not seen in time I regret to say and two blown tyres later I said oh bother what a shame…! I did thank my recently renewed AA membership who came out pretty quick and a couple of hours later, my bank account a lot lighter to the tune of two Pirelli tyres and a couple of missed lessons we set off again. I must say that sometimes in life you do meet remarkably nice people. One lady, opposite where my tyres died came out immediately with the offer of a “nice cup of tea”, and another neighbour offered me his spare wheel to get me to the tyre fitter. I have never seen these people in my life but they were there straight away to lend a helping hand. They also made sure that Aileen was ok whilst I went of with my friendly AA man. Speaking of Aileen, I had the car up on the jack in my opinion as safe as houses. Aileen said leave the wheel on until Mr AA came along but I knew better and said it would save time if I put the spare on the front and took the flat tyre off the back. All was fine until a bloody great milk tanker came rumbling along and yes, you guessed it, plonk!!! The jack fell sideways and the rim of the wheel hit the tarmac, S—T. Luckily for me the only thing that was damaged was my manly pride and my ear drums, sorry Aileen, you were right, AGAIN.
Mr AA has featured quite a lot in my life of late. I was a long way away when I got the plaintive phone call from my beloved telling me she had locked her keys in the car. I was about 175 miles away from home. Call the AA I said, so she did. Sorry madam, they said, your AA subscription expired last month, whoopee! So lots of back and forth phone calls renewed the subs and got the AA man with the help of a coat hanger got the car opened.
Guess what I did in New York with my rental car? Yup, I locked the keys in it, or at least, I left the keys in it and it locked as I shut the door. “Sorry sir”, they said, “Your fault and it will cost $55.00 to get it sorted”. This ridiculous condescending lady on the other end of the phone then proceeded to give me a lecture on how it is always safe to take the keys out of the car before closing the door, “Oh really” said I “Thank you so much”, why do silly young girls in offices always talk to you like you are a complete Muppet?
Speaking of New York I had a great trip over there last month. I spent ten days in all and visited five different barns (yards) altogether. My old friends Tom and Maddie Duggan hosted the first couple of days. Always great fun with a bunch of “YeeHaa” kids galloping around a bit like a Scottish Pony club. Then up to Albany where Eugenio my new friend hosted a very busy day so I hope that will be growing by the time I return in the Autumn. My next stop was in Millbrook and I had a couple of great lessons at Bonny Stedt’s place with my lunatic English friend Jo Blackmore, Jo runs marathons for pleasure??? Oh well I suppose someone has to, it takes me all my time to run to the toilet. Lisa Winkler in Millbrook had a couple of lessons for me as well. The last stop was in Westchester County where I spent three very hard working days with a minimum of 13 lessons and a maximum of 16 lessons, whew. Christine and Wayne Varella at Chickory Meadow always make my stay a great and profitable experience and Christine's mum and dad, Tom and Carol look after me in fine style, so thank you all.
The flight back home was horrendous. The flight was choker block full up and somehow the air is like breathing glue scented with sweat and bad breath. I could not sleep a wink so broke all the rules of long haul flying and took full advantage of the complimentary drinks trolley, has to be done. Aileen said I was grumpy when I got back, I can’t believe that, I am always bright and cheerful, especially after no sleep with someone breathing all over me for eight hours and a minor hang over, why on earth would I be grumpy?
Back home we had a small glimpse of summer weather, lasted about four days but felt great to have the sun on the back and the horses really enjoyed being out with no rugs.
My regular clients are all doing really well. Alice Dunstan, who rides at three and four star level has had a great season so far, as has Lydia Hannon, being placed in her first advanced, Georgina Wood, second in the Grass Roots 100 at Badminton. Stephanie O’Neal and Emily Ryder my young Scottish superstars, Laura Jennings and her sister Lucy Henson are going strong and a whole host of Yorkshire riders are all holding their own at every level. I am hoping to go to France next month to help Candy Crawford, that will be interesting being the usual ignorant no French speaking Brit’. I can say “Je ne parle pas Francais” and “Parlez vous Anglais”, but that’s about it.
My own riding has been sketchy to say the least. All three horses are going well but I am afraid the eight year old Cassie is on the transfer list as her owners can no longer afford to keep her. She is a wonderful mare, careful, scopey, brave, never stops and a pleasure to ride. If you are looking for a great mare to take on she certainly has 1.40 scope if not more. She is currently jumping up to 1.20cm with ease and is ready to go on. I sometimes ride three a day then no riding for a few days and so on but I am still enjoying every minute of it. I had a gallop this morning and it is so true what Winston Churchill once said “The best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse”.
A good single malt does something similar when I get home as well.
Just to finish. Check out www.straightforwardtraining.com or www.mysft.com it is a new venture with Katie Bowie and is a great idea. What happens is you go to the site and download your You Tube video of you riding your horse with a brief written description of your problem. I check out the video and give you an audio feedback, so in effect you get an online lesson. So far it has had great feedback take a look and give it a try.
That’s all for now and again I am sorry it has taken a while to get it all down. Please enjoy.
Remember why we do it - because its fun!
image caption?
November - December 2012
What Santa did not bring Happy People What Santa did bring
Firstly I must apologise for being so remiss and not updating my newsletter as frequently as I should. One of my pet hates is going to a website to glean some information only to find that the last update is to tell us that Hitler killed himself. I will try to follow my school report to the letter and try harder.
November got off to a pretty good start with Aileen’s birthday. I am sure she will not thank me for telling you that it was her fortieth so I won’t do that, oops, let it slip. We had a nice quiet party and eased her gently into middle age, I have been there for some time and it doesn’t hurt too much, and anyway Aileen is one of those annoying people who will look thirty till the day she dies.
I did a couple of clinics at Foxley Court in Berkshire but due to the poor support I have had to suspend them for a while. This happens to coaches and trainers. People are madly enthusiastic to start with then maybe adopt the attitude of well he is coming next month so will catch him then. I don’t blame them but do feel sorry for the centres that are really keen to put on these clinics and work hard to do so.
Scotland is galloping away with two new venues plus all the old ones except for Kinross. It is a shame to lose this important indoor arena but the riding club felt like a change of coach so hey ho. On the plus side they were very magnanimous and said that they were happy for me to continue to come to Scotland and find other work, ironic really as I have been visiting and teaching in Scotland for the past twenty two years and for some eight years I was living in Scotland. I will bravely try to struggle on. Inverness has a different format now. Instead of lots of one day clinics I am now doing three, three day clinics. These usually go down well so please contact Siobhan at Dark Deer 07801891549.
The new venues are in Aberdeen and Glasgow. Aberdeen is a great new place called Ardmedden Equestrian Centre, a brand new; state of the art establishment with great facilities including an International size indoor arena with the very best surface money can buy. I am visiting every month and the manager Davy Harvey is very keen and enthusiastic. His contact number is 075435215 so if you are in that part of the world give him a call. I have yet to confirm the Glasgow venue but it seems positive so watch this space.
Northallerton is crazy; I am now doing two very full days and have great clients. Laura Jennings is a star and so well organised it puts me to shame. I have been helping Laura for well over twenty years (see my testimonials page) and she has not changed a bit. Her contact number is 07974750974.
I have had some funny moments over the last few months. One of them allegedly is down to my advancing years. I got up early one morning just before Christmas to travel down to Surrey. A couple of miles down the road I glanced into my rear view mirror and saw the baby seat strapped to the back seat, oops, I thought, Eleanor is going to school today so I had better get it back. I was already running late but being the dedicated father that I am I did a U turn and delivered the car seat back home. Whew, that saved a row. Finally driving along the motorway catching up on my journey, but keeping to the speed limit, my phone went off. Answering it on my ‘hands free’ it was Aileen. She asked “Have you seen my car keys darling”? “No darling” I replied, then I looked across the car and sitting neatly in the middle of the passenger seat were, yup, her car keys. The rest I shall leave to your imagination, but it wasn’t nice.
I have completed some more training videos on www.horsehero.com as I have said previously; it is a great site with lots of videos, blogs and articles from some great riders and trainer, and me. Try it out, it is really great value.
On a sadder note. Just before Christmas one of my colleagues Kenneth Clawson FBHS passed away. He was only sixty three and succumbed to leukaemia. He had been fighting this dreadful disease for about six years and he did put on a very brave face and was courageous to the end. In fact he had allegedly been given the all clear one week before his death. I did not always get on with Kenneth and did not always agree with his opinion and I will not be a hypocrite, however, he was a great coach and did his job with a very professional and pleasant manner. He was the official show jumping coach to the British Three Day Event team for many years and his success is legendary. His funeral gave testament to his popularity with more than fifteen hundred people in attendance.
Christmas is always a really happy time when you have young children. This year was no exception. Eleanor’s face on Christmas morning was a picture, Santa had been and she was glowing. The only slightly nervous part was that she kept asking which of the big boxes contained her pony. Non I’m afraid, but he did bring her a bike. Longer lasting, cheaper to keep and nearly as much fun, isn’t it? Her birthday was a couple of weeks later and she very sagely pointed out that perhaps she would get a pony for her birthday, sorry, maybe next year.
I loaned my lorry to some friends before Christmas to go to a training show with Aileen. Guess what happened? It got to the show ok, and then all ready to come home it was as dead as a stone. I dashed over armed with jump leads. Two of my pals were already on the jump lead case with no joy. Aileen and Nigel (my friend) went home and brought the big horse box they didn’t want to use and collected the two horses. Next day I sent the mechanic out. Fifty pounds later the lorry was on the road. The problem? Oh yes, a loose wire in the ignition switch. A one minute job! Happy days.
I have a nice new horse to ride, Cassie, she is very scopy, very brave and very careful, and so I am really looking forward to getting to some show in 2013. Coco my young one, who, some non-believers told me was useless, has found her jump, she is now showing real signs of having much better than average ability. I am so often disappointed and annoyed when people write off young horses so early on. It may simply be lack of strength or most commonly lack of good balance. Horses develop, like people, at different speeds, often the slow developers last longer both mentally and physically, so to the knockers, remember that impatience is one of the biggest barriers to progress.
I was teaching last week in Surrey. Having just left the yard I felt a drag to the left. I stopped to see I had a puncture. Why do you always get a puncture when it is raining and you have three ton of stuff between you and the spare wheel. Well, being a fit athletic young thing I changed the wheel. Don’t these stupid bicycle type spare wheels get on your nerves? I drove to the nearest tyre repair shop and they dually removed the tyre, checked everything and declared that there did not seem to be anything wrong. They sealed the tyre, replaced the valve, charged me nothing and sent me on my way. We got home just fine but when I got out of the car I heard an ominous hissing sound, Aileen detected a pin prick of a puncture that the professionals had missed. The tyre took about an hour to deflate. The next day I had to drive all the way to Wiltshire so I needed to get up pretty early to change the wheel back to my skinny spare. Seven am, wheel changed. Seven twenty, at garage to purchase emergency repair kit. Seven forty five, changed wheel back to emergency repaired tyre and off I went. All was well. On my way home I felt a distinct wheel wobble so stopped to check right away. The wheel I had repaired was fine except it had two wheel nuts missing and the other three very loose. The moral of this story? Don’t change a wheel twice before 8.0 am when you are ‘tired’. All is now well with the tyre.
At the time of writing the weather is on the turn, we have had some snow, a deep frost and six inches of snow and high winds forecast. I am praying hard and if my prayers in this department go unanswered it will be bread and water rations for a week or two. Don’t you guys who are self- employed, work outdoors and rely on the weather being bearable get sick to death of the smarmy, ridiculously healthy and prosperous looking salaried TV presenters who tell us to wrap up warm because we are in for a real cold snap and driving conditions may be hazardous. “YES, WE F------G KNOW THAT SNOW AND ICE ARE HAZARDOUS. OH BOY GET A LIFE ”. Speaking of the news, anyone had a horse burger yet?
I am continuing to conduct clinics at Twin Oaks courtesy of Trudy and Nigel Johnson. Littleton Manor in Reigate and Parwood near Guildford both in Surrey and new venues in Wiltshire and Kent. All the contact details can be found either on the home page or the calendar page.
My book ‘The Complete Showjumper’ is doing well as are my Precision Reins so if you have neither then check them out.
I think that just about covers it and I will try harder to keep this page updated. Happy show jumping.
November got off to a pretty good start with Aileen’s birthday. I am sure she will not thank me for telling you that it was her fortieth so I won’t do that, oops, let it slip. We had a nice quiet party and eased her gently into middle age, I have been there for some time and it doesn’t hurt too much, and anyway Aileen is one of those annoying people who will look thirty till the day she dies.
I did a couple of clinics at Foxley Court in Berkshire but due to the poor support I have had to suspend them for a while. This happens to coaches and trainers. People are madly enthusiastic to start with then maybe adopt the attitude of well he is coming next month so will catch him then. I don’t blame them but do feel sorry for the centres that are really keen to put on these clinics and work hard to do so.
Scotland is galloping away with two new venues plus all the old ones except for Kinross. It is a shame to lose this important indoor arena but the riding club felt like a change of coach so hey ho. On the plus side they were very magnanimous and said that they were happy for me to continue to come to Scotland and find other work, ironic really as I have been visiting and teaching in Scotland for the past twenty two years and for some eight years I was living in Scotland. I will bravely try to struggle on. Inverness has a different format now. Instead of lots of one day clinics I am now doing three, three day clinics. These usually go down well so please contact Siobhan at Dark Deer 07801891549.
The new venues are in Aberdeen and Glasgow. Aberdeen is a great new place called Ardmedden Equestrian Centre, a brand new; state of the art establishment with great facilities including an International size indoor arena with the very best surface money can buy. I am visiting every month and the manager Davy Harvey is very keen and enthusiastic. His contact number is 075435215 so if you are in that part of the world give him a call. I have yet to confirm the Glasgow venue but it seems positive so watch this space.
Northallerton is crazy; I am now doing two very full days and have great clients. Laura Jennings is a star and so well organised it puts me to shame. I have been helping Laura for well over twenty years (see my testimonials page) and she has not changed a bit. Her contact number is 07974750974.
I have had some funny moments over the last few months. One of them allegedly is down to my advancing years. I got up early one morning just before Christmas to travel down to Surrey. A couple of miles down the road I glanced into my rear view mirror and saw the baby seat strapped to the back seat, oops, I thought, Eleanor is going to school today so I had better get it back. I was already running late but being the dedicated father that I am I did a U turn and delivered the car seat back home. Whew, that saved a row. Finally driving along the motorway catching up on my journey, but keeping to the speed limit, my phone went off. Answering it on my ‘hands free’ it was Aileen. She asked “Have you seen my car keys darling”? “No darling” I replied, then I looked across the car and sitting neatly in the middle of the passenger seat were, yup, her car keys. The rest I shall leave to your imagination, but it wasn’t nice.
I have completed some more training videos on www.horsehero.com as I have said previously; it is a great site with lots of videos, blogs and articles from some great riders and trainer, and me. Try it out, it is really great value.
On a sadder note. Just before Christmas one of my colleagues Kenneth Clawson FBHS passed away. He was only sixty three and succumbed to leukaemia. He had been fighting this dreadful disease for about six years and he did put on a very brave face and was courageous to the end. In fact he had allegedly been given the all clear one week before his death. I did not always get on with Kenneth and did not always agree with his opinion and I will not be a hypocrite, however, he was a great coach and did his job with a very professional and pleasant manner. He was the official show jumping coach to the British Three Day Event team for many years and his success is legendary. His funeral gave testament to his popularity with more than fifteen hundred people in attendance.
Christmas is always a really happy time when you have young children. This year was no exception. Eleanor’s face on Christmas morning was a picture, Santa had been and she was glowing. The only slightly nervous part was that she kept asking which of the big boxes contained her pony. Non I’m afraid, but he did bring her a bike. Longer lasting, cheaper to keep and nearly as much fun, isn’t it? Her birthday was a couple of weeks later and she very sagely pointed out that perhaps she would get a pony for her birthday, sorry, maybe next year.
I loaned my lorry to some friends before Christmas to go to a training show with Aileen. Guess what happened? It got to the show ok, and then all ready to come home it was as dead as a stone. I dashed over armed with jump leads. Two of my pals were already on the jump lead case with no joy. Aileen and Nigel (my friend) went home and brought the big horse box they didn’t want to use and collected the two horses. Next day I sent the mechanic out. Fifty pounds later the lorry was on the road. The problem? Oh yes, a loose wire in the ignition switch. A one minute job! Happy days.
I have a nice new horse to ride, Cassie, she is very scopy, very brave and very careful, and so I am really looking forward to getting to some show in 2013. Coco my young one, who, some non-believers told me was useless, has found her jump, she is now showing real signs of having much better than average ability. I am so often disappointed and annoyed when people write off young horses so early on. It may simply be lack of strength or most commonly lack of good balance. Horses develop, like people, at different speeds, often the slow developers last longer both mentally and physically, so to the knockers, remember that impatience is one of the biggest barriers to progress.
I was teaching last week in Surrey. Having just left the yard I felt a drag to the left. I stopped to see I had a puncture. Why do you always get a puncture when it is raining and you have three ton of stuff between you and the spare wheel. Well, being a fit athletic young thing I changed the wheel. Don’t these stupid bicycle type spare wheels get on your nerves? I drove to the nearest tyre repair shop and they dually removed the tyre, checked everything and declared that there did not seem to be anything wrong. They sealed the tyre, replaced the valve, charged me nothing and sent me on my way. We got home just fine but when I got out of the car I heard an ominous hissing sound, Aileen detected a pin prick of a puncture that the professionals had missed. The tyre took about an hour to deflate. The next day I had to drive all the way to Wiltshire so I needed to get up pretty early to change the wheel back to my skinny spare. Seven am, wheel changed. Seven twenty, at garage to purchase emergency repair kit. Seven forty five, changed wheel back to emergency repaired tyre and off I went. All was well. On my way home I felt a distinct wheel wobble so stopped to check right away. The wheel I had repaired was fine except it had two wheel nuts missing and the other three very loose. The moral of this story? Don’t change a wheel twice before 8.0 am when you are ‘tired’. All is now well with the tyre.
At the time of writing the weather is on the turn, we have had some snow, a deep frost and six inches of snow and high winds forecast. I am praying hard and if my prayers in this department go unanswered it will be bread and water rations for a week or two. Don’t you guys who are self- employed, work outdoors and rely on the weather being bearable get sick to death of the smarmy, ridiculously healthy and prosperous looking salaried TV presenters who tell us to wrap up warm because we are in for a real cold snap and driving conditions may be hazardous. “YES, WE F------G KNOW THAT SNOW AND ICE ARE HAZARDOUS. OH BOY GET A LIFE ”. Speaking of the news, anyone had a horse burger yet?
I am continuing to conduct clinics at Twin Oaks courtesy of Trudy and Nigel Johnson. Littleton Manor in Reigate and Parwood near Guildford both in Surrey and new venues in Wiltshire and Kent. All the contact details can be found either on the home page or the calendar page.
My book ‘The Complete Showjumper’ is doing well as are my Precision Reins so if you have neither then check them out.
I think that just about covers it and I will try harder to keep this page updated. Happy show jumping.
September - October 2012
It’s been a busy couple of months for me with a lot of travelling and teaching, but at last I have time to put pen to paper, or in this case my two fingers to keypad.
After the excitement of the Olympic Games there was a chance that the following few weeks would probably feel a bit empty. I suppose this was the case to some extent but given the amount of work I had booked I did not have a lot of time to dwell on it.
The beginning of September I found myself at the All England Show Jumping Course at Hickstead helping some clients. This was really interesting and very enlightening. Looking around I was trying to see where the recession had hit the show jumping world. The 1 metre class had over 100 starters and all the other classes up to the 1.30 classes had entries of over 80 starters. I think that the Bunn familiy showed great foresight in running a National show at Hickstead allowing riders to qualify to ride on the hallowed turf of the International arena. For many years riders had tried in vain to persuade Duggie Bunn to run such a show but he stubbornly dug in his heels and refused to allow it to happen. This is one of the most important things to have happened to BS in the last decade. Opening up the International Arena has given so many second, third and even fourth division riders something to aspire to. It has always been a difficult task to get into this great arena and the experience it gives both young horses and riders, not to mention less experienced riders is priceless. I can remember as if it was yesterday the first time I rode into that amazing venue, scary? Yes, exciting? Very, satisfactory outcome? Err, no! At least not the first time, but it gave me a huge ambition and gave so many riders like myself a realistic achievable goal. Well done Hickstead.
Finding horses that suit riders is always an interesting job but this month it was a particular pleasure. I had a very good friend of mine who had had a couple of pretty bad experiences in owning horses in the past, resulting in some broken limbs and a huge loss of confidence, so much so that she gave up riding for some time. She called me out of the blue to say that she was in the market for a new horse and gave me her wish list. Good looking, reliable, traffic proof, good natured in the stable, well trained, easy to jump, quiet to clip, shoe, travel etc etc. It seemed like a tall order until another of my clients suggested that she would be selling her horse which had all of the above qualities but just was not ambitious enough for her daughter. I put both parties together and the deal was done. The nervous lady is over the moon and I got to sell the other client a horse with more scope to suit her adventurous daughter. Plus I received a very special bottle of malt whiskey which did not survive for very long. Matching horses with people is a great job which I do a lot, and from which I really get a great deal of satisfaction, particularly if I am going to continue to coach them on their new purchase.
The beginning of October found me on a plane heading for New York and then Texas. As you can imagine the weather was a great deal more clement than back here in the UK. It was a very busy clinic in NY and on some of the days I was teaching up to 16 lessons on one day without any breaks, just an endless supply of strong coffee. I had a great time in ‘Dunkin Doughnuts’ trying to explain to a Mexican server that I wanted a strong coffee. My request was, 2 shots of espresso in a tall cup topped up with hot water and a drop of milk. The poor guy looked totally mesmerised by the order and by my slightly Liverpool accented English, he had to call his manager to help him out. After about 20 minutes I left with my strong coffee. After that I was sending different people to the same place for my coffee which the struggling server decided to call it the ‘English’ coffee! Many thanks to Christine Digger and the staff of Chickory Meadows Farm for their great organisation and many thanks to her parents for putting me up in their home.
The kids I teach in NY are really great, the all try hard and have great manners. The only drawback is that some of them have far more talent than their horses, something I would love to be able to change.
I travelled to Texas by a domestic flight on AA (American Airlines) Hmm, what can I say? Well my horses travel in more comfort and with more consideration and the in flight service just does not really exist. The first stage of the journey I was in an aisle seat with a very large 20 stone (280 lb) very sweaty business man sitting in the ridiculously narrow seat beside me, yup, he fell asleep and used me as a cushion. At last that lap was over and things could only get better, couldn’t they, naa. This time I was in a window seat and the big guys twin brother plonked himself down beside me and proceeded to spread himself out as comfortable as he could which meant I had to spend the 2 hour journey with my nose pushed up against the window and the scent of his not to sweet smelling armpits assailing my sensitive senses, oh how I longed to be travelling BA or Virgin.
Texas was great, 90 (40c) degrees, blue skies, warm breeze and very good clients. I did find myself riding almost as much as I was coaching so that was great. Some times on these long trips I feel like I am getting a bit out of shape so the more riding I do the better. I also jumped a couple of really nice horses so I could keep my eye in as well. I am frequently asked what the riders are like in Texas, to be perfectly honest, they really do ride well. They listen, try hard, ask a lot of questions and what is really cool, they all call me SIR. Seriously, the Texas kids are brought up really well, to respect their elders and to respect their tutors and coaches. It is really a breath of good old fashioned fresh air. I have to thank Kate O’Keefe for her great support and for one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in and to Lee and Misty Johnston for their great scheduling at their barn Crossroads Sport Horses.
I arrived home early in the morning to be greeted at the airport by a very excited little Eleanor running through the crowd to dive into my arms, wrapping her little arms and legs around me and telling me how much she had missed me. A couple of minutes later she was asking me which bag her presents were in including her different horses that she requested.
A couple of days after I arrived home I was off to Wales for a two day clinic. In that couple of days at home I caught Eleanor’s cold and it just got into its full swing on the first day of the clinic. By the afternoon of the second day my voice went, yes my voice disappeared completely. If any of you have ever heard my voice you will know what a loss that was. I was whispering my lessons and the riders ended up whispering back, it was the first time I have ever lost my voice and it is a bizarre feeling. Back from Wales to Surrey, very little voice but plenty of rain, then up the North Yorkshire. The thought of 16 lessons in 1 day with hardly any voice and a bunged up nose and a hearty cough filled me with dread, but I survived.
We had a fantastic clinic at Twin Oaks, Mursley. This is my home base where I livery my horses. Trudy and Nigel Johnson really go to town keeping the place immaculate and I know that all the riders really enjoyed the day. Aileen’s chicken and sweet potato Thai soup was just right for a crisp sunny early winter’s day. If you have never tried one of our one day clinics you should. Great fun and I would like to think that the riders go home with something the can work on.
So an interesting couple of months, the cold is still hanging on but it is much less to cope with.
Keep an eye on my diary page to see when I am at Littleton Manor, Reigate in Surrey. Parwood near Guildford also in Surrey. Inverness, Kinross, Northallerton and Wales. Plus I will be doing some more clinics at Twin Oaks, Mursley Buck’s
I have completed some more videos for the Horse Hero website which have received some very good revues so do try them out. The subscriptions are very small so go to www.horsehero.com and give it a test drive.
Christmas is coming so don’t forget my book, ‘The Complete Showjumper’, would make a great gift, or a set of my precision reins, or even a gift token of a lesson or two. There, I have solved some of your gift dilemmas.
Well that’s enough rant for now so happy show jumping and I will try to put pen to paper a little more frequently in the future.
After the excitement of the Olympic Games there was a chance that the following few weeks would probably feel a bit empty. I suppose this was the case to some extent but given the amount of work I had booked I did not have a lot of time to dwell on it.
The beginning of September I found myself at the All England Show Jumping Course at Hickstead helping some clients. This was really interesting and very enlightening. Looking around I was trying to see where the recession had hit the show jumping world. The 1 metre class had over 100 starters and all the other classes up to the 1.30 classes had entries of over 80 starters. I think that the Bunn familiy showed great foresight in running a National show at Hickstead allowing riders to qualify to ride on the hallowed turf of the International arena. For many years riders had tried in vain to persuade Duggie Bunn to run such a show but he stubbornly dug in his heels and refused to allow it to happen. This is one of the most important things to have happened to BS in the last decade. Opening up the International Arena has given so many second, third and even fourth division riders something to aspire to. It has always been a difficult task to get into this great arena and the experience it gives both young horses and riders, not to mention less experienced riders is priceless. I can remember as if it was yesterday the first time I rode into that amazing venue, scary? Yes, exciting? Very, satisfactory outcome? Err, no! At least not the first time, but it gave me a huge ambition and gave so many riders like myself a realistic achievable goal. Well done Hickstead.
Finding horses that suit riders is always an interesting job but this month it was a particular pleasure. I had a very good friend of mine who had had a couple of pretty bad experiences in owning horses in the past, resulting in some broken limbs and a huge loss of confidence, so much so that she gave up riding for some time. She called me out of the blue to say that she was in the market for a new horse and gave me her wish list. Good looking, reliable, traffic proof, good natured in the stable, well trained, easy to jump, quiet to clip, shoe, travel etc etc. It seemed like a tall order until another of my clients suggested that she would be selling her horse which had all of the above qualities but just was not ambitious enough for her daughter. I put both parties together and the deal was done. The nervous lady is over the moon and I got to sell the other client a horse with more scope to suit her adventurous daughter. Plus I received a very special bottle of malt whiskey which did not survive for very long. Matching horses with people is a great job which I do a lot, and from which I really get a great deal of satisfaction, particularly if I am going to continue to coach them on their new purchase.
The beginning of October found me on a plane heading for New York and then Texas. As you can imagine the weather was a great deal more clement than back here in the UK. It was a very busy clinic in NY and on some of the days I was teaching up to 16 lessons on one day without any breaks, just an endless supply of strong coffee. I had a great time in ‘Dunkin Doughnuts’ trying to explain to a Mexican server that I wanted a strong coffee. My request was, 2 shots of espresso in a tall cup topped up with hot water and a drop of milk. The poor guy looked totally mesmerised by the order and by my slightly Liverpool accented English, he had to call his manager to help him out. After about 20 minutes I left with my strong coffee. After that I was sending different people to the same place for my coffee which the struggling server decided to call it the ‘English’ coffee! Many thanks to Christine Digger and the staff of Chickory Meadows Farm for their great organisation and many thanks to her parents for putting me up in their home.
The kids I teach in NY are really great, the all try hard and have great manners. The only drawback is that some of them have far more talent than their horses, something I would love to be able to change.
I travelled to Texas by a domestic flight on AA (American Airlines) Hmm, what can I say? Well my horses travel in more comfort and with more consideration and the in flight service just does not really exist. The first stage of the journey I was in an aisle seat with a very large 20 stone (280 lb) very sweaty business man sitting in the ridiculously narrow seat beside me, yup, he fell asleep and used me as a cushion. At last that lap was over and things could only get better, couldn’t they, naa. This time I was in a window seat and the big guys twin brother plonked himself down beside me and proceeded to spread himself out as comfortable as he could which meant I had to spend the 2 hour journey with my nose pushed up against the window and the scent of his not to sweet smelling armpits assailing my sensitive senses, oh how I longed to be travelling BA or Virgin.
Texas was great, 90 (40c) degrees, blue skies, warm breeze and very good clients. I did find myself riding almost as much as I was coaching so that was great. Some times on these long trips I feel like I am getting a bit out of shape so the more riding I do the better. I also jumped a couple of really nice horses so I could keep my eye in as well. I am frequently asked what the riders are like in Texas, to be perfectly honest, they really do ride well. They listen, try hard, ask a lot of questions and what is really cool, they all call me SIR. Seriously, the Texas kids are brought up really well, to respect their elders and to respect their tutors and coaches. It is really a breath of good old fashioned fresh air. I have to thank Kate O’Keefe for her great support and for one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in and to Lee and Misty Johnston for their great scheduling at their barn Crossroads Sport Horses.
I arrived home early in the morning to be greeted at the airport by a very excited little Eleanor running through the crowd to dive into my arms, wrapping her little arms and legs around me and telling me how much she had missed me. A couple of minutes later she was asking me which bag her presents were in including her different horses that she requested.
A couple of days after I arrived home I was off to Wales for a two day clinic. In that couple of days at home I caught Eleanor’s cold and it just got into its full swing on the first day of the clinic. By the afternoon of the second day my voice went, yes my voice disappeared completely. If any of you have ever heard my voice you will know what a loss that was. I was whispering my lessons and the riders ended up whispering back, it was the first time I have ever lost my voice and it is a bizarre feeling. Back from Wales to Surrey, very little voice but plenty of rain, then up the North Yorkshire. The thought of 16 lessons in 1 day with hardly any voice and a bunged up nose and a hearty cough filled me with dread, but I survived.
We had a fantastic clinic at Twin Oaks, Mursley. This is my home base where I livery my horses. Trudy and Nigel Johnson really go to town keeping the place immaculate and I know that all the riders really enjoyed the day. Aileen’s chicken and sweet potato Thai soup was just right for a crisp sunny early winter’s day. If you have never tried one of our one day clinics you should. Great fun and I would like to think that the riders go home with something the can work on.
So an interesting couple of months, the cold is still hanging on but it is much less to cope with.
Keep an eye on my diary page to see when I am at Littleton Manor, Reigate in Surrey. Parwood near Guildford also in Surrey. Inverness, Kinross, Northallerton and Wales. Plus I will be doing some more clinics at Twin Oaks, Mursley Buck’s
I have completed some more videos for the Horse Hero website which have received some very good revues so do try them out. The subscriptions are very small so go to www.horsehero.com and give it a test drive.
Christmas is coming so don’t forget my book, ‘The Complete Showjumper’, would make a great gift, or a set of my precision reins, or even a gift token of a lesson or two. There, I have solved some of your gift dilemmas.
Well that’s enough rant for now so happy show jumping and I will try to put pen to paper a little more frequently in the future.
Lets remember why we ride, because horses are fun to be with!
Caption?