Solo has been a busy boy.  He went to a ‘Radical Jumper’ show at Erinmoor Farm.  This is a fun series of shows offering a mix of cross country and show jumps with an optimum time.  He did lovely clear rounds but not close t

You know, on balance equestrian sport is pretty clean (I’m talking Olympic disciplines – no hunters!), especially compared to the likes of cycling. According to a 2012 study by WADA,  cycling was the worst of the 26 Olympic sports, with

When it comes to the infernal, eternal Welly Wars, I’m not surprised people have started to bury their heads in the sand. Not because the truth is too difficult to bear (oh if only we had the whole of that), but because this is getting so very,

Remember this adorable poster from the seventies? I feel just like that kitten right about now. It doesn’t seem to matter whether I’m actually in Welly World or sitting here at home in my microscopic office-off-the-kitchen. I just canR

I’m on my way home now via Texas to do some non-writing biz, and am very much looking forward to some quiet time in the real world of my own home to recover from my travels (a bit of etymology for you: ‘travel’ originates from the w

The day after I wrote the last entry I fell off Solo.   It is actually the first time that anyone has fallen off him and I think he was a bit shocked (so was I).   I had him out in the grand prix field which is nice soft grass, and he had b

If you haven’t seen the comments posted on my two WDM freestyle blogs, you might want to check those out before reading on. I feel compelled to respond to the remarks left by several readers. First of all, to Leueen, my sincere apologies if you

Recently Solo has been so good it’s been boring. He has been getting better and better at going sideways and as a result, he is more through in his back and all his work seems easier for him. However…. Yesterday I thought he felt a bit st

We are in the half way break of the freestyles at the Masters, and I am pleading with the DQ gods to improve on the first half – by A LOT. I’m not going to name names because I don’t need more enemies in Dressage Land – but I

I’m sitting here at the Jim Brandon Center, waiting for the rather tiny GP Special of the WDM Palm Beach to get going. Between the flu (Edward Gal), scratching pre-jog (Aussie debutante Nicholas Fyffe),  and bloody spur marks (Tina Konyot) the