I know I keep going on and on about the mild weather, but trot sets in the sand arena, in Ontario on February 4! We are in our sixth year here at Balsam Hall. In all that time, we had one exceptionally mild spring when we were out riding in the sand

I left dressage camp with Clayton feeling very accomplished. This year is our year. Woody has muscled up so much lately and is ready mentally to go to work. During my warm up alone I had some lovely changes and nice extended work. Once in the ring wi

The mild weather in Ontario continues and we continue to revel in it. The horses look glorious with sleek shiny dappled coats, since everyone is staying nice an cosy in the milder temperatures. The paddocks are bare of snow and, to be honest, I wish

Today was Woody’s first training camp of 2016! Selena started training with Jonathon Millar last fall as he and his dad Ian are conveniently based just an hour north of Balsam Hall and today the whole team was able to benefit from his show jump

Further to my last two blogs concerning the rather superficial summaries on the 9 points of saddle fit and getting ready for the spring and the upcoming show season, my next couple of weeks of blogs are going to be discussion of these 9 points in muc

The last day of the month. I count the days and tick off the months in the winter. It has not been quite so bad this winter, but I really do hate the cold. I hate the worry of whether or not they are cold at night. I hate the worry of too many/not en

There is lots going on both sides of the border. The mild weather in Canada is giving us a lot more freedom in our riding and training program than is usually available to us at this time of the year. Normally we can only walk for very short periods

Today was a gallop day for Woody. His next outing is the Wellington Eventing Showcase in February 5-6. He is in great form. The two photos are of him enjoying his pipe opener this afternoon. The new boy on the block, King Brian, worked on the flat. S

After just eight rides over three weekends, Sheikh Sultan Al Nahyan has achieved significant improvements – well documented on this blog and elsewhere.

I know I promised a more optimistic 2016 prediction to follow the weekend’s frowny emoticon post about my expectation (low) of the FEI and EC in the coming year. But, given the doom-and-gloom stories that keep coming out regarding the upcomi