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It’s been a while since the last update. Back in February, I would have imagined I’d be reporting on some exciting spring events by now. However, despite the current lockdown, there is still news to share.
We spent the winter months focusing on specific training programs with a number of the horses. Thank you to Maggie Doel for all of her help with the flat work and Anthony Perkins for his help with the jumping.
Alfie has been working hard on his flying changes, ready for his next 4* events and they are starting to become secure. Quillie had some outings at British Showjumping competitions and stepped up to jumping round the 1.20m tracks with ease. He also fitted in a win at the Arena Eventing which took place at West Wilts in February. Chilletti and Derek had regular outings to West Wilts and Rectory Farm to gain valuable experience away from home. New ride, five year old ‘Bear’, owned by Christina Reed, also had his first show jumping outing where he behaved impeccably. All the horses had a fun cross country schooling trip to Chedworth in March and we were all ready for them to start their eventing in the spring, before Covid 19 hit the UK.
Although it’s disappointing not to be able to get the horses out and about to their respective competitions, obviously nothing is more important than the matter of life or death which coronavirus sadly brings with it. We are very much thinking of everyone and their families who have been directly affected by the virus. We remain forever grateful to the hard work and commitment of every individual in the NHS who put themselves on the frontline every single day.
In response to the pandemic, most of the horses have been given a reduced workload. We are ticking them over to maintain a basic level of fitness so they are ready to step up into full training as the current situation evolves. At the end of February we welcomed Zsa Zsa, who joined the team as yard manager. Zsa Zsa has used the downtime to keep us all busy power-washing, painting and strimming. The yard is now looking immaculate! Ursie has been using some spare time to massage the horses and keep them in tip top condition. Kerry has had some time to update the website and Helen has even learnt how to use Imovie! Whilst we may all be a bit fed up of yard maintenance we are so grateful we live where we do and are able to be out in the fresh air. For some people lockdown is really tough and it’s at times like this that you really learn to appreciate what you have around you, which is easy to take for granted on a day to day basis.
As the current situation evolves, we look forward to fun and exciting times ahead with our stable of great horses. Until then I hope you enjoy this video of some of the horses out and about competing and training prior to lockdown.
Thank you to Freya for many of the fantastic photos and videos used.

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