Autumn has truly arrived here in North Yorkshire and as I type this blog the trees are losing their leaves and we’re warming up our fingers and toes after a brisk start to the day. It’s been great to be back into the swing of things after a strange September (I covered this in my last blog, in case you missed it), with the National Dressage Championships, camps and clinics galore! It was great to see some of my teaching clients heading off to compete at the nationals after so much hard work this year.

I pride myself on giving my followers and supporters an honest account of life here at Team Chapman Equestrian, and it’s safe to say that this August has been a tough one…

I hope all my followers and of course their horses have been able to stay cool and cope during the intense heat we’ve had recently. My staff and I have been getting up very early to work horses before it gets too hot and altering training regimes until the weather gets back to normal. We’re told that extreme weather like this will become more and more common so it will be interesting to see how yard design and event management plans evolve to cope with prolonged heat. For once, we really would love some rain here in North Yorkshire! So, what has been going on at TCE this month?

June has been a spectacular month weather-wise after a cool, damp May, and the horses are looking fantastic in their gleaming summer coats with the sun on their backs. It’s these long, warm summer days on the yard or out competing which make up for the long, cold and wet winters caring for the horses at home in North Yorkshire. So, what have we been up to here at Team Chapman Equestrian during June?

May has been another whirlwind month for all of us here at Team Chapman Equestrian and it’s been hard to carve out enough time to sit and write a blog. Luckily for you, I’ve managed it and it seems that there’s lots to update you on! I’ve been busy taking the horses out competing, including one rather exhausting day when I rode six horses in two tests each, which was a grand total of nine different dressage tests to learn. It’s safe to say that both my body and my brain were exhausted after that but coming home with wins and places meant it was well worth it. We have so many exciting horses competing in both dressage and eventing at the moment that I really do recommend following Team Chapman Equestrian on social media to keep track!

Did you know that the original ‘Top Gun’ movie came out an incredible 35 years ago this month? And the sequel (with a suspiciously still-young looking Tom Cruise reprising his role as Maverick) will be released in just a few weeks’ time? Other than making me and no doubt lots of other people my age feel a little bit old, you might be wondering why I’m writing about Top Gun in a blog normally dedicated to all things horsey and our latest yard updates!

Well, here we are, nearly halfway through February as I write this, and I keep putting 2021 whenever I need to enter the date in a form or anything else! I feel as though last year flew by and 2022 certainly feels equally whizzy for both myself and everyone else at TCE. But we all know it’s better to be busy - this time last year we were stuck at home in lockdown, so I won’t complain about being out competing or having lots of wonderful horses to ride.

I can’t quite believe it’s already the middle of January, so I suppose it’s rather late to be saying ‘Happy New Year’! But I can say that I hope 2022 has started on a positive note and that you’re looking forward to a year with fewer restrictions on our freedom than we’ve had for some time. I’ve been busy getting the Team Chapman Equestrian diary organised and it’s already filled with dates for our popular Coffee and Cake Club and 2-Day Training Camps. So here they are for you to browse - they will fill up quickly so don’t hang about!