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’ve been on the road in January and February taking Romeo, King and the other dressage horses to competitions. All our training during the winter has really paid off and I was delighted to be in the ribbons with first and second place in the elementary and winning the novice class. Well done to the horses and thank you to my support team on the day. It’s so rewarding to the result of so much work and attention to detail - and there really is a lot of both! I’m lucky to be trained by Ian Woodhead, one of the best dressage coaches in the country, but he does make sure we work very hard. On his most recent visit to the yard, I had a massive 7 lessons with Ian. It’s safe to say I was a little tired and achy after that - and I had the longest list of homework you’ve ever seen.
We’ve also welcomed Ryan Shannon to TCE HQ for his amazing in-hand piaffe sessions with the older horses. It’s always a pleasure to watch Ryan working with our horses and seeing them make so much progress, and I make sure I flag up on Facebook when he’s next coming in case any of our clients want to join the clinic. Keep a beady eye out for more dates coming soon.
Madame Revolution, our first ever syndicate event horse, has been out cross-country schooling with the fantastic Holly Richardson on board. Holly took a lorry full of our event prospects and we were lucky that their owners could come along and see them working. I might be telling you about as many eventing successes as dressage wins at this rate! Holly has also been introducing our dressage babies to jumping, something which makes sure they all get some variety in their training. Plus, it occasionally reveals a true talent for show jumping or our next eventing prospect, so it’s always worthwhile.
In other news we’ve added more all-weather turnout pens to the yard, perfect for ensuring all our horses get ample time outside to relax and unwind. Obviously, this winter has been somewhat drier than usual, but the full drainage, surface and membranes will come in very useful during a ‘normal’ winter! Our 2022 coffee and cake clubs are underway (these are so popular so make sure you take a close look and book on the website) and we’re holding our first camp at the start of March, such a great way to improve your riding and meet some lovely people. And finally, we’ve seen horses selling just 2 days after being advertised on Facebook. That must be some kind of record for TCE so if you see us advertise your perfect horse on our social media feeds, then make sure you don’t hang about- drop me a line ASAP!