Blog posts

It was the first time I had been to the races at Cheltenham for some time. Well, actually since before the new Princess Royal Stand was opened in 2015!  People who don’t go to the races tend to think it is all about gambling but the reality is much more nuanced and many spectators don’t even place a bet. That horses are a major part of a race day is, curiously, sometimes forgotten in racecourse redevelopment (the Millenium Stand at Newmarket comes to mind). But Cheltenham has put horses at the centre of the experience.

Yesterday, for two strides, I achieved perfection. We were balanced, the rhythm was clear, tempo and impulsion just right, the little Welsh soft and easy, genuinely into a contact, working from behind over his back, straight as we worked on a circle and I really felt that for two strides we were weightless and flying. Of course, it all immediately fell apart again because it was hard work for him and as a school horse he knows how to drop out of a contact the split second your mind is not fully, 100% engaged on him (“Wow!

2018 is the centenary of the armistice that ended the first World War. It is a Big Thing in the UK, with many events around the country, the culmination of 4 years of commemoration. I was told recently, seriously, that I should wear my commemorative paper poppy, obtained through a small charitable donation, on the left, over my heart, that the red petals represented the blood spilt, the black centre represented those left mourning the dead, the green leaf the hope of regeneration and that the leaf should be set at the position of 11 o’clock when the armistice was signed.

Well, to be honest I was not filled with my usual enthusiasm when the morning of the Opening Meet arrived. My bed seemed to be a very pleasant place: the weather outside the bedroom window was uninspiring grey and work over the previous week had been tiring. However, being a Subscriber imposes some duties and it is necessary to be supportive at all times, everyone pulling together, as that is the only way a hunt can thrive. The route I chose to drive is supposed to be the fastest according to Google.

For two successive Mondays in early October, around the time of the harvest and old Michaelmas Day, the streets of Cirencester are closed to vehicles and a fair called ‘The Mop’ appears, as if by magic.

There is always a very special feel about Blenheim. It is getting towards the end of the Eventing season and the year is just beginning to turn. The parkland is full of stunning trees: ancient oaks with roots that flow over the sward like lava while their corrugated trunks hold up battered and twisted limbs that nonetheless carry a crown of healthy leaves; the magnificent clump of mature copper beech beside a second of silvery conifer that offer contrasting shades and shadows as they billow softly above the lake. The woodlands are hinting some subtle signs of autumn colour.

Heritage Open Day is an annual event in which building that are normally closed to the public throw open their doors. It happens every September and has become the largest festival of heritage in the UK - which, of course, means that a single day has grown to be a weekend, or a week or even longer in some places. Cirencester has a weekend with a growing list of extraordinary places to visit.

This is one to the very best days out. The Moreton Show is a very traditional one day Agricultural and Horse Show which is held on the first Saturday in September each year in Moreton-in-the -Marsh. It is one of the largest one-day agricultural shows in the UK and attracts over 20,000 visitors each year. For the horse enthusiast, there are no less than 66 classes in 6 different rings and, as the show includes qualifiers for HOY, the standard of competition is very high. The Hunters are a particular personal favourite. This year, Carl Hester is judging the championship.

What could be better than hacking out on a happy horse, with sociable companions, on good ground and in bright sunshine tempered by a cooling breeze? I always like the colour of the horse I am riding: the green grass always looks best between bay ears, with that little rim of black, or between chestnut ears, a lovely bright golden tone that shows up well or then again, grey ears are always rather… good thing I have access to many horses so I can continue this endless internal debate.

The cheerful little horse used on the company logo is based on the silver and gold coins struck by the Dobunni, the British tribe living in the area of Cirencester prior to the Roman invasion. The horse was obviously a potent symbol for the tribe and it also had religious and ritual significance. Horse skulls, other bones and teeth are found at iron age sites across the region, frequently in close association with human bones.