Blog

Fantom is quite the most difficult horse to train.  At home, he seems to have the mentality of a riding school hack where all the motivation is kept for the return journey.  However, this is coupled with almost miraculous transformations into the flying horse.  How to read these extremely exciti...

Hello, I must apologise as I have been particularly useless this month at getting my hooves to the keyboard! I have no excuses really, except that I have been terribly busy training one particular horse, but more on that later! We got July off to a flyer from a rather suprising source, when the ...

Schoolmasters (and mistresses) are worth their weight in gold – as long as you get the real deal, writes Carolyn Henderson. The Mum who posted online looking for a jumping pony schoolmaster doesn’t stand a chance. She wanted a “kick, point and shoot” pony that was guaranteed to take her daughter ...

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Yippee! It’s holiday time, writes Carolyn Henderson. No work, no pressure and – because there’s a downside to everything – no horses. Here’s how you know that you’re a certified horse addict:

1. Before you started looking at holiday destinations, you negotiated the length of your stay with your...

We're now over half way through the season and the first event at Poplar Park back in March seems like a lifetime ago! As I write this we are midway across the English Channel, travelling back to the UK having been competing at Haras de Jardy which is just outside of Paris. I live at home on the...

They say that you should tell a gelding, ask a mare and discuss it with a stallion, writes Carolyn Henderson. But as anyone who’s benefited from the horse equivalent of girlpower will appreciate, a good mare will give you everything she’s got. Why are so many riders prejudiced against them? If a ...

Are you an adult rider tempted by the adverts featuring native ponies for sale? If so, adjust your brain before you buy, writes Carolyn Henderson. A friend who events her 14.1hh Connemara - and regularly beats the big boys and girls -  says the first thing to decide is whether you think like a po...

Are you blinded by science, or are you having the wool pulled over your eyes in the name of pseudo-science? Reputable companies give good, free advice, writes Carolyn Henderson. While they’ll obviously give their own products as examples, they should be able to explain their recommendations in pl...

Other nations reckon we Brits are obsessed by the weather, writes Carolyn Henderson. They could be right, but horse owners have a special take on it. Long summer evenings? Some people might be dreaming of relaxing in the garden with an equally long, cool glass of something. But as a member of the...