Tag: Horse & Hound

Mud & Mayhem

Posted on | by admin

piggytommaxHow could I have thought that having builders in the autumn was a good idea – it looks like a battleground in front of the house. Hopefully things will crack on more speedily soon – we had the time consuming problem of discovering a well when the builders were digging the footings for the new walls, necessitating both extra Building Regs visits and the handing over of more money 🙁 The new room is starting to take shape though, and the re-located office has fresh paint on the walls and no longer sports a shocking artex ceiling!

Work is blissfully containable – Little Downham was my last report of the year for Horse & Hound and it was good to catch up with Piggy French, Tom and baby Max there. I’m sure Piggy will be a force to be reckoned with again when she returns to competing next year. Oliver Townend has finished the season a remarkable 1000+ points ahead in the British Eventing Rankings, while also nipping out to Australia and winning a CIC3* on a horse he had only sat on three times before the competition started – I’m not convinced he’s human.

Closer to home we found out that Sam is leaving Musketeer, her husband having taken a job in Australia – exciting for her but gutting for us. She’s going to leave very big shoes to fill.

This is the time of year where I tend to hunker down, catch up on the things that fell off my To Do list, royalalberthalland make plans for next year – I’m still seeking that elusive light bulb moment as to how to revolutionise the lives of all my clients, but I’m sure it will come.

Growler braved the builders and came to stay for a few days of beach walks, chat and good food, and I have even ventured down to London which is a rare event for me these days. I was thoroughly spoilt with one friend taking me to tea at The Wallace Collection and another to see Michael Morpurgo and Joanna Lumley read the story of War Horse at the Royal Albert Hall.

How things change on the turn of a card though. Louise, who I went to the RAH with, parted company with her horse out hacking two days later and now has a broken back. Fortunately she will recover, but what a reminder that we don’t know what’s around the corner. I’ve been holding extra tight when riding a newly-clipped George recently; strong winds and a plentitude of pheasants in the hedges is proving exciting.

What was all the fuss about?

Posted on | by admin

zip… I say, lying through my teeth.

My trip up to Blair involved a diversion to stay with some great friends in the Borders. I don’t get to see them often, and George – one of their sons/my godson – becomes ever more gorgeous as the years go by. If I keep the Blair job, I have an excuse to visit them every year 🙂

Blair was great. The sun shone (most of the time) which after last year’s European Championships is definitely news-worthy, the internet worked almost seamlessly (ditto) and I found myself zip-wiring from the top of the Blair Castle tower in aid of Barnardo’s. Ellie Crosbie joined me in the Media Tent and Trevor & Lorna were there, taking photos of Manners Media clients Oliver Townend & Bill Levett – with the dream-team what could go wrong! Oliver was on fire – he had 7 rides, all finishing in the top 6 of their classes and Cillnabradden Evo winning the Event Rider Masters.

From Blair I back tracked down to Pitlochry before diverting east for another trip to the incredible Fealar estate. My charming host had dropped a Land Rover at the bottom of the 8 mile obstacle course, flatteringly referred to as the drive, so I could abandon the Jazz and enjoy a much speedier trip to the house than 12 months ago, arriving in time for dinner.

Sadly, with Burghley looming, I could only stay for 36 hours, but I came away feeling restored – a long, long walk, another encounter with a golden eagle, totally delicious food, slightly too much alcohol and great company. The 10 hour drive home was less enjoyable!

As last year, I stayed with the wonderful ‘Growler’ for Burghley. She received some bombshell news on the day of my arrival, so I was more pleased than ever to be there to keep her spirits up. My lasting memory is of setting mouse traps (a long story), giggling uncontrollably – the mouse didn’t stand a chance.

shantyBurghley passed in something of a blur. I can’t complain, Ellie fitted in a job in Germany in the three days between Blair and Burghley – it was all I could do not to dribble by the Sunday. Oliver, Bill, Ros Canter and Harry Dzenis were all in action, Oliver finishing as best Brit. I also met up with new client Ruth Edge to discuss her website, now she has hung up her eventing boots to focus on dressage.

I genuinely slept for a week once I was home again. It’s such bliss to actually have time to ride George most days, fly, indulge in a few massages (I have found a wonderful woman who comes to the house – heaven!), go for long beach walks and catch up with friends. Admittedly one such walk did end up with 2 fire engines, a boat and over 20 strapping men joining in the fun – poor Shanty, the Highland cow, had got herself stuck in a dyke and the only option was to call the cavalry.

I have one more job for Horse & Hound next week and that is me done for 2016. Time to finish the garden, endure a month or so of builders, and get my paintbrush out again…

If you need a job doing…

Posted on | by admin

BiscuitCatching… ask a busy person. I have no idea where the last few weeks have gone, or why my blog is so late, given my work list is supposedly short in June and July.

June started with a nice gentle day at Little Downham for Horse & Hound, where I was kept entertained by Garry & Cala Russell, however Blaston Show was my main focus of the month and it totally lived up to its billing.

It is the most charming country show, with everything from cattle, sheep and pygmy goats to horses, classic cars and vintage tractors – I adored watching the ‘Best Biscuit Catcher’ class in the dog show. It really is a great day out, always on the last Sunday in June so if you live in the Midlands, put the date in your diary (for anyone that was there, Leigh Goodsell took some cracking photos, including the biscuit catching dog on the left).

I also had one of my greatest friends, and her inexhaustible flat coat retriever, to stay. I discovered walks that I never knew existed and it was the perfect excuse to switch my computer off for much of the day. My new ‘swing seat’ (in place of a sofa) had just been installed so we spent very silly evenings testing its capacity while planning a trip to Finland to see the Northern Lights this winter.

Apart from that my calendar gives no clues as to how it is suddenly the middle of July. My mother’s house is now sold – end of an era, and I’ve been airborne a couple of times. I slotted in another horse trials, Great Witchingham, for Horse & Hound and my own horse is a little fitter – however, the garden remains unweeded and I’ve given up on the belief that I might finally paint the windows.

I have been accused of not blogging because I have lost the last 2 rounds of the White Rabbit contest – when I say lost, I mean that I let said ex-boyfriend win (of course!) – so will allow him his moment of glory, it will be short-lived. Now I must go in search of a present for another old friend who’s holding a 25th wedding anniversary party this weekend. Yikes, I only lasted 5!

Wappety wap

Posted on | by admin

DCIM182GOPROHaving kept as quiet as possible (for me) I can finally blog about the most amazing day’s work I have ever enjoyed. As a confirmed aviation nut and ex-flying instructor, the opportunity to be perhaps the last non-injured civilian to ride in a RAF Search & Rescue Sea King helicopter was beyond my wildest dreams (the RAF have since handed over Search & Rescue to a private company). I think it has put me firmly in Horse & Hound photographer Peter Nixon’s good books too.

It was, of course, all in a good cause. The letters page of H&H regularly contains stories of accidents while out hacking, some of which directed at insensitive or ‘gung ho’ pilots who fly too low over horses, causing them to spook. I am more aware than most, given my previous career, of how hard it is to spot a horse and rider, so felt it worthwhile to attempt to get the message across that wearing hi-vis really could make a difference in preventing accidents.

Working on the basis that it’s not what you know as much as who you know, I enlisted the help of friend and RAF Paramedic Winchman Haz (blog 3), who set the wheels in motion to obtain all the relevant permissions – there were dozens of hoops through which to climb. That done, Peter and I arrived at RMB Chivenor in North Devon early one morning, on a perfect, blue-sky day at the end of September. The final story is in H&H today with a shorter, more personal, blog (and some cool video) due on their website.

What a day… I am school-girl star struck with these guys (and girls – co pilot was the lovely Tamsyn); pilots, medics, crew, engineers, they are so utterly good at what they do. Not only did Peter and I both get winched up into the helicopter, I also got to sit in the Sea King’s cavernous doorway, legs out, as we cruised low along the North Devon beaches. I will still be grinning like a cheshire cat this time next year.

In other news…. George (the horse – blog 1) has yet to come sound so is now on box rest with Emily Lochore at Burnham Market after a steroid injection in his hock – I’m slightly concerned he is going to be stolen by one of the team there, he’s wrapped them around his hoof that’s for sure, but he is being beautifully looked after – thanks to Rhiannon, Jordan and Sam. I’m keeping everything crossed that our hacking days aren’t over…

Family stuff stays the same – but a huge plus is some of the people I have met over the last 5 months. Enough said on this really – they know who they are.

It’s hard to remember what else has happened since the European Eventing Championships. Features have been written, Little Downham and Oasby Horse Trials event reports filed and hundreds more motorway miles clocked up – by now Angus Smales might even have stopped laughing, having worked out who the ‘little old lady’ driving the ‘granny’ car at Oasby was. Last time I write nice things about him in a report 🙂

My event season is over so life can slow down a bit, although I still seem to have a mountain of web work to do. Time to plan some fun adventures for the relatively quiet winter months…

Grabbing some down time

Posted on | by admin

JulyBlogThe last three weeks have definitely run at a slower pace and I am close to feeling human again. Even the ‘traffic fairies’ have been on side – the drive from Norfolk to mum’s house in Sussex can take anything up to six hours if the Dartford Tunnel isn’t playing ball, but on the last 4 trips I have beaten the 3.5 hour barrier. Result!

On the work front it’s been the regular updating of client websites and discussing a couple of new briefs which will hopefully come to fruition. I also had an unexpected trip to Brightling Horse Trials on behalf of Horse & Hound; I’ve not been there for years, and had forgotten how incredible the views are.

Rather surprisingly I interviewed a RAF Paramedic Winchman for British Eventing Life (he’s also an amateur event rider!). What an amazing job, he must have balls of steel. As a current fixed wing and lapsed helicopter pilot I am bursting with excitement at the invitation to fly in to Paul’s RAF base and have a tour of the Sea King – I’ve not got long to get there though, the base is closing soon so fingers crossed for some good weather when I’m next in Norfolk, and not too many emergency calls for the crew.

Still on the flying front, I spent two days flying with one of my godsons, whose heart is set on getting his licence (many years ago I was an instructor). Norfolk was at her best, weather wise, and I even pulled off a couple of cracking landings, which I can’t always say!

Back in Sussex, mum achieved the last thing on her bucket list – getting to a concert run by her greatest friend, Aanna Colls, at Herstmonceux Castle. It was lovely to see the surprise and delight on so many people’s faces when I wheeled her in to the ballroom – and the music was fantastic.

Less happily I recently heard that one of my earliest employers, the uber-talented costumier Jane Johnson, had died of cancer. Still producing her fabulous creations at the start of this year, she was a remarkable woman who kept her patience when I was losing mine during the making of 46 ‘swans’ for the Festival Ballet’s Swan Lake; the major ballet and opera companies both here and abroad will be the poorer for not having Jane’s input.