Product review – Greenfields Saddle pad from TRI Equestrian

No filter! 🐴Ok, I think I have found the saddle pad version of the Penney’s Pippa OConnor dress. 😳 true story – look at this saddle pad – it’s nice and thick, it’s got a contrasting trim, it’s got binding to match and it fits well – clearance at the withers and the binding is not underneathContinue reading “Product review – Greenfields Saddle pad from TRI Equestrian”

Making a Balls of It!

Well last week was full of ups and downs! On Wednesday I learned to play with balls while riding and it was not as erotic as that sounds!! 😃 . I will be the first to admit that when I first heard of Franklin Balls – rubber air filled balls that look like some kind of deformedContinue reading “Making a Balls of It!”

Showjumping Holy Trinity – The canter, the line and the trust!

When I am teaching show jumping or cross country I have a mantra I always bang on about. Why? Well the answer is two- fold. Firstly if you are going to be a coach you need to have your own philosophy on things and your own way of explaining things (Drive that bus Christa!), otherwiseContinue reading “Showjumping Holy Trinity – The canter, the line and the trust!”

Eventually Eventing

  While I have focused on dressage and showing for the last number of years I actually used to event. I evented for a few years on the riding club circuit in the intermediate grade. I used to event whatever I was allowed to sit on. My biggest challenge was a chestnut mare ex racerContinue reading “Eventually Eventing”

Competition nerves and Winning Against Worrying

My anxiety around competition was never really just about competition. It was a fear of the unknown, of lack of control, of new things.  It started when I was a small child and if I was anxious about something I would feel sick and nervous. Things like exams, trying new things, bus trips. Over timeContinue reading “Competition nerves and Winning Against Worrying”

Getting A Second Chance

Last Spring I was helping my partner to sell a horse. It was a horse that I referred to as ‘that idiot cob’ having seen him cart himself full speed around the arena with riders on more than one occasion. My partner had bought him as a four year old from a dealer at aContinue reading “Getting A Second Chance”

Ladies Day, Like A Lady

This year, at the 2015 Discover Ireland Dublin Horseshow, I did something I’d never done before. I did ladies day, dressed up like a lady. Normally at the horseshow I would be dressed comfortably and found either shopping, photographing, grooming or working on an article. This year I was invited to a lunch and aContinue reading “Ladies Day, Like A Lady”