Welcome to my Website!

I'm thrilled to be adding a blog to my website, and I'm excited to share updates about my ponies and business with you.

As some of you may know, I'm into my 2nd edition of The Local Nag, and I'm eager to expand my writing horizons. I feel like I'm getting the hang of this writing business, and what better way to keep you informed and up-to-date with my ponies, massage therapy, and equine business than through this blog? Plus, I need to make this website perform, as it turns out they're expensive!

The biggest news in the last couple of months has been our move back to our own property in Loburn. While it was amazing to have access to Mahara Equestrian Centre's facilities and have my mother nearby (Nana next door had its bonuses!), we're loving being back home. Our new location means I can offer massages, lessons, and schoolers four days a week, and I'm available for lessons at both my home and Mahara Equestrian.

My "Bootcamps" have been a huge success, and we're heading into its third season. These 10-week sessions are designed to be fun and social while working on exercises over poles and small jumps that will help improve strength and technique for both horses and riders.

I love watching my clients progress and appreciate the accountability that comes with regular sessions and can't wait to get back into it after daylight savings starts. Keep an eye out for the next season's times and dates, which I'll release at the start of August.

To help keep my "bootcampers" ticking over, I have been running Pop-up sessions this winter, which have been a huge success and will continue until the middle of September.

On the horse riding front, Ellie has started arena work again, and we might even attempt dressage this season (though we need to polish our act, as she prefers flying changes to counter canters!).

With a few schoolers booked in through the winter, my plans to get CJ (my resident stallion) back under saddle and break in my rising four-year-old Lion King are on hold. I'm torn about gelding CJ at the moment, he just has the most amazingly laid-back temperament and loves attention, but with my main horse being a mare, I don't think I have it in me to juggle a mare and a stallion out competing! He doesn't have the busiest stallion "schedule" and, with him preferring the actual touch of a lady over her artificial counterpart, it does make breeding season a little more of a juggle, having to take mares on for hand serving. He has produced three lovely offspring, doing a super job of passing on his sensible and trainable temperament, so perhaps they can be his little legacy.

If only I had a looking glass to help me make the best decision going forward! Wouldn't that make owning horses easier!

Speaking of looking glasses, I bet the Olympic selectors wish they had one when selecting their final teams for the Eventing Teams in Paris. There have definitely been a couple of surprise decisions, with the current World Champion (Yasmin Ingham) and the Badminton Champion (our own Caroline Powell) only making the reserve list for their respective countries, but I'm sure it will be an exciting competition nonetheless, and I can't wait to watch it unfold!

Thanks for joining me on this update, and I look forward to sharing more news, tips, and behind-the-scenes insights into my life with horses. Stay tuned for the next blog post, and don't forget to follow me on social media for the latest updates!