Classic Spanish Horses

19/10/2023

Transformation Thursday 👀💙

Pretty much a year to the day between photos and I can’t quite get over the transformation in my absolutely stunning 6 year old PRE Yanqui GL. His neck, his back, his bum, he’s built up so much but the biggest change has definitely been in him as a person, he just loves people and being around them so much now and has a real lovely fun character that has firmly come out of its box, so much so that he gives the whole yard ‘music time’ every afternoon and has us all in stitches 🤣

It really has been a case of slowly slowly catchy monkey with this one, he was so weak and nervous when he first arrived from Spain but it has been the best year getting to know him, gaining his trust and building him up. He’s going so well now that I don’t want to sell him 🤣🙈 officially in love all over again!

15/10/2023

My lovely Sanson made his debut at BD Medium level this weekend, chuffed to bits with his + 62% score.

Considering he didn’t do a leg yield at the start of the year and now he is able to get through a test with shoulder-in, half pass and travers, I couldn’t be more thrilled with him and his progress.

He really is the best 6 year old I could ever ask for 💙

11/10/2023

My first Working Equitation clinic at Beechwood Equestrian Centre will be on Saturday 9th December.

It will involve a full course of obstacles and all levels and abilities of horse and rider are welcome and catered for. All obstacles can be performed in walk and made as simple as you like for riders lacking confidence or green horses.

45 minute individual sessions - £60
1 hour pairs sessions - £40 per person
30 minute in hand introduction sessions - £30

Please contact me via text or WhatsApp on 07590845359

10/10/2023

Very excited to announce that I am collaborating with Beechwood Equestrian Centre to bring first a Working Equitation demo and then a series of clinics and training shows throughout the winter.

Details and dates of all to follow soon 🥳🤩❤️

02/10/2023

I was planning on doing a ‘day in the life’ video today but to be honest this video pretty much sums up how my day to day life goes 🤣🙈 the joys of working with horses 🤣

01/10/2023

For anyone wanting to improve their plaiting skills, give Cassy Gadsby Equine Coaching (the absolute queen of plaiting) a follow! 🙌🏻

As we get to that time of the year when the nights are drawing in, you may have started to think about getting your stables ready to bring the horses in at night and save your fields a little.

Less light, for many of us, means less time to ride after work. This is where I come in, why not use this time to learn new and improve your current plaiting skills.

Plait Like a Pro is a 16 video course which has already helped so many to improve their plaits. Making tiny changes can have a huge effect on the outcome.

I also offer product tips and feedback, simple tools to help achieve the look and of course it’s available to you wherever you have signal.

So take your phone or tablet to the yard and watch the videos as you plait. Stop, rewind and watch again.

You are also part of the online Plait Like a Pro community making learning more simple, easy and supportive.

For more information or to sign up today, get in touch and let’s get you Plaiting Like a Pro.

📸 Fleur Churchill Photography

All plaits created using Hairy Pony products

01/10/2023

Wow - what a weekend!! Just back from teaching 18 Working Equitation sessions at Felsted Equestrian Centre. I absolutely LOVE teaching these guys, such a fab group of people who are so fun to teach!

Homework has been set, the next weekend is in the diary and I already can’t wait to get back there 😁

Massive massive thank you to the absolute superwoman, Hannah Petersen, who organises the clinics and all the logistics for me and supplies me with bottomless coffee and snacks all day long on these weekends, you’re the best ❤️

Well done guys, you were all fab as usual 👏🏻💪🏻

01/10/2023

For the last two years, I’ve been working really hard on focusing on improving my position, especially my shoulders and arms, on every single horse I’ve ridden.

There’s so much improvement still required but looking back at a photo of me just over a year ago ➡️ compared to now, I can’t quite believe how much better it’s become.

It’s so crazy how when you work on something every single day you actually don’t really notice the improvements happening until you reflect!

30/09/2023

A great horse can change your life but the truly special ones define it ❤️

28/09/2023

I can’t quite believe I’m writing this but today Guapero made a girls dream come true ❤️

I now officially have a Prix St George horse and am a Prix St George rider 😱

Having qualified to ride a PSG a few days ago we cantered down the centre line today into both our first ever PSG test and I can’t quite get over it 🤣

From my first ever BD test being a Prelim in April 2022 to riding a PSG 18 months later, all because I have such a unicorn of a horse in my gorgeous Guapero who has just improved so massively in the last 12 months and enabled me to build such a great partnership with him🦄

Massive thank you to Paulo Santos for teaching me so much about riding the higher level movements over the last 8 months!

And huge thanks to my support system/agony aunts/top grooms Kitty O’Brien and Tom Cook who listen to my endless whittling on about shows and tests and plans etc, I know I bore you both to death at times but you both give me the support to keep pushing on all the time 💪🏻❤️

Now to go away and spend some time learning how to ride the test without thinking ‘omg I’m actually riding a PSG’ the whole way round 🤣🥳

16/09/2023

Oh I do love a set of transformation photos and I think this is my favourite one ever 😱

Pic 1 - 3 year old Sanson fresh off the lorry from Spain obviously having not eaten a thing on his way over, standing at 15hh with no fat or muscle on him at all.
To
Pic 2 - 6 year old Sanson on his way to winning the Novice Working Equitation National at the Iberian Show last week, now standing at 16.1hh and an absolute beef cake.

He really has had the ultimate glow up in the last 3 years since I’ve owned him 💙 it’s been a journey but I’m so proud of the horse he is becoming!

The importance of letting them have periods off for growth in their 3-6 year old years is really highlighted in the amount Sanson has grown in this time. He has had between 3-6 months off every winter up until now to give him time to grow 💪🏻

16/09/2023

2 weeks later and I still keep reliving the excitement of competing in the The Association for British Working Equitation Working Equitation classes at the Festival of the Iberian Horse over and over in my head 🤩
What an incredible show to be lucky enough to take part in 🙏🙌🏻👏🏻

So proud of my boys 💙

30/08/2023

Was a pleasure to spend the bank holiday weekend at Felsted Equestrian Centre with these absolutely wonderful ladies doing a two day Working Equitation clinic ❤️

13 sessions across 2 days, I enjoyed it so much time just flew by, you guys are an absolute joy to teach and it was so great to see so many improvements from everyone since last months sessions!

I think it’s quite obvious how much fun we all have from all the beaming smiles in the pics 😁

Can’t wait for the next one at the end of September 💪🏻🦄

27/08/2023

Had an absolute blast with the amazing bunch at Felsted Equestrian Centre today doing another Working Equitation clinic with the obstacles.

I also took my gorgeous Guapero along to do a demo around the course for them and enjoyed a wonderful spanish themed lunch as an added bonus!

What a fabulous day, looking forward to going back again tomorrow for another jam packed day of all things working equitation 🤩

Photo credit to the lovely and very talented Emily Stöckle ❤️🙏

For anyone in the Essex area wanting a Working Equitation clinic at your yard please get in touch as the diary for the next couple of months is filling up fast.

14/08/2023

On the back of a horse, you will find paradise ❤️

13/08/2023

Some of you might remember this wonderful boy Calisto, he left me to go to his new home with an amazing new owner in June 2022, they had a great summer and then he was allowed some time off over the winter to grow as he was only 4.

When he came back into work after his break he had gone quite green and a bit spooky not doing anything naughty just needed some further education so his lovely owner got in a touch to see if I could have him on schooling livery to work with him for a bit.

He has been with me for 4 weeks and I have worked a lot on his core stability and balance which has helped us overcome most of the spookiness as I found that this was actually just a bit of an evasion tactic when he was finding something a bit difficult.

We rounded off his time with me by putting him to the test and taking him to his first ever BD show on Friday. He was immaculately behaved from start to finish and produced a very sweet test with only a couple of green mistakes but most importantly he wasn’t spooky at all and took everything from the walking through the show ground on his own, to the busy warm up and the dressage boards completely in his stride.

I have absolutely loved having this boy back for a while and working with him again as I am very fond of him. He is heading home tomorrow to continue the good work and progress with his lovely owner ❤️

So I will now have a schooling livery space available going forward if anyone wants a bit of boot camp for their horse, I can work on flatwork, working equitation crash courses, getting them to their first show etc or just general fine tuning with their schooling.

11/08/2023

As Guapero’s changes have improved so much in the last few months I decided on a whim earlier this week that I would enter him for his first BD Advanced Medium today and he did not make me regret that decision at all. I wasn’t sure if going to a dressage test straight from 3 days of chasing cows in Dartmoor was the wisest idea but he produced a lovely test for 63.84% which I was absolutely over the moon with, his changes (all 5 of them) were all clean, even the tempi’s down the centre line at the end where we were just supposed to be cantering 🤣

He was just a superstar from start to finish ❤️ if I still wanted to do pure dressage there is no way I would be letting him go!

Also side note - I can’t actually quite believe I’ve just ridden an Advanced Medium 🤣😱 it was only 2 and a half years ago that I rode a BD prelim for the first time so just to ride that test and it not be an utter shambles was enough for me 😁

Love my gorgeous Guapsy ❤️

08/08/2023

When Sanson can’t understand why I would want to take a photo of anything but him 🤣❤️

08/08/2023

Day 2 afternoon - group hack on Dartmoor with the best group of gals 🐄🐴🐎

08/08/2023

Cattle Camp day 2 - morning session

Guapero just never ceases to amaze me 🤩

This horse will do anything you ask of him once he trusts you, never seen cows in his life before yesterday and had a cow very reluctant to be penned this morning but he just kept on listening and answering every question.

Dressage, Working Equitation, Hacking and Herding Cattle this boy can do it all ❤️

Please get in touch if you are looking for a super special PRE as he is looking for a new 5* home 🏡

03/08/2023

My gorgeous boy Guapero is looking for a new home, he would be the ultimate schoolmaster for an amateur wanting to work up through the levels BD or WE.

Please DM if interested, horsequest advert link below.

Guapero II Guapero is a very smart, eye catching PRE. He is currently working at Medium level BD producing scores of 65% + and Inter B level working equitation having only been introduced to working equitation in March this year. Guapero has a lovely, willing brain. He loves to work...

03/08/2023

Hartpury BD Regionals 2nd August

So Sanson and I did not produce the test result I had hoped for at regionals yesterday, he did a lovely test with only one mistake where I didn’t balance him quite enough through the corner to prepare for a canter transition and we struck off on the wrong leg in our second canter but other than that I was pleased with how he went given the circumstances of only being back riding for 3 weeks after a whole month off. We scored 63.52% so coming 20th out of 25 starters.

At first I was bitterly disappointed with the score, one judge had marked us 20 marks lower than the other 2 judges and driving the 4 hour drive home thoughts of is this really all worth it started to creep in. However I pulled myself together and reminded myself that the judge only sees the test on the day, what they don’t see is the horse that only 12 months ago could not transition into canter without running 5 steps of unbalanced trot first, the horse that would stand on his back legs for fun or explode into the air for no reason if he was finding something difficult, they don’t see the hard work and endless hours in the school training that Sanson and I have done over the last 3 years, the don’t see the 6am starts and 10pm finishes, the painkillers being taken every 4 hours when my back is playing up but I’ve still got a whole yard to do and 8 to ride in a day, the endless planning of shows, training, weekly regimes for the horses to get them as ready as possible for these shows. The love, care and effort that goes into each and every single one of the 10 horses I am responsible for.

So when I reflected on all of that, I realised that for me it’s not about the score we get, it’s not about qualifying for nationals. For me it’s about the fact I went into the ring at regionals with a horse I’ve backed and produced from 3 years old myself and we did what I felt was a lovely test for us. Sanson behaved impeccably, he was on my aids and trying to do exactly as I was asking, to be honest I can’t ask for any more than that from him.

I also realised that I shouldn’t asses my worth as a rider and a horse woman on a score a judge who knows nothing about me or my horse gives me. I’m proud of the rider I am, although I’m constantly striving to become better I’m proud of the improvements I’ve made in the last 3 years, I’m proud of all the horses I have settled into the UK and found amazing new forever homes for, I’m proud of the yard I run and the effort I put in to keep it all running along smoothly and I’m proud of the horsewoman I am, I always put the horses needs before my own and I love horses through to my bones.

So the summary of the day is, it’s not the result I had hoped for however days like this will only make me more resilient and more determined to keep plugging away on the constant self improvement journey I am on.

One final thing I reflected about on the journey home is that I never ever get a feeling of questioning whether it’s all worth it when I come home from a working equitation comp. Whether we have absolutely smashed it or got eliminated and come stone last, I always drive home from those events with excitement for the next one and excitement for what is to come in the future, I haven’t actually had that feeling since my eventing days so I think that tells me I’ve finally found the sport that I want to put my everything into. So while I will keep doing some BD in the background when things are a bit quiet, my main focus will continue to be on the Working Equitation and striving to become good enough to gain a place on the British team at the world championships one day (I can dream hey 🤣💭)

28/07/2023

After a very early start to get the yard done with my amazing Kitty O’Brien, I headed off on a long trip to the lovely Hartpury for the Working Equitation National The Association for British Working Equitation

Day 1 - dressage phase complete lying in 6th place with Sansy pants in the Novice with 62.98% and 2nd place in the Inter B with Guaps on 62.42% overnight 👍🏻

Both boys were very well behaved in a pretty spooky arena with a big flappy marquee right next door, a couple of silly mistakes from me in both tests but really pleased with how they both went after a couple of months off of competing they came back to it like they’d never had a break 🤩

Very excited for the obstacles and speed classes tomorrow 🚀

Love my spanish boys ❤️

10/07/2023

Today I put all of the obstacles on the lorry and took them over to Felsted Equestrian Centre to teach this lovely bunch all things Working Equitation and what an absolute blast we all had 🤩

Everyone gave their horses super confidence giving rides and all of the horses tried their hearts out at all of the obstacles then lots of homework was set for the next one in two weeks time 💪🏻

Lots of laughs, especially at Reggie the cutest 2 year old on the planet who had a go at all of the obstacles in hand and tried to put all of them in his mouth 🤣❤️ and most importantly lots of fun had by all!

Massive thank you to Hannah Petersen for being the most organised person I’ve ever met and making the whole day go seamlessly, you’re a star!

29/06/2023

Yanqui GL 🦄

I’ve definitely got a special one for the future on my hands here, it’s been a long process waiting for him to grow and fill out before we started proper work but my god it’s been worth it, just look at him 😍

13/06/2023

My lovely boy Yanqui likes to entertain 🤣he does this every single day, we call it his music time 💙

13/06/2023

Take a guess which one is the mare and which one is the gelding 🤣🤣💙💙

28/05/2023

Sanson and I went to our new favourite day out yesterday, another Working Equitation Regional Competition at Westley Park 🤩

After turning up very late we had no time to warm up for the dressage phase and had to go straight in to our test (without even being plaited up which I was mortified about 🤣🙈) so I was very surprised but very pleased to see we had gone into the lead after the dressage 💪🏻

So I went into the Ease of Handling, having practiced the obstacles several times at home last week, with high hopes for us. But as we all know, horses like to be great levellers and Sanson brought me back down to earth with a bang by showing me that if I don’t get it bang on then he won’t be playing ball 🤣
I came to obstacle number 2, the bull, and slipped out to the left through my seat on the approach and so we totally missed it and I ended up getting us eliminated in that round 🤬

After getting over my frustration of how the Ease of Handling round went, I decided to go into the Speed round (video) and have a bit of fun, which we certainly did 😄 for anyone who doesn’t know about Working Equitation, the aim of the speed is to just get around all of the obstacles as quickly as possible and style is not judged at all in this phase. When that music cranks up you can’t help but want to open up and let them go a little 🤣 and even though I missed the Vara again in the speed, we had a fab time and came home with a smile on our faces 😄

For anyone who is yet to try Working Equitation and wants to find out more give The Association for British Working Equitation a follow 👍🏻

09/05/2023

Working Equitation one weekend, British Dressage the next 😄

My ridiculously gorgeous Guapero on his way to 1st 🥇 place at the weekend, gaining himself another 3 points in the mediums so he is now over halfway to gaining a regional qualification in his first year of BD 🤩

This horse is the epitome of how versatile these Spanish horses can be 💛

09/05/2023

By joining The Association for British Working Equitation you are doing so much more than just becoming a number!

You are helping to establish the sport in your area of the country by telling us “I’m here and I’m interested!” This then helps us when we are deciding where to place competitions and events that will be best suited to our members.

You are supporting the work we are doing day in, day out to build the sport in to an established, credible discipline and allow people of all levels to enjoy Working Equitation in a more accessible, inclusive way.

You are contributing towards our ultimate goal of becoming a member body of British Equestrian through helping us to meet application criteria.

You are helping to raise the profile of Working Equitation!

With memberships starting at just £20 a year and a *NEW YOUTH MEMBERSHIP* for under 16’s there is an affordable option for everyone.
Please follow the link below for more info -
https://membermojo.co.uk/workingequitationgb?fbclid=IwAR0eabNGMDIECFXkuXs7ZBHC-ty5GwZr0C8oMBo4Ql6_gZZaPlvp4tVR8Vs

03/05/2023

🐎Working Equitation Clinic 🐎

I will be holding 2 days of Working Equitation Clinics at my base in Stapleford Abbotts, Essex on the following dates:

Saturday 27th May
Monday 29th May

The clinic is open to every level of horse and rider, all obstacles can be performed in walk for novice riders/novice horses. I can also hold in-hand sessions for anyone who feels like they would like their horse to do the obstacles in hand before riding them through them.

Advanced horses and riders also welcome, whether you are new to WE and want to give it a go or whether you are experienced and just want to come and practice over some new different looking obstacles.

There will be a full course to include the following obstacles:

The bridge
The gate
The rein-back bell
The jug
The jump
The sideways pole
The straight slalom
The two barrels
The bull

Individual 45 minute slot - £40
Groups of 2, 1 hour slot - £30 per person

Tea, Coffee, cold drinks and toilet facilities will all be available on the day.

Please message to book in. Bookings will close the weekend of the 22nd May so I can create a list of timings, please state when you message if there are any particular times you would prefer 👍🏻

Please feel free to share and tag horsey friends in this post 🐎

09/04/2023

What a difference 6 months can make to a horse 🤩

Yanqui arrived with me in September as a very weak 6 year old so he had 3 months wintered away in the field, came back in January and started a few building up sessions a week to start slowly building some muscle and this is the result, he looks like a different horse!

Looking forward to getting him out and about to some school hires and a show over the next month ❤️

01/04/2023

My two gorgeous 6 year olds, Yanqui and Sanson, got to test ride the new working equitation bridge yesterday 😍
The Carlsberg boyfriend has done such a good job of making it and it’s even got removable wheels to make it easier for me to move around on my own, I’m so pleased with it and can’t wait to ride a few of them over it today❤️

24/03/2023

21/03/2023

Facebook wouldn’t let post two videos on the same post, so here is Sanson doing his first ever Ease of Handling course at the Working Equitation Regional comp this weekend ❤️

He’s still so young so struggles with a lot of the obstacles but he does try his heart out!

20/03/2023

So this weekend was my first Working Equitation Squad training and also our first ever competition and wow what a weekend my Spanish boys and I had 🤩

All three of us have got a lot to learn over the next few months but having said that I couldn’t be more proud of how both my boys handled themselves at the comp on Sunday, they really both are such genuine horses that try their hardest to do what I’m asking of them even if they don’t really quite understand it all yet 😅

I absolutely cannot wait for the year ahead on the Squad, very exciting times ahead 🐎

11/03/2023

Competition update - 11/03/23 - Bluegate Hall Farm BD 🏇🐎

So today started off with me opening my dressage book to learn my tests and finding out to my horror that I had entered, for only our second ever Medium test, the hardest Medium test there is, the Medium 75 🙈

So I quickly made a panic stricken phonecall Anand Patel Dressage to tell him the situation and ask him how the bloody hell to ride a walk pirouette 😂 after laughing at me for a good few minutes he told me exactly how to ride the whole test and assured me we would be fine. Then after a second phone call to the Carlsberg boyfriend who told me that I’ll do great because I’m the best dressage rider he knows 😂 (I ignore the part that I’m the only one), I set off to the show with the mindset that I’ll just go and have some fun and if I at least remember all 4 different tests that I’ve just learnt this morning then I’ll be happy!

Well I not only remembered all 4 of my tests and had an absolute blast, my two perfect boys both went and got themselves qualifying points and lots of rosettes 😁

Sanson got a 2nd and a 4th, with 68.33% in one of the tests to give us 5 more regional points, it was so nice for him to get a score that he utterly deserved this week as he went beautifully 💙

Then Guapero won his Elemetary 🥇and absolutely amazed me in the Medium 75 with how rideable he was and came away with 3 regional qualifying points which I actually couldn’t quite believe when I went to collect my scores. This horse is proving to be phenomenal!

I couldn’t be more proud of my two Spanish Senõrs ❤️❤️❤️

Also couldn’t be doing this without the people that keep me and horses muscles in great shape:
Ceola Reece Veterinary Physiotherapy


And of course Anand Patel] who now also has to take crisis calls from me at 7am on Saturday mornings and does so with a smile 🙏

Unfortunately no photos or videos as I was flying solo but what a day!

06/03/2023

We have really been focusing on my position lately and through a combination of lots of training with and regular sessions with I am now starting to see lots of improvements 🤩 it’s still a work in progress but I think we’re definitely on the right path! I am now much straighter through my pelvis, my shoulders are less rounded and my elbows have realised they’re not actually chicken wings 😂 it’s so great to look back and notice improvements on things you’ve been working on for the last couple of years.

Swipe for a photo in 2022 and then 2021 ➡️

05/03/2023

Just a girl and her horses doing what they love to do ❤️

I used to dream about having a Spanish horse to go ‘dancing’ with and now that dream is a very firm reality with my two wonderful boys!

Yesterday Guapero and I did both our first ever Medium BD test, it was a real pinch me moment and I couldn’t quite believe it was me riding around the arena doing half passes, shoulder-ins and extensions. Guapero is an actual real life unicorn and he floated through the test beautifully for 3rd place, I actually couldn’t be more proud of him and the horse he has become in the last 6 months I’ve owned him.
Sanson also did a lovely test in the novice but unfortunately the judge didn’t think it was as lovely as it felt so we didn’t get qualifying points but I was pleased as Sanson did a lovely relaxed, rhythmic test with no mistakes. He really is growing into an amazing horse and I just LOVE riding him 😊

So grateful for both these horses helping me to chase my dreams 🦄

Massive thanks to for consistently whipping my bum into shape 3 times a week and for coming yesterday to warm me up as he new I was bit nervous about moving up to the Mediums