The best Royal Windsor Horse show yet with Ehpico d’Atela winning the Lusitano Parade Horse class. An amazing achievement for a seven year old stallion, so proud of him. I bought him as a three year old from Francisco Bessa de Carvalho, the breeder and slowly brought him on.

Competing at Royal Windsor is a fantastic experience but winning on such a young horse was amazing. Ehpico was also placed third in the English Ridden Lusitano Class against some strong competition. Lovely to be judged by Lady Sylvia Loch, Looking forward to next year already!

Another great year at Merrist Wood for the South of England Carriage Driving Fair. I rode the wonderful Viriato owned by Catherine Smith and joined riders from Pine Lodge and Sussex Lusitanos to show off Lusitanos at their best! Starting with the Carousel, following on with Gonzalo Marques Obeso helping us improve piaffe, Spanish walk and flying changes.

Working Equitation UK provided the finale with a fantastic display showing obstacles and speed, functionality and fun. A great display, see you all next year!

With 2014 FEI World Cup Driving Champion, Boyd Exell (left) and top British carriage driver, Georgina Frith (right) (Photo credit: http://www.peterbphotography.co.uk/)

Working Equitation 2013 European Championship in Queen Isabel Riding Club (Livorno Ferraris, near Torino).

Working Equitation training is happening all over the UK. The dressage, obstacles and speed phases are easy to practice but the cattle penning is a different matter. Working Equitation UK organised the trip to Spain where we had the chance to ride horses experienced with cattle and have training with a champion. Holly Barber and I joined fellow working equitation riders Tori Peter and Rebecca Turner on a flight to Jerez.

It was great to ride horses that knew what they were doing and were easy to move around the cattle. It was very useful to have been that close up with the cows and had great fun penning them. Our trainer Luis Erquicia Domecq was excellent and we improved a lot.

Many thanks to Luis, Goncalo and Lorenzo for your hospitality and patience! We look forward to returning…

Great to be back at Suffolk show after last years cancellation due to bad weather. On the first day of the show I rode Viriato as part of the Sussex Lusitano’s display team. Lovely to show the functionality of the horses and introduce more people to Working Equitation.

Xá was on hot form but managed to get placed 1st in the in hand part bred and 2nd in the ridden part bred. Xá was reserve part bred champion and Catherine Smith on Viriato was champion! This was Espartaco’s second show and his first overnight stay at a show. He behaved really well in the ring and great to ride him around at the show.

Many thanks to judge J Rodriguez Moreno, looking forward to the next one!

Royal Windsor is one of my favourite shows of the year. This year I rode Xá in the Ridden Pure and Part bred Lusitano class, big entries and very pleased as he behaved very well and was placed 4th! In the Parade class I rode Viriato, owned by Catherine Smith. The great atmosphere at the show resulted in him being hotter than usual but again did a great show coming 3rd.

Couldn’t have asked for better from either horse. Many thanks to George Dewez for judging and to all the helpers and supporters who make it possible. Lovely to see friends from all over the country who always get together for Windsor!

It was a warm sunny day for Woodbridge unlike previous years! I took 9 year old part bred gelding Xá and 4 year old pure bred stallion Espartaco to the show.

The Parade class was short and Xá managed to pull out a 6th despite not really settling in the class and then won the in-hand part bred class, retaining his title from the previous two years. Espartaco ran up well and behaved beautifully in the pure bred in hand class. So pleased with him for his first show!

The ridden class was mixed pure and part bred and with 21 in the class it was strong competition! I was very pleased when Xá was placed 2nd. Many thanks to all that helped, the shows are always very busy and a great team effort!

What an amazing oppurtunity to have Gonçalo’s help with Xá and Viriato. Watching Gonçalo Carvalho compete Rubi in the London Olympics was breath taking.

To see him ride Viriato and Xá was amazing and what a great help with their training. Lots of good tips and lots to work on! Many thanks Gonçalo.

I was very lucky to be able to go to Paris and see the four classical schools. Featuring the Portugese School of Equestrian Art, The Spanish Riding School of Vienna, The Cadre Noir of Saumur (France) and the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art (Spain).

It was lovely to compare the different breeds performing high school movements. There were some beautiful horses and very talented riders, an amazing show! If you ever get the chance it is a must see!

Four Schools Paris 2012

On the 3rd of August 2012 I flew out to China with three other riders from Norfolk. Holly Barber, Natasha Read, Hannah Royal and myself were invited by Portuguese rider Joao Lynce to join his European team to work for a month.

The Brother Fortune company in China owned by Mr Wong organised the 2nd Ordos Dalate International horse culture festival. Our job was to promote horse culture in China and ride in Shows and street parades.

Whilst in China we visited several cities along with the rest of the teams. In our European team we were joined by riders from Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Spain and Portugal. The Western team included riders from America, Brazil, Panama and Mexico. 75 riders in total took part in the promotional events.

It was an amazing experience and we had a great time working with the other riders. A fantastic cultural experience!

Many thanks to Joao Lynce for the invitation. Also to Lusitano stallions Visconde, Saturno and Beethoven for a fab ride! Great to work with the other riders, hopefully catch up with some of you again in Golega!

THE ENGLISH RIDERS LEAVING FOR CHINA	THE RANCH	THE HOTEL ON THE RANCH
ORDOS SHOW WITH HOLLY BARBER ON BANDELEIRO AND MYSELF ON VISCONDE	AT MR WONGS PARTY WITH OUR INTERPRETER “DOUBLE”	ENTERING THE ORDOS ARENA
TEAM WORK!	VISCONDE	PROMOTIONAL POSTER
FINALE	THE EUROPEAN TEAM IN DALATE	VISCONE IN THE BAOTOU SHOW
ANDRE PICA AND NOHIO	JOAO LYNCE AND ESQUAIL	BAOTOU SHOW
DISPLAY WITH THE GARROCHA	THE LEVARD IN HAND	CLASSICAL MOVES IN ORDOS
HACKING OUT IN CHINA	THE DALATE TEAM	FLAG TRAINING WITH VISCONDE
PROMOTION IN THE CITY	SHOW PREPARATION IN ORDOS	DALATE ARENA BEING BUILT
THINGS HOTTING UP WITH THE FIRE DISPLAY	ON THE BIG SCREEN!	JOAO LYNCE AND BEETOVEN
TRADING THE HORSES FOR CAMELS!	DANCING WITH THE BALLERINA	TRAINING AT THE RANCH WITH JOAO
CHINA OPENING THE SHOW	KNIGHTS IN ARMOUR	THE ENGLISH GIRLS IN THE PARADE
HITCHING A RIDE GOLEGA STYLE	TEA WITH MR WONG	STREET PARADE
ORDOS STREET PARADE	PLAITING	DALATE ARENA