After seeing a glimmer of hope that all may not be lost at Skipton, we headed off to Buckminster feeling a lot more confident. As it’s quite a long journey for us, we took full advantage of it being in my home county and stabled with my family the night before, meaning Herbie got to spend the night in the field and was fresh and ready to run the next day despite the heat.

He produced a super Dressage test, had a pole SJ but felt absolutely fantastic, and made mincemeat of the XC with just a few time faults due to me being cautious about the ground to finish in 8th place. A super result after the previous month.

This boosted our confidence even more and the following week he produced a foot perfect double clear at Northallerton! Sadly our dressage wasn’t quite so on point as before but we still managed a solid top 10 placing and more importantly, he felt right back to his old self!

So, without tempting fate and planning too far ahead, I am quietly confident that our goals for the 2018 season may be achievable after all. I have been fortunate enough to receive some fantastic training recently which has been invaluable and I’m determined to keep our progress moving forward.

Jalisca, the 4 year old mare I ride on behalf of my boss Jennifer Whittaker has also had a fantastic month.

She contested a very strong BYEH class at Richmond, gaining great scores but most importantly learning her trade and soaking up all the sights and sounds ready for her career as an event horse.

We then decided to take her to Fieldhouse for another qualifier as they are such good experience and again she displayed maturity beyond her years in a very busy atmosphere. Exciting things to come from this young horse. She has started to learn about XC and is thoroughly enjoying it so as long as we get a bit of rain she will have a go at a BE80 in the next few weeks and if we think she’s ready we may have a go at one of the later BE 4 year old qualifiers.

So super horses, super results and super weather – what summers are made for and long may it continue!

I do just have to take this opportunity to thank firstly my boss Jenny for her unwavering support, not only in trusting me to ride her fabulous horses, but also for all her encouragement with Herbie as well. Secondly but equally important is my long suffering husband Ross who puts up with a life that is consumed by horses, is a fabulous event groom and manages to deal with me, our daughter and all of our dramas! It means a lot guys and I hope me and the horses can make you proud!

Carrie x