Hello Again to everyone and please accept my apologies for not keeping on top of the Blog - I had promised myself I would do so at least every two days, but time just whizzes by!
I was honoured to be asked to help out at the BAPSH show, a SICAB qualifier and the first of its kind outside of Spain. My duties included looking after the judge "Don Ignacio Bravo Garcia" and the commentary!
Looking after Ignacio was scary enough as, although I do know him and have worked with him in the past, everyone knows how tricky these guys can be! However, that was a piece of cake compared to the commentary, which somehow changed from "just announcing the awards" to the whole weekend ("Oh, did we not make ourselves clear on that one...?!?!?").
Joking aside, there were a few hiccups (announcing the wrong class, wrong sex, wrong times etc etc!!) but I actually got into the swing of things by the end of it and was so pleased to see the horses doing well and everyone doing their best to make it a success. Anyone who wishes to book me for further shows and doesn't mind a Gloucestershire accent and their horses being announced in the wrong order, feel free - my services are!!
I have to congratulate all of the winners but would like to just mention some of the horses sourced by me in the past. These included the owners of my first ever PRE mare Lluna Rombo owned by Gil Gibson who at the age of 12 I believe (how time flies!!) won the adult mare section and Duque, owned by Amy Long who came second in Morphology in the very strong adult stallion section. I have to say Amy that the judge really liked your boy but, unfortunately, he didn't see your medium walk in the functionality and so you dropped some points there! Also, as always to Michelle Van Meurs and Isleno who did extremely well to win the Adult Movement Champion award - yes, Ignacio did love him and commented several times on how lovely it was to see a Spanish horse enter the arena full of "alegria", calling attention to himself with a "look at me" attitude!
I have mentioned these three specifically as they are all individually and privately owned and have been for several years by the same owner. I think it shows just how important it is to build a relationship and a bond with your horse, trust, understanding and communication are paramount and cannot be developed in a short space of time. All of these horses tried their absolute best for their owners and it was a pleasure to see these partnerships working so well!
Everyone worked so hard to make the show a success and I think we all had a good time. Well done to everybody and lets hope it goes as well next year!
The show finished on Sunday and, on Monday I flew to Sevilla with Ignacio to meet with some lovely clients to visit the Bariain Stud and also the stud of Solera Bravo. The trip was very interesting, not just because we saw some incredible horses (some of whom will feature on the site in the next few days!!) but, also because we had a car accident (I wasn't driving I promise!!) and managed to land ourselves in a beautiful town in the middle of an enormous agricultural fair! It was so incredibly busy but even in among the throngs of people and chaos, we managed to find sanctuary in the form of a Parador Hotel, where we had evening dinner in an open air restaurant in the historic centre of the town.....
Just when you think that life doesn't get much better, I landed back in the UK and on Friday managed to get to the yard to ride my (yes "MY") new horse, who had arrived while I was away.
In typical style, we tacked him up and hopped on. It was Friday, which is bin day where we are. He saw the bin lorry, buses, lawn movers, rubbish bins overflowing, skips, trains, level crossings and just about everything else that could have possibly been thrown at him and just strolled around without a care in the world - I fell in love and haven't stopped smiling since. Rossi just looked on, he really did think he might have serious competition and was not impressed!!
I couldn't ride today as it was Annabelle's second birthday (so a fabulous excuse!), but cant wait to get back on board tomorrow. That is of course, if Rossi hasn't opened the new boys' stable door and "set him free" in the meantime.....!!
I was honoured to be asked to help out at the BAPSH show, a SICAB qualifier and the first of its kind outside of Spain. My duties included looking after the judge "Don Ignacio Bravo Garcia" and the commentary!
Looking after Ignacio was scary enough as, although I do know him and have worked with him in the past, everyone knows how tricky these guys can be! However, that was a piece of cake compared to the commentary, which somehow changed from "just announcing the awards" to the whole weekend ("Oh, did we not make ourselves clear on that one...?!?!?").
Joking aside, there were a few hiccups (announcing the wrong class, wrong sex, wrong times etc etc!!) but I actually got into the swing of things by the end of it and was so pleased to see the horses doing well and everyone doing their best to make it a success. Anyone who wishes to book me for further shows and doesn't mind a Gloucestershire accent and their horses being announced in the wrong order, feel free - my services are!!
I have to congratulate all of the winners but would like to just mention some of the horses sourced by me in the past. These included the owners of my first ever PRE mare Lluna Rombo owned by Gil Gibson who at the age of 12 I believe (how time flies!!) won the adult mare section and Duque, owned by Amy Long who came second in Morphology in the very strong adult stallion section. I have to say Amy that the judge really liked your boy but, unfortunately, he didn't see your medium walk in the functionality and so you dropped some points there! Also, as always to Michelle Van Meurs and Isleno who did extremely well to win the Adult Movement Champion award - yes, Ignacio did love him and commented several times on how lovely it was to see a Spanish horse enter the arena full of "alegria", calling attention to himself with a "look at me" attitude!
I have mentioned these three specifically as they are all individually and privately owned and have been for several years by the same owner. I think it shows just how important it is to build a relationship and a bond with your horse, trust, understanding and communication are paramount and cannot be developed in a short space of time. All of these horses tried their absolute best for their owners and it was a pleasure to see these partnerships working so well!
Everyone worked so hard to make the show a success and I think we all had a good time. Well done to everybody and lets hope it goes as well next year!
The show finished on Sunday and, on Monday I flew to Sevilla with Ignacio to meet with some lovely clients to visit the Bariain Stud and also the stud of Solera Bravo. The trip was very interesting, not just because we saw some incredible horses (some of whom will feature on the site in the next few days!!) but, also because we had a car accident (I wasn't driving I promise!!) and managed to land ourselves in a beautiful town in the middle of an enormous agricultural fair! It was so incredibly busy but even in among the throngs of people and chaos, we managed to find sanctuary in the form of a Parador Hotel, where we had evening dinner in an open air restaurant in the historic centre of the town.....
Just when you think that life doesn't get much better, I landed back in the UK and on Friday managed to get to the yard to ride my (yes "MY") new horse, who had arrived while I was away.
In typical style, we tacked him up and hopped on. It was Friday, which is bin day where we are. He saw the bin lorry, buses, lawn movers, rubbish bins overflowing, skips, trains, level crossings and just about everything else that could have possibly been thrown at him and just strolled around without a care in the world - I fell in love and haven't stopped smiling since. Rossi just looked on, he really did think he might have serious competition and was not impressed!!
I couldn't ride today as it was Annabelle's second birthday (so a fabulous excuse!), but cant wait to get back on board tomorrow. That is of course, if Rossi hasn't opened the new boys' stable door and "set him free" in the meantime.....!!
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