NGS Equestrian - New Goals Set

14/03/2026

Scales of training no 3
Connection
What does connection mean?
It means the contact that you have with your horse, the way the rider and horse feel each other with that contact.
It’s not only the contact down the reins, of which we aim for a soft relaxed responsive contact with the horse taking you forward. A bit like holding a small child’s hand that’s taking you softly to see something amazing to them.

It’s also the seat, the contact and the way you use your seat, the way the horse feels you through their back, and again the response the conversation you have through their saddle as you do with the fingers on the reins.

Also the legs, how they should softly sit against your horses sides, again we aim for soft signals and good responsive reactions from the horse to even just your calf muscles squeezing softly, sometimes they don’t even need to have much pressure at all.

Then there’s the contact / connection you have just simply between you and the horse, on and off the saddle.

Now it sounds like a fairy tale to have that much lightness, and responsiveness to the various contacts. And often feels elusive, especially in difficult hard moments, and I am by no means perfect and I too often make mistakes and use too much contact still to this day.

It takes time to train and learn for both horse and rider. It comes from being consistent with your requests, and yes sometimes the pressure is more firm than we ultimately want. It’s a constant work in progress.

It took me a long time sadly to really understand contact.
I started as most growing up with riding school horses that were saints and we need them, they learn to ignore so many signals as they have so many different riders of all abilities, they are subject to a lot of ‘noise’ in riders requests but most of us would have never learnt to ride at all without these amazing horses.

Then on a hunting/dealer yard. Back then these horses just had to get on with the job, they came in gave lessons, long hacks and days out hunting with often bad riders (and I’m not taking that comment back, they really were, brave but bad as was I at the time) no one taught me about contact, or much else, it was an era of the horse just has to do it end of!!!! Sometimes I wish that I had not ended up there, but although it was not great, it still taught me to stay on, and gave me a solid understanding of truly bad horsemanship. But also I understand riders that come to me from this place and so I can help them. If they want to be helped.

Then whilst training for exams I thank God that I fell into a classical training riding school, of which the lovely proprietor Tina Layton had trained to Grand Prix with the likes of Arthur Kottas of the Spanish Riding School, and John Bowen
International event rider and trainer of medal winners at Olympics. In fact it was John who insisted us students learnt the scales of training.
At my start there I often got told off about my terrible contact, and I can see now it was terrible. Needless to say I had to learn a different more beautiful way of riding. And that’s when I fell in love with dressage.

I then learnt more about contact and got even better understanding of just how amazing and soft and beautiful riding can be. When I had a very difficult horse that made me explore what’s commonly known as ‘natural horsemanship’ some of what they did I loved, some not so much. But I truly learnt much more about softness with contact and how important to be aware of the pressure you use, and indeed how it’s used when where why to apply pressure and when not too, again it’s a constant work in progress.

This made me delve deeper into classical and more so French classical, and ‘natural’ horsemanship groundwork (to note there is very good and bad ‘natural’ horsemanship out there, I now prefer just the term horsemanship) and as I said above it’s a constant learning experience. Not only has all this changed contact and connection for me. But also the whole of the scales of training.

On its own the scales look quite easy to understand and basic. But ….. they are not and once you step into the realms of truly understanding your eyes get opened.

03/03/2026

Rassau Crème Supreme aka Charlie Registered Welsh D stallion is booked in with the vet to get his swabs and bloods checked and will be available for walk in chilled AI this year

03/03/2026

Rassau Crème Supreme aka Charlie Registered Welsh D stallion is booked in with the vet to get his swabs and bloods checked and will be available for walk in chilled AI this year

28/02/2026

This !!!! ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
I already knew this was a bit of an issue. But bringing a young extremely well bred stallion to Futurity grading had highlighted how bad this problem is.!!!
Horses are not fully developed at 4 & 5 yrs old to be worked to show extension and medium level carriage, or jump 120!!!

They should be taught to be good citizens of the horse world, be calm, well mannered and have a variety of interesting jobs to do rather than being drilled to perform.

I will always choose to look after my horses joints and mind over flashy paces too early on. There’s plenty of time to develop strength and balance and keep a relaxed calm positive experience to work.

Why is it easier for me to find a sound 16-year-old than a sound 8-year-old?

Why do the horses over 15 that come through my barn often require less maintenance than the younger ones?

Here’s my honest observation...

The horses that are 15 and up today were started before the social media performance boom. Before futurity purses exploded. Before every ride was filmed, marketed, and compared online. Before 2-3yo were heavily promoted as “broke broke,” not green.

Around 15 years ago, the economics shifted. The industry reward system moved toward proving horses at 2 and 3. And not just lightly proving them. Really proving them. Horse's joints didn't change, though. They still grow just like they did 100 years ago.

When money moves earlier, pressure moves earlier.

Horses started under saddle at early 2. Many as long yearlings. Some even younger. Expectations increased. Maneuvers advanced sooner. Intensity increased sooner.

Then we started seeing something else. More maintenance, earlier.

Joint injections became routine in many programs. Not always because a horse was lame. Sometimes because it was “preventative.” Hocks in the spring. Stifles in the fall. Across the board. No specific diagnosis. Just standard practice.

The problem is that repeated corticosteroid injections, especially multiple times per year in the same joint, have been shown to accelerate cartilage degeneration over time. Used strategically, they can be helpful. Used routinely without clear indication, they may contribute to earlier breakdown. In a time of such easy access to regenerative medicine, and research around every corner, there really isn't a good reason for this.

Now we are seeing horses retired at 5, 7, 10 years old.

And yet I have watched a student win a cutting check on a 20-year-old horse.

That contrast should make us pause.

This is not anti-vet. This is not anti-competition. This is not anti-futurity. It isn't anti-steroids.

It is pro-longevity.

It concerns me that I now encourage clients to look at older horses because they often require less maintenance than younger ones.

What happens in 10 years if we no longer have that older, sound group to rely on? What horses are teaching the next generation? What if riding a horse into its 20s becomes rare instead of normal?

Associations created incentives that reward early performance. Until those incentives shift, the pressure will remain.

In the meantime, I will keep my young horses developing slowly. Building base miles. Protecting joints. Playing the long game.

Because I would rather have a sound 18-year-old than a brilliant 6-year-old that cannot stay in work.

04/02/2026

What I love doing most in the world 💗

01/02/2026

I love this. It really resonated with me yesterday, when I realised that it doesn’t actually get dark enough to have to use a head torch to get the boys in from the field for bed anymore at 4.30/5pm.
I finally felt a glimmer of hope that it won’t be long until spring arrives. And the stallions will be starting work again.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1KHAzKzVi4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Imbolc is an ancient festival, traditionally marked around 1st–2nd February.
It celebrates the return of the light, the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and the first quiet signs that winter is loosening its grip.

Historically, Imbolc was linked to:
- the beginning of lambing season
- milk returning to the ewes
- fire, warmth, and protection
- hope, renewal, and gentle new beginnings

It was never about spring being here
it was about knowing it was on its way.

And honestly… that energy fits equestrian life perfectly.

The days are still cold.
The fields are still muddy.
The rugs are still on.

But something has shifted.

For us as equestrians, Imbolc looks like:
- noticing the evenings stretching just a little longer
- feeling hope while pulling on muddy boots
- horses moving with a touch more spark
- plans beginning to form without pressure to act yet

Imbolc reminds us that nothing blooms all at once.
Growth happens underground first.

Just like:
- fitness returning gradually
- confidence rebuilding quietly
- partnerships deepening through consistency, not force

This isn’t the season for demanding more -
from ourselves or our horses.
It’s the season for gentle preparation.

Small intentions.
Soft resets.
Listening closely.

Imbolc asks us: What are you tending to now, even if no one else can see it yet?

Because spring doesn’t arrive suddenly.
It arrives because we kept caring through winter 💛

31/01/2026

Horses that soak their own hay???
I have noticed none of mine do (anymore!!)
Some never did, a couple did. But since treatment for ulcers and management.
That self soaking of hay has stopped.

Anyone else had the same thing?

31/01/2026

Scales of training No 2, Suppleness is both longitudinal and lateral.
Ie from top to bottom (tail to nose), and side to side (bend and steps)
To develop flexibility with strength you need to use a huge variety of exercises. And be careful to build slowly so as not to damage your horse.

26/01/2026

Coaching using the scales of training
Rhythm is the first.
I was always taught Rhythm AND
Relaxation
I truly believe without relaxation you have nothing!!! And you can’t have Rythmn with a horse being relaxed.!!!

22/11/2023

I would definitely agree
Physical injury’s etc force you to change the way you ride, and although it’s been challenging just as much mentally as it has been physically, I think long term things have the potential to pay off.
I’ve had an interesting journey this year particularly as I tried to just improve.
I felt I was getting nowhere fast.
However I now have more of an idea about how I can potentially / possibly do more next year. I just hope nothing else gets in the way physically, apart from the long awaited operation to repair the torn ligaments if that actually happens next year.
I have plans, I need to refine them, but I do have them !!! Apart from these physical plans I do actually need to be disciplined enough to execute those plans, and some, or should I rather say, a lot of that discipline is going to be controlling my thoughts, my mind, which likes to make me believe I can no longer ride well.

One thing I hear a lot from my students, both men and women, as they age or learn to live with a physical condition or recover from an injury: “I don’t have the strength that I used to.”

I’m not an expert in aging in the saddle clearly. I can’t get into someone else’s body and feel what they feel, and in all my experience of teaching different folks with different bodies, I can only make my best guess at how their body can work at it’s best.
One thing I know for sure is that there isn’t a whole lot of strength required to ride well, and that I can put those worries to rest. Balance sure, stamina maybe, but good riding should not involve much muscle.

Despite the endless directives for more leg needed in a barn in Anytown, USA, good riding is mainly about positioning your body, or weight aids, in such a way that the horse can understand them, educating them to stay centered to those weight aids, and staying present mentally enough to guide the horse stride for stride. There shouldn’t be much in the way of squeezing, pulling etc.

In this way, I have been able to continue riding and training with sprained ankles, pinched nerves, hip injuries, pregnancy and more not fun types of things that make one less strong and capable of squeezing and pulling. And I would go as far as to say all these conditions have heightened my interest in riding through feel and not force through necessity, as well as seeing the superior results.

So as much as I am a proponent of fitness to ride well, I feel strongly that folks who suffer from physical conditions that limit their ability should not throw out their dreams of riding well. I’m not giving out medical advice here -
Obviously it’s best to check with your doctor about whether it’s safe to ride for you first, but before you say “I’m too crooked/weak/x,y,z thing” to ride, remember the power of weight aids, presence of mind, and the sensitivity of horses.

02/10/2023

Another really good lesson with Martin Greet
Both Charlie and I sweating buckets, Thank you 😂🙏
So nice to be coached by someone that truly understands horses and truly trains in a classical way. And he’s honest tells you when it’s improved and when it’s not going so well, but in a nice way. As before Martin totally understands stallions so progress already being made in such a short time. And all in a grass school, yes he’s still humble 😂😂😂 I’ve known Martin for years and years. Longer than I’ve known most of you. He’s not highly rated enough I think. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️