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2025 wasn’t as busy a showing year as I had hoped, but a lot of fun was still had. I kicked the year off with an outing with Tipple. I had never taken Tipple out showing before, and honestly I was expecting her to be a total nightmare! However, I was delighted to be proved wrong! She was an angel! As always, it was an absolute pleasure to be out and about on Monty. Second in our first affiliated class was a highlight, and, of course, it is always nice to take home a sash. I

I read in the news this week that, starting June next year, carriage horses will no longer be allowed to offer rides in New York City. No...

What to do with your show horse or pony to keep them going over the winter? This used to be more of a problem years ago when there were fewer indoor shows and shows on all-weather surfaces. Nowadays, there are quite a lot of show series that run over the winter, whether they're riding club level or affiliated, such as the NCPA. If you can't find any winter shows to attend, dressage is one activity that's really helpful to get your horse out and moving. It encourages you to th

What to wear for a show hunter pony class? For the show hunter pony classes, you need to wear a tweed jacket, shirt, and tie. You can choose any colour combination of shirt and tie. Personally, I like pale blue and gold, or burgundy and canary yellow. You should wear canary yellow jodhpurs, beige, or any light yellow colour. Jodhpur boots with jodhpurs clips should be worn on ponies. I prefer oxblood jodhpur boots, but you can absolutely wear brown. The pony should be in brow

In the UK, we wear our numbers on our backs, and it used to be that we rounded the edges of them, but I notice this is being done less and less nowadays. I always used to make sure I always did it, and I admit, I don't anymore. I even used to have a stencil so I could get the corners perfect! I noticed at the Royal Dublin Show that the numbers are actually placed on horses' browbands. In the UK, sometimes you see people with the discs on the bridles. I think the Horse of the

Entering a qualifier can be expensive. Though there are many qualifiers that you don't need to register to be a member of or be a member...

You may notice at a lot of shows that the mountain and moorland classes aren't split by individual breeds, but that they are split by...

The problem I have is that although I'm short and lightweight and can absolutely ride a pony, for the majority of classes, I am out of...

Cornbury Horse Trials is one of those events that just makes you feel good. Set in the stunning grounds of Cornbury Park, it has a...

In my opinion, they absolutely are. Just a few years ago, the county show circuit seemed to be in serious decline, especially some of the...

Wow. Honestly, the best show I think I've ever attended in terms of visiting an agricultural shows. I felt it had so much more to offer...

So I'm jumping on the back of the trend that I saw in Horse and Hound the other day about nineties childhoods. What do I remember from...

In some showing classes, it's necessary to take all your horse's tack off so the judge can better see their confirmation and looks. This...

Something I've noticed this year, and it may have been going on for longer, is that many large shows are now featuring unaffiliated...

Something I've recently learned to enjoy is showing horses in hand. It's not something I liked when I was younger, but I've actually...

Honestly, I love so much about it. I love being in the ring competing. I don’t care if I'm propping up the end of the line. I think...

Absolutely not. There's nothing saying that you've got to have a showing saddle to go showing. What a showing saddle does is it's...

Its natural to have self doubts when it comes to showing horses. I'm sure of it, and I'm definitely not an exception. Some of my showing...

Training stakes are classes designed to get people into working hunters, as well as mountain and moorland working hunter ponies. The...

What is the difference between lead rein sharing, first ridden, and first year first ridden? Well, lead rein is pretty self-explanatory....