I’m not a tour guide but I do know that Kent is notable for many things; Henry VIII installed his first wife (whose head actually remained on her shoulders) at Leeds Castle, before he shabbed off and left her for Anne Boleyn.  Sissinghurst Castle was home to Vita Sackville-West who…

It’s not just all about the horses … we’ve got 7 dogs too. I know, it sounds like a lot when you say it out loud but you don’t really notice just how many there are, not when they’re all whizzing about the yard like Gremlins on amphetamines … until…

Mud Fever is a bit of a mystery.  It seems to come from nowhere.  The microbes responsible are probably already on the skin just waiting for an opportunity to get in a bit deeper and cause trouble. Horses prone to mud fever include the elderly, those with compromised immune systems from…

It’s been a long time since anyone has really done much with Tommy, a 17hh grey ID hunter … for his part, he’s just been doing his thing out in his field for the last couple of years; waste of a good horse really … that was until earlier this…

My trainer is stuck in Australia (worse places to get stuck I guess), has been for several months now and is clearly getting bored … so she’s told me to send her some videos of me riding so that she can “virtually yell at me”. Now I love training and…

Just what is 'Baby Pile' when it's at home anyway?

I’ve woken up so terrifyingly early this morning, so early that I’ve given myself a headache … no work to do as such and yet I’m up not only with the lark but before him, typical.Skipping (gazelle like, as if, ha ha) off downstairs it seems that even the majority…

Why am I worried about clean paws at this time of year?  No – it’s not because I’m house proud. With two big dogs, 3 horses and young grandchildren around, that would be daft.  It’s actually because of the increasing prevalence of what were once exotic diseases in dogs.  …

This time of year – late February and March - when the days are lengthening, we get a lot of queries from people who are wondering whether to start their sweet itch regimes as their horses have started to rub. My response to this is to be careful that you’re…

I read many posts and receive messages from owners of horses with sweet itch who are at their wits end having ‘tried everything’.For someone who feels they’ve tried everything, where can you start to help them?  The answer is to break things down for them and help them work out…