20 enthusiastic BHS instructors travelled to Ingestre Stables, Stafford from Ireland, Scotland and nearly every region of England. Linda De Matteo excelled in her organising of the day, her first go at a training day for the F&I Association. The team at Ingestre did a smashing job ensuring that the day ran smoothly from the yard staff to “Aunty LIZ” in the coffee shop. It was my first attendance at an F&I day and it…

6 BHSI’s and 14 guests were given the chance at Burghley to walk the xc course with Eric Smiley FBHS. As always Eric kept us entertained with various tales from years gone by. Beyond the stories there is a great depth of knowledge that Eric is very good at putting across especially when talking about times/speed and where you should be on the course to stay up on the clock (which no one was able…

Organised by Andrew Fletcher BHSI On Tuesday 19th August a “large” group of F and I members and some of their guests were treated to a truly inspirational demonstration of HAPPY horses enjoying their work with superb horsemanship from the maestro Carl and his riders: Charlotte, Katherine. Amy and Katie. Carl, with his lovely sense of humour, led us through his training philosophy from the young horse to Grand Prix. We were privileged to watch 6…

Boats, trains, planes and automobiles, but no horses, were all used as means of transport to get members of the BHS F&I association and their guests to the recent Blossom Hill Ladies’ Day at the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show.  Style was to be seen everywhere, our party included, and thanks to the very kind arrangements made by Joan O’Connor, we were allowed to use the judges and stewards box and felt rather like VIP’S…

Our group had a very pleasant day which started off as we meant to carry on in the BHS Hospitality Box with teas, coffees and biscuits. We were ably looked after throughout the day by Eamon and Nigel the catering staff who also and most importantly did the washing up. We watched a variety of Championship Judging Classes that included Hack, Ladies Hunters, Miniature Horses and Scurry Driving. After an early lunch we then walked…

“Impulsion with Enthusiasm” with Joanna and Roger Day. The venue was Mandy Holloway’s Shorthampton Farm where Mandy was the host for the day, ably assisted by Tasha de Grave. The morning began with Joanna explaining about her method of training horses where they had to be very quick to react and respect the handler/trainer from the ground and when ridden, using cues from our body language and positioning together with pressure and release techniques. Annette…

Getting the chance to look inside a world class stud farm is not something that happens all the time, but this is exactly what a group of qualified instructors – including four members of the F&I Association – did on a drizzly Irish day. Coolmore is known worldwide for its stable of incredible top class thoroughbred stallions. Winners come from these outstanding champion bloodlines worldwide including the recent Irish and Epsom Derby winner Australia. Coolmore…

The day started out and remained warm and even sunny in the afternoon so everyone did as requested and bought a chair and the dry weather! As attendees started to arrive Judy was already teaching her own students who are based with her. They are preparing for competitions up to and including PSG and were quietly working their way through various test movements whilst managing their horses coping with a lot of activity and bustle…