It’s a relief to be back riding again! Dan and the girls have done a great job holding the fort for the past 6 weeks but we’ve got 15 horses in for starting or retraining and another 15 that need working each day, so I think they are pretty happy that I am back in the saddle! The break from riding has given me time to focus more on teaching and I have really enjoyed doing some courses for groups in the last couple of weeks, including our new two day ‘Australian Horsemanship’ Courses.
Luckily I was back in action before the last Coffee Morning, which we held at Bedgebury Park. Bedgebury was a large riding school just up the road from us that earned a great reputation for training BHS instructors. Its 
closure a couple of years ago was a real loss for the local equestrian community, so it is great to see Canadian horse owner and entrepreneur Gabriella Atkinson take it over. It has undergone a huge transformation already and with the likes of international eventer Sharon Hunt now based there and I am sure it will be a huge success. Our demonstration went really well. I took my stallion, Diesel, one of his progeny the 2 year old Risebridge Reggae plus a colt from the Southern Cross Stud called Wangelis, to work there. Contrary to my predictions, the horses behaved impeccably – almost too well!
I was also back playing polocrosse at the weekend! Midlands Tournament is one of the largest competitions of the season, and it was great for our team to win the A grade. After the Test Matches against Ireland, a few of the top horses and players weren’t riding so we’re not resting on our laurels and will be practicing hard for the National Club Championships in three weeks time, to be held at Rugby Polo Club. Banjo seemed flat during the Test Matches so I changed his routine and feeding and it has paid off, as he won the Champion Horse prize. He felt great at the weekend but he still has some improving to do (mainly because he resembles a baby giraffe – all legs!) and he feels like a bit of a freak! I was really pleased for Dan too as he won Best Horse in the B Grade on Diva. Diva was bred by the well known polo player Alan Kent but she was too nervous and hot when she was broken in, so we bought her as a 4 year old. She is taking a while to get right but I think she will be a very good horse next year.
To top it all off, we have two new arrivals! Honey, probably the best mare I own, had a little filly foal two weeks early that we have named Risebridge Queen Bee. Honey is a TB/ Australian Stock Horse cross and although she won some Best Pony prizes in polocrosse, I think she would have made a lovely polo pony and for that reason I took a chance and sent her to the best bred polo stallion that I could find in Open Maestro, a colt standing at Beaufort. Who knows, she could be in a high goal sting one day! Gaucha, owned by our friend Tom, has just had a little filly by Diesel, so hopefully they’ll grow up being mates!