News

Hello, my name is Holly Kerslake and I want to tell you all about my first overseas trip represented GB, it was so much fun!

My Pony Zorro is an 8 yr old welsh cob stallion that we imported from Denmark last year. We have had such an exciting first year together at FEI level which has led to us recently being selected as 1^st Reserve for the European Championship team heading off to Hungary in July.

We are currently on the GB Prime squad and part of the criteria...

It’s often hard to know when to push the limits and when to take a step back to basics. Sometimes you have to break new boundaries to make progress, but at the same time you don’t want to introduce frequent mistakes and bad habits. Below are a few basic principles I use when schooling my horse:

Push the limits – and then take a step back

Make sure after you step up a level, or make the jumps higher, to drop it down slightly before the end of the training session. With inexperienced or “green” horses, I find this helps...

With Summer now just around the corner, the excitement for shows is building. Of course, everyone wants the best results possible but due to the busy nature of the season, it's important that you are prepared as possible to keep your horses sound and happy, and performing at their best. For the larger shows, preparation for myself and my horses often starts weeks before in terms of fitness, feeding and grooming.

I very rarely jump my horses at home, instead I save their focus and energy for the shows themselves. If I do jump, it is often gymnastic exercises...

Over half term I went on a 3-day clinic learning a different way of riding, which is called Legerete.  At first I was quite sceptical, but was patient listened with interest and realised, that it really makes a difference.

Why is it different?

Legerete, which means ‘Lightness’ is different because you start off holding your hands higher than normal; this is to put the bit in the corners of the mouth and soft on the lips, so the horse takes the bit forward, and not putting pressure on the tongue. The horse/pony will then start to relax all...

As far back as I can remember, I have had horses in my blood. I remember the first time I saw some ponies in a field when I was three. It was only a 5-minute walk from the house we just moved into!

Very soon after that I started riding lessons and I have been around horses ever since.

I spent every spare minute I could at the stables and I loved just spending time brushing all the ponies. Most of my memories of grooming were all with synthetic brushes, in fact, I did not know there were any alternatives...