Congratulations to Tina and Robin who tied the knot after 25 years of living together!! 'The yard' enjoyed a great night out, putting their dance moves into action and admiring Tina's lovely dress. 

Woohoo! Skippy got third at Sandown, with a runner trained by Paul Nicholls in first place! Pretty amazing that a tiny operation like ours can compete in the same arena as the Champion Trainer.

So near and yet so far!!!! There we were, FINALLY at a point-to-point, with Dec all dressed up and looking beautiful as he paraded around the muddy paddock in the pouring rain, when.......aaarrrrggghhhhh, it was ABANDONED!

No it's not St Moritz! This was our chance meeting with a cross-country skier while we were exercising the horses! They were not entirely sure about him at first but watched with fascination as he sailed down the packed-snow drive ahead of us. We tottered down steadily behind...

It all started with Dob falling off... thankfully we didn't need the Air Ambulance this year: last time he fell off on the gallops he landed awkwardly and was worried about a broken back so while Katharine went to catch the horse he fished out his mobile and dialled 999.

Well Christmas is drawing nearer and therefore so is the first race (in theory)... Dob's aim to have his four ready for December is day-by-day becoming more of a reality, and Dob himself has started appearing at the yard to ride out his horses to re-aquaint himself with Pete and Big John, and to introduce himself to Dave and Ivor.

It's fitness time! Over the past few weeks the pace has been picking up and the horses have gone from being walked around on the roads through to canters on the gallops.

It's the time of year when people (who don't know me) think I am really lazy. I will answer the door to the postman at 10am wearing my dressing gown with the toast popping in the kitchen behind me. I will queue in the Post Office at 10.30am with my hair still wet from a shower. I will start answering my emails around 11am...

Big Goats, Little Goats, Turkeys, Bees and Forest Llamas are all in a week’s work at the yard. Not because the farm has quite that many animals, but because they are the names we use to describe the various routes to ride out along each morning.

So this week I have discovered Dave's 'quirk': bicycles. As one whizzed past from behind us with nary a tinkle or shout in earshot, Dave took great umbrage at the spooky manoeuvre and set about a speedy and violent retaliation.

Power. Yes of course it’s the buzz but the root of that buzz is power…I am pretty sure that’s why we all do it.

Just what is the weather doing at the moment? One minute it’s verging on frosty, the next it is unseasonably warm; bright sunshine one day, drenching rain the next.

Talking about the weather is an occupational hazard at the yard. It is partly because the farm has the most amazing views out towards Wales, and we can see the rain clouds marching over the land towards us half an hour before they hit.