Yesterday started off like all the days lately: cold foggy drizzle. This spell of weather has really weighed on me, like a scuba weight belt dragging down all my buoyancy. But by afternoon the sky was blue and the sun was out (What is that bright thing up there?) and there was a fresh, cool breeze...

Nothing feels as good as finally having success at something you’ve struggled to do for a long time with many setbacks and side tracks and feelings of not being good enough. When you do break through it’s like sunshine and brisk air blowing in after a torrid muggy heat spell. Everything...

Here’s what I’ve learned about getting a nice canter: 1. Be sure to warm up for half an hour before asking, with some nice long trots and some practice getting sensitive to my aids. 2. During the warm up, do whatever it takes to wake Champagne up; try new patterns of requests, try transitions...