Mike Jackson

January 2011

The horses must know eventing is just around the corner - they’re looking and feeling great. We’ve been working them on lots of different surfaces and using the hills around us to help build up their fitness.

I’ve had some really good show jumping sessions at Allens Hill, and Kenneth Clawson has also been at the yard to help with some of the gang - Yorkie’s Delight (Yorkie), Jagganath (Jack), Direct Cruising (Cruise), The Master’s Apprentice (Archie) and Chantry Riverdance (Andy). It was a busy day but very informative – Kenneth is great at tuning into each horse and has given me some really useful ‘winter grids’ to practice.

We had an enjoyable day at The British Stallion Event at Hartpury with Up With The Lark (Max). He’s rising eleven this year and is such an old pro at these things - nothing fazes him proving how important a good brain is in this game. His oldest offspring turns five this year so it’ll be interesting to see how they get on.

Sadly we didn’t make it to Barbados for our winter break as baby Florence has been in hospital with swine flu. She’s back on top form now but we’ve decided to move our trip to later on in the year when she’s a little bit more robust!

Mike