Normal service has been suspended due to the snow! We have had a fair amount, which made it easy to say ‘no work’ and to get the horsewalker doing the work for us! Unfortunately, it meant no one else could get in, so Penny and I were left with 20 stables to do. It's amazing how a bit of snow can turn everyone into big kids – I’m not sure who was quicker out of us and the kids to get into a snowball fight! Coming from Australia, it is still a bit of a shock to the system and I go out rugged up in every conceivable layer of clothing!

It does mean that I am going to miss my dressage lesson with Rhegan White, who trained with Conrad Schumacher. I watched Moorlands Totilas at Olympia on TV this week and was once again blown away by what the top dressage riders and horses can do – very inspirational stuff. I am getting an increasing amount of dressage horses to break in, particularly colts, so it is only right that I learn more about it all.

I had a bit of an education last week with one of the homebred horses I have just started working on. Her mother, Little Miss Muffett, was one of the smartest (and hottest) horses I have ever sat on and she won a lot of awards in polocrosse. I remember Penny telling me that the name she was given in New Zealand (where she was bred) was Gold Digger, as she got so hot when she was ridden she used to dig holes with her fore legs! Her first two progeny were lovely to start and did nothing too outrageous, but this one… well, he has tried everything in his power to outwit me, it is like playing a game of Russian Roulette as never know when he’s going to pull the trigger! Then on Thursday, he started reproducing Muffett’s digging trick… an amazing example of personality traits being passed down through the generations! Here’s hoping he’s going to be as talented as her!

I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year and a fantastic 2010!