Matt Jenkins dressage blog: Everyone loves a freebie
H&H's dressage blogger has been busy showing people round his yard and teaching Briarlands Matilda's full sister all about dressage
What a success! It’s been a while since my last blog, we’ve been flat out since the open day. It was such a great day, the weather stayed sunny and everything ran smoothly. The boys behaved impeccably in their demonstrations and we had a great turnout including some new and old faces. I have to say a massive thanks to everyone who helped us on the day.
The day started with some welcome refreshments and guided tours around Lyneham Heath Equestrian. On arrival everyone was given a free copy of our favourite magazine Horse & Hound 😉, a welcome pack and a free raffle ticket (everyone loves a freebie).
My good friend Heather Sumner was here with her trade stand from Field and Style which sells bespoke gifts for us horsey types including hand creams, ‘keep calm’ merchandise and beautiful bespoke sparkly brow bands — which I will be treating the boys to very soon! They make a special treat for competitors in any discipline.
Following this I performed ridden demonstrations with my horses; Laura Browne, my McTimoney therapist also demonstrated how she treats my horses. We had great feedback from Laura’s demonstrations, lots of questions were asked, the audience were really engaged and keen to learn more.
I also have to say a huge thanks to Sam here at Lyneham Heath Equestrian who prepared a delicious array of food and kept all our guests fed throughout the day. Laura was also a great help in between her demonstrations welcoming guests and keeping me calm. We couldn’t have done it without our helpers.
Nationals here we come
The yard has certainly picked up the pace, I have more full liveries who I look forward to helping with their dressage. Also, a steady flow of schooling liveries have come and gone in the gone in the past few weeks.
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Maisie and Ruby, who I ride on a regular basis, have been in for a couple of weeks intensive training. We seem to have had an influx of mares recently! Raisin, owned by Dominique Winpenny, has had a wide and varied career in eventing, hunting and showing. Raisin is full sister to Briarlands Matilda who is on the GB eventing team with Izzy Taylor; both were bred by Guy Avis. I have been working with Dominique to improve Raisin’s strength and suppleness, so that they can try their hand at affiliated dressage.
We have a busy few weeks ahead with more liveries arriving and horses to ride. The national championships are only around the corner!
Matt
Image (c) Helen Bray Photography
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Matt is an up and coming dressage rider and trainer based in Oxfordshire. Matt previously worked for and trained with Daniel Greenwood before setting up on his own. He has been blogging on HorseandHound.co.uk since September 2012.