I was absolutely delighted to be back in Portugal for another clinic day with the wonderful Associação das Amazonas de Portugal. It was a pleasure to catch up with familiar faces, meet some newer sidesaddle riders and enjoy a day filled with beautiful horses, enthusiastic riders and, of course, plenty of sidesaddle conversation. My day began with a lovely welcome from Tatiana, who collected me and drove me to the wonderful town of Golegã, a place synonymous with Portuguese eq

What a fantastic weekend at the October Side Saddle Area 1 Camp – and a wonderful follow-up to the very successful camp we held back in April! We welcomed 12 riders to Ardmeddon Equestrian Centre, with myself and fellow instructor Jane Prior sharing the teaching. With the luxury of a huge indoor school, Jane worked with riders at one end while I taught at the other, allowing us to fit in a great mixture of group and individual lessons across the two days. And what a mixture o

I started the week by heading up to the North East for something that is definitely not my usual activity… running! I’m much more at home on a horse than pounding the pavements, but there was a good reason for the temporary change of footwear – I was taking part in The Great North Run to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society. I survived, and somehow managed to get around in just under 2½ hours – which, for someone who would much rather be riding than running, I was pretty pleas

What a wonderful day for our first-ever sidesaddle clinic at Wyre Horseways, beautifully situated in the heart of the Wyre Forest in Worcestershire. We were incredibly lucky with the weather. For the most part, we enjoyed beautiful sunshine, with just a couple of short downpours to remind us that we were still in England! Thankfully, they passed quickly and didn't dampen anyone's enthusiasm. A gazebo was set up for the day, with several saddles of historic interest on display

The highlight of the side saddle calendar arrived last weekend as riders from across the country gathered at Addington Manor Equestrian Centre for the much-anticipated Side Saddle Association National Championships. For many competitors, this is the pinnacle of the season—a weekend of competition, friendship and celebration of the unique art of riding side saddle. As always, the showground began to come alive on Thursday as horses settled into their stables and familiar faces

The last couple of weeks have definitely been the busiest time of the year for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s been a whirlwind of travelling, teaching, saddle fitting and preparing riders for their upcoming goals. The busy spell started with a mechanical horse clinic at Hartpury, followed by two weeks of clinics and individual lessons all over the country. The clinics began with a trip up north to Greenlands Equestrian Centre in Carlisle, continuing on north b

What a week it has been on the road teaching side saddle across the country! Over seven days, more than 1,000 miles were clocked up as I travelled from Wiltshire and Somerset to Devon, Monmouthshire, Powys, Derbyshire and finally Yorkshire, helping riders of all levels develop their side saddle skills. Tuesday – Wiltshire & Somerset The week began with lessons in Foxham, Wiltshire, before heading to Frome, Somerset. Despite a dramatic thunderstorm rolling through during the

The SSA Camp North returned in fantastic style this year, bringing together 24 riders (& their entourage) from across all four countries of the UK for a truly memorable few days at Greenlands Equestrian Centre, Carlisle. It was once again a resounding success, organised by Area 9 Chairman and Secretary, Steve and Karrie McGill. It was also a real surprise and pleasure to see Henrietta Barton, SSA Chairman attending the event on Friday and Saturday to chat and socialise with a

The first weekend of April saw me making the 11 hour journey up to Side Saddle Association Area 1 Camp, held at the beautifully located Ardmeddon Equestrian Centre in Aberdeenshire. This turned out to be a fantastic weekend, which was organised by Area 1 Chairman, Fiona Mackinnon. Jane Pryor and myself were the two instructors for the weekend. We had 15 enthusiastic riders ranging from seasoned side saddle aficionados to those who were sitting aside for the very first time, t

It’s the time of the year to reflect on all that’s happened over the last 12 months and to start thinking ahead to goals for the New Year. Sit back and enjoy the read (long message alert). January: It was a bit of a slow start to 2025 with a few clinics cancelled due to the weather, who would have thought there would be storms in January! I did manage a clinic in Tadcaster which went very well. I set off for a weekend of clinics in Scotland for SSA Area 9 (Southern and Centra

It has been another busy weekend, out and about in the world of side saddle and I've just about recovered. I've had clinics at three locations - Friday at Greenlands Equestrian Centre (Carlisle), Saturday and Sunday at Totleywells and The Drum RDA (Edinburgh). Weather played a big role as well, with freezing conditions on Friday and flooding on Sunday - wet socks and cold feet were the order for the weekend but it didn't dampen the spirits of the riders and horses in our seri

The Royal Stables, Abu Dhab i I was honoured to be invited to the Royal Stables, Abu Dhabi, along with Rob Jenkins to work with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Paralympic riders, Wafa Aldahman and Fatima Albluoshi. The invitation came from Laura Richardson, General Manager of The Royal Stables, who trains the two Para riders along with running the stables. Laura had the inkling that Wafa with her disabilities, may be better suited to riding sidesaddle, so Rob and I went for a

Side saddle Association of Portugal I had the pleasure of working with Associação de Amazonas de Portugal in October, having been kindly invited to do a sidesaddle day at Coudelaria Sra de Alcamé. Association President, Isabel Figueiredo, very kindly picked me up and could not have been more welcoming of me into the group as host and sometimes interpreter. We had a full day’s clinic, which included a short presentation, followed by one to one lessons for an amazing and hospit

Last weekend represented the end of the winter series of monthly clinics in Side Saddle Association (SSA) Area 9, with add on days in...

I always really enjoy my trips over to SSA Area 21 in Northern Ireland and this last weekend was no exception with riders taking part...

After a hectic few weeks of being all over the country teaching, it was lovely to remain in Gloucestershire at the weekend and have...

It felt like Spring had finally arrived for my weekend in Northern England, with the sun shining, warmer temperatures and horses and...

Last weekend saw me heading for the first time to Side Saddle Association Area 1 up in Northern Scotland. Geographically, Area 1 has...

A return to Hall Lane Stables at Church Fenton, near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire once again provided an excellent venue for our Tadcaster...

This weekend saw a return to Hartpury for a mechanical horse clinic. 14 riders of differing levels of experience came to experience the...