26th October 2018

Marty and the Mood Diary

Last week, I had friends visit Wednesday lunchtime. I was surprised by how mellow and friendly Marty was when we arrived – four hours earlier, when I’d done morning chores...

14th September 2018

Xato and the Reason I Got Scared

If you’re a regular to the blog, you’re probably aware that I have a plethora of Not My Proudest Moments; an awareness aided by my oddly masochistic compulsion to share...

20th July 2018

Xato and the Joe Wolter clinic, part three

Xato and the Joe Wolter Clinic Part Three: Three Things I Learnt By Riding With Joe Back in April 2017, Ben and I took our Practical Animals (aka Iris and...

4th May 2018

Marty’s Mighty Masterful Mule Tale – Autumn 2017

Marty has a regular column in The Mule, which is the journal of the British Mule Society. He says some fairly outrageous things sometimes but I try not to police...

20th April 2018

Xato and the Riding Arrangement

Ben has been riding Xato a lot for me lately, working on that ever elusive stop / go / turn that is apparently not part of a draught mule’s repertoire....

13th April 2018

Marty and the Fourth Gotcha Day

Today is Friday 13th, so it feels very apt that it is also the fourth anniversary of Marty arriving in my life. I don’t think I’ve ever actually made a...

20th February 2018

Blog Hop: How Do You Build A Bond With Your Horse?

When we got Marty, he jumped over the partition in the lorry and got stuck (twice). After the second attempt, in the middle of Dartmoor and without enough fuel to...

13th February 2018

Marty and the Bad Advice Column

Earlier this week, Marty very magnanimously offered to share the wisdom he’s accrued in the past seven years by giving advice to beloved fans. I can’t guarantee that it will...

9th February 2018

Marty and the Alphabet Game

A few weeks ago, I designed an “alphabet game” which I uploaded to the Horsemanship Magazine Facebook page. It was just meant as a bit of fun, something to motivate...

17th January 2018

Marty and the “How Annoying Can One Mule Be?”

Marty has really got on my nerves the last couple of days. I know we’re not supposed to say that – that it’s always supposed to be rainbows and sage...