On the show scene, please, if you decide to go and compete, send at least one entry in beforehand so as a show secretary can raise paperwork and save time for you, your horse, and themselves on the day. It would be nice to send some money at the same time, especially if you require stabling. Remember the organiser is doing all of this for your enjoyment.

Having just returned from the 25th anniversary of the Western Equestrian Society Nationals, this month’s article is dedicated to those western riding enthusiasts who attended and supported the Society that changed the face of Western riding in Great Britain.

I feel very privileged to be accorded the honour of judging the 25th-anniversary WES championship show. I hope as many of you as possible will put the date in your diary and attend, either astride or on foot! I am sure a large proportion of your readers started western riding through the efforts of WES. Over the years, the society has probably been ‘responsible’ for a lot of sales of the American Quarter Horse as during the early days there was only one annual Quarter Horse show and three major WES shows.

Home from Arizona with a temperature of 30C and clear blue skies, there is much to reflect upon. One thought that comes to mind, that I wouldn’t normally dwell on, is the ranch holiday.

Chrissie and I spent one night at the White Stallion Ranch on the way to our hotel in Tucson. The whole holiday was one of stunning views wherever we went. While returning from Sedona, “God’s Home” in the southern Arizonian desert, we found the While Stallion Ranch just a few miles off Interstate 10.

It has been a long time since my last trip to the USA but in 2015, I was invited to go to view some broodmares for sale at the NRHA Futurity with a long-time friend. He managed to purchase two nice mares in foal, but more of that later as they should arrive before the next issue.

It’s that time of the year – no not Christmas – it’s time to appraise your efforts over the last ten months and set your goals for next year.

Take a notepad and jot down all of the things that went wrong at shows you attended. Was there a regular problem cropping up that you missed? Or were there many various problematic scenarios? Then put down what you did to try to correct these.

I recently experienced one of the most memorable moments in my life. It was an almost indescribable mixture of sheer joy, thankfulness, relief, and surprise when my horse and I finally marked a 70 in a reining run. I’d be a wealthy woman indeed if I could bottle that feeling; one lightning rod capturing five years of training in a series of reining runs gradually building to that single achievement. And no, I’m not talking about doing this on a Futurity horse or an expensively bred reiner but on a 17-year-old family pet that came into reining training as an 11-year-old. And here’s where is all started.