Wednesday 4th April 2012

So this month has been an interesting month for me with the new business in full swing. I’m doing a hell of a lot of leg work to find horses of course. Out of 50 enquires you may only get one sale but that’s the nature of the business.

I meet a lot of time wasters and a fair few with no intention of buying a horse, but for the genuine ones I’m happy to find something to suit their needs.

I’ve made a lot of contacts in my time in Dressage, having been in the sport and a member of BD since the age of 12. I started competing abroad at 16, so developing contacts hasn’t been really tricky and I’ve ended up with some of the best breeding contacts in the world.

For those looking I can fly anywhere in Europe. My business hasn’t lined my pockets with gold yet but you know you’re onto a good thing when a selector of the British Team rings you and wants a few numbers in your phone book.

What Is a True Horseman?

Many of you may ask: what is a true horseman? For me a True Horseman isn’t someone who gallops into a four-feet fence at 30mph, or someone who sits on a schoolmaster and pushes buttons sitting pretty in a Dressage arena. You can be extremely successful and have lots of determination in my eyes and never be a Horseman.

Those who have success and empathy are the real horseman. I see it time and time again, people putting their drive for success beyond the needs of their horse. Real horsemanship is getting inside the horse’s mind and understanding why the horse responds the way it does. There is no such thing as a naughty horse as their brains don’t work like ours.

I don’t think people will ever click on to that because we naturally attach our emotions on to an animal, whether it’s a cat or dog or even parrot. All horses learn at different rates like humans and you cant rush this. Believe me, I know how frustrating it is to have a horse that in theory is not as advanced as it should be for its age, but rushing a horse does damage mentally and physically.

‘Dressage riders are by far the best horsemen – that is when Dressage is done correctly’.

The great Alios Phodasky once said: “I’ve got time” and this applies to all forms of horsemanship.
People often ask me why I chose Dressage and the reason is simple: Dressage riders are by far the best horsemen – that is when Dressage is done correctly.

Some of you may disagree, but before you do, look at the word “Dressage”. It doesn’t mean some blind old granny sitting at the other end of the arena in her Rover marking your test! It comes from the French word “Dressa “ meaning training, and when we train a horse well it is called Horsemanship.

You may not think what Micky Gavin (featured on EMR recently) does is Dressage but it is its true Dressage from the ground and that guy is one hell of a horseman. Yes, there are those lucky people who have been mega successful as well as having true insight: Carl Hester, Mark Todd, John Whittaker , Jenny Loriston Clarke to name just a few .

For the everybody else to get the best out of the partnership with your horse you have to watch, listen, think and feel and find the best way to make your horse happy through correct routine and management from the ground up. Remember, a happy horse will always be an easier horse.

Tuesday 28th Feb 2012

Going Dutch! Our dressage ace Peter flies out to Holland and meets the legendary Edward Gal.

I often go out to Holland now with my new business, searching for potentially exciting horses for clients, and it never ceases to amaze me how very different their approach is to the equine.

Equestrianism is the second biggest business in Holland and is seen as a serious profession.

In all seriousness, mares have to be ridden and have things explained to them in a different way, more through exercise than timed aids with your leg and your seat.

With geldings and stallions you tend to be able to use the balance of timing, being firm and gentle at the right moments. Stallions are usually very lazy but kicking most stallions forward will get you nowhere. They will just ‘stuff up’ on you, so doing lots of quick effective half transitions and full transitions is much more likely to work.

Geldings can be lazy too, and those that don’t pay attention to your aids can be galloped to encourage them to take the rein. Geldings that are fizzy are often refusing to listen to your seat. Check this by tightening your tummy, closing your thigh and adjusting your weight in the saddle without pulling on the reins. If the horse ignores the aid a firm half halt is usually sufficient.

These are just stereotypical examples, of course, but you can have a stallion that acts like a mare, a mare that acts like a gelding or a gelding that acts like a stallion! As I said, they’re all different.

Like humans we all learn at different rates. Some have special needs like me (!) and some are top of the class like my brothers. What we must all remember when training horses is that there are many ways to the top of the mountain, but the view at the top is always the same.

Show Stopper On Track for Winter Championships

The three horses that I took out in the summer and autumn have all qualified for the Winter Regionals, but I will only take one of them – my mum’s horse Show Stopper.

I haven’t taken him out very much in recent weeks so I was surprised to get the letter through, but he’ll be training at home before going to the Regionals at Willerby Hill in mid-March.

That will probably be his first outing of the season. He’s working on Advanced Medium stuff at home but will complete at Medium level for his first outing.

My youngster PD Britannia is on his way back from a slight injury so I’ll be taking my time with him, while another horse in my care, Nike, is being ridden by one of my pupils for the time being.

Some Mothers Do Ave’Em!

I don’t usually talk about my love life but I’ve been going on a few dates with a girl who asked if she could come round for dinner. I told her I couldn’t cook to save my life but she insisted.

I didn’t know what to cook but she recommended an easy dish such as Spaghetti Bolognaise, so I agreed to take up the challenge and the date was on.

When the day arrived I still hadn’t bought any ingredients so I dashed out to the supermarket and bought some spaghetti and some minced beef. This couldn’t be more straightforward, I told myself.

So, my date arrived on time and sat patiently sipping my wine whilst I prepared dinner. But just as I was about to put the mince on the hob she piped up: “Where’s the onions and the sauce?”

That really threw me. I hadn’t even thought about the sauce. So, keeping my cool, and realising that I didn’t have the necessary ingredients, I decided to quickly improvise.

Quickly and calmly I reached for the tomato ketchup, squeezed it on the mince and gave it a good stir before serving it on top of the spaghetti. Surprisingly, my date didn’t seem perturbed about my quick-fix sauce. Curling up her nose, she muttered: “Peter, you haven’t drained the fat out of the mince.”

Of course, she was right. That procedure never occurred to me either. Still, I was starving so decided to give it a try – and to be honest, it wasn’t that bad! My date politely declined, however, and settled for a slice of toast instead. Needless to say, I haven’t been out on another date with her since …

‘Quickly and calmly I reached for the tomato ketchup, squeezed it on the mince and gave it a good stir …’

NAF repersentative Katie Cooper said “we are very pleased to have Peter onboard and believe he will be a great ambassader for our products”

Peter has recently celebrated his sponsorship with a Top level comeback win on his old campaigner Madison County

Peter was featured in British Dressage Magazine in 2009.