Vicky Smith

The show horse producer talks about the benefits of planning ahead, the importance of a pre-competition feast and one very special Connemara pony

- Alex Robinson

I ALWAYS go into the arena at home with a plan or a specific exercise to work on. It can be very easy to go in the school and trot round in circles without achieving much. I like to use lots of pole work for variation and straightening.

My dressage trainer Gary Foggon helps me with all my horses on the ground, so I always have plenty of homework when I do take the horses to school in the arena.

But if you’re perhaps having a bad day or you’re feeling a bit down or tired after work, sometimes a positive hack with your horse working into a forward contact can achieve more than just going in the school.