Dawn and Twilight have been out winter training and have kindly written us this super update! We hope you enjoy it!
On Saturday 17th, we headed to our local venue at Radley Green for a day of winter training, and it turned out to be one of those sessions that really stays with you.
We kicked things off with a flatwork lesson with Tim Rogers. With Tim’s extensive experience in both coaching and riding — and currently riding regularly for Harry Meade and Tom McEwan — we knew we were in very capable hands.
We began by warming up while Tim watched closely, assessing Twilight’s way of going. His feedback was encouraging: Twilight carries himself well, but I need to be careful not to confuse speed with true power. From there, we brought poles into the session to help engage the hind end. Tramlines encouraged straightness, while pole boxes helped us think in canter “squares” rather than endless circles. We added shoulder-in along the centre line, and suddenly the trot felt completely transformed — powerful, expressive, and balanced.
One of the biggest takeaways from Tim was the importance of repetition. Rather than trying to fix everything at once, focus on one or two key elements and reinforce them properly. Simple advice, but incredibly effective.
After lunch, it was time for our jumping lesson with Jesse Campbell, a five-star New Zealand event rider. I admitted upfront that showjumping isn’t my strongest or bravest phase. Jesse’s response — “Good job we’re not showjumping then, isn’t it?” — left me momentarily unsure whether to relax or panic, but thankfully there was no need to worry.
Following a quick warm-up, we started with a single trot pole into four canter poles on a curve. After a few runs each way, the poles were raised, then the middle two became a small bounce fence. Twilight felt confident and focused throughout. Next came a straightforward five-stride double, followed by a more holding four-stride double. Twilight clearly hadn’t read the memo for that one, and we confidently rode it in three strides the first time!
Things then became more technical with three fences set on an S-shaped line. One direction came easily, while the other took a couple of attempts to crack. We moved on to skinnies, starting with one filler, then adding a second, and finally placing a pole between them. To finish, we tied all the elements together into one flowing exercise.
These are exactly the kinds of sessions I love — gymnastic, technical, and focused on lines and accuracy. Not only did it build confidence, but it also gave me plenty of ideas to take home and work on.
All in all, it was a fantastic day. Twilight felt great throughout, and I can wholeheartedly recommend both Tim and Jesse as coaches. I really hope we get more opportunities to train with them in the future.
There are a couple of photos here, and you can find a video of our jumping session over on our Instagram page.
#whiskers_twilight
