Goodbye London!

I am about to fly to America! Had my final drink at The Dog last night (USA drinking age is 21) and by far the most emotional goodbye was with Murphy our dog! I'm flying to New York with my mum where I stay until Monday, and then I'll carry on alone to South Carolina. In SC I'm staying at Avalo Farm for 2 months. Michelle, who owns the farm, is an eventer who specialises in Natural Horsemanship. This is a form of training that avoids using aids like spurs, and instead aims to understand the horse's personality and use a horse's natural behaviour and instinct to form a trusting partnership between horse and rider. I haven't learnt any Natural Horsemanship before so I am really excited to have the opportunity to try it out for myself, and to see how it can be used in eventing (dressage, show jumping, cross country). A lot of NH training is done from the ground (on-line) rather than in the saddle, and even when ridden it is sometimes bareback and bridle-less, so it will be a new kind of horsey experience and hopefully a very interesting and fun one.