The most beautiful spring day today - just what we needed after the coldest winter for thirty years. The snowdrops are all up and the daffodils are just peeking through the ground.
Lucy and I went for a really long ride to the grass gallops on Red and Frog, trotting all the way and then cantering up the gallops on the edge, as it is still too wet to go on the gallops themselves.
Doug rode Harry and Dove before going onto his fencing job. He is trying to teach Harry to half halt in the canter as Harry can rather build up speed and then not listen which has been part of the trouble with him falling in the past. He was delighted with him. On Friday we took him to the indoor school on the estate where an event rider, Sarah, did some intensive jumping with him. She set a line of bounce jumps, starting with one and then building up until Harry was jumping five in a row - he was foot perfect. and Sarah said that if we didn't want to keep him as a racehorse she would like to have him as an eventer! Who would have believed that?!! we all thought he was rather dim before but he is learning really quickly. Both him and Jake are entered for Didmarton on Saturday. It's a big step up going from maidens to restricteds and it will be interesting to see if he is capable of coming up to the mark.
On Saturday I took my parents to a birthday party held for my Auntie Mildred. It was held in the St Francis hospice in Berkhampstead where sadly she is dying. Being Irish there were a number of relatives from across the water and although a very sad occasion it was lovely to catch up with them all. It was just wonderful the effort the hospice went to make the day so special for her. She requested bag pipes and Irish dancing and got both - very moving.