August 2026 Newsletter

How has it been a month since the last newsletter? There's been lots going on here. My ponies are very excited to see some rain this week. Dear Shaun especially has found this really hard ground tough going as it's kept exercise slow and steady, but hopefully now we can get out and do something a bit more exciting. 

I just came back from the Pony Club National Championships, where the South Devon West Junior Novice Polocrosse Team came 7th and won the Turnout competition. It was a tough competition as there were so many entries so it wasn't all plain sailing. Despite this, our young riders grew and learned with every match, which was great to see as a coach. We also had a young rider in the Mini Novice Team playing with a couple of riders from South Devon Moorland. They won every single match by some margin and became National Champions! They also took the Turnout prize as well for good measure. This was an absolutely brilliant result and we are already making plans for next year.

Summer holidays can sometimes be a quiet time for me so I've been putting my spare moments towards something new. It's a Winter Survival Guide for Horse Owners, which acts like a diary covering the time from October 2026 to March 2027. I've gone for a paper booklet so that we can keep it nearby and not lose it somewhere in an app on your phone. It's designed to keep you motivated and inspired through winter with a simple training task each week, as well as a weekly tip to get you through the dark days! There are Progress Trackers as well as places to put any emergency information and store notes on when your horse sees the vet or farrier. The Workbook will be discounted until the end of August and orders will be distributed from the start of September. Purchase via this link: https://www.withthehorse.co.uk/product-page

Better Rider Club starts again in September - this is the place to come if you have confidence issues or feel like you could do with being among people who understand how it feels when your mindset gets in the way of progress. We work on physical, mental and emotional exercises to help to support you in progressing your horsemanship. The dates for these are 9th September 6.00pm (Flaxbourton), 3rd October 2.00pm (Flaxbourton), 7th November 1.30pm (Flaxbourton) and 12th December 6.00pm (Indoor venue TBC). If you would like to know what Better Rider is all about, please do get in touch. Book via this link: https://www.withthehorse.co.uk/service-page/better-rider-club-aut-win-2026?referral=service_list_widget

There is one more Summer Clinic on 12th September at Flaxbourton. The Obstacles clinic is at 12.30pm (1 hr) and the Focus on Riding Clinic is at 12.00pm (90 mins). Book via this link: https://www.withthehorse.co.uk/events

Winter Clinics at Flaxbourton - these will be weather dependent and will be 75 minutes long. The dates are 10th Oct, 14th Nov, 12th Dec, 9th Jan, 13th Feb and 13th Feb. On each of these days, there is a clinic at 11.45am and another at 14.00pm. This allows time between the sessions for the car park to clear to avoid congestion. These sessions will be in the arena, unless the ground conditions are good enough to use the field. Book via this link: https://www.withthehorse.co.uk/booking-calendar/winter-clinic-flax-weather-dependant?referral=service_list_widget

Finally - a new season of my podcast will be dropping weekly on Sundays at 5pm BST. You can search for it on all the usual podcast providers as With The Horse Podcast with Nell Candelaria or find it on my website.

That's probably enough for now but if there is anything you would like to know about, please let me know. Don't forget the is the With The Horse Community facebook group you can join events and share your journey https://www.facebook.com/groups/1954590765046764