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Minus 1 and dry when driving in.

More snow over night but only an inch.

The roads are still covered, but usable with caution… yes and the papers had made to the local garage in Andoversford so nearly back to normal..

As you gathered we did not venture out from here yesterday.. simply no way was it remotely safe to take horses to Southwell..which led to Matt Chapman texting that I had ruined his day….

Last night I took all the team based here in the hostel to The Royal Oak for drinks and supper.. it was much deserved

This morning early I picked up Mat, Liam and Jess who all live in Andoversford and then drove to Thorndale. Tom was waiting at the bottom of the drive and up the drive we went.. Well half way, until the snow was so deep that my trusty 4x4 was unable to get to any further..too deep and what was supposedly cleared yesterday had drifted back across the drive over night.. Back down and around on the fields but even then I could not get to the yard.. yes we walked the last 40 yards!.. The Manitou will sort the drive later..

I Need to buy one of these

The snow conditions have changed this morning, no longer fluffy, so not ideal for riding on..

Mat led a team of lads to the gallop to clear what we could with shovels and lay some salt on the rest in the hope that later our gallop will be usable.. tough..

These cold conditions on March 3 are well remembered as 17 years ago it was freezing in Gloucestershire, while up North in the Borders it was white with snow. Enough snow that there was a possibility that Clare’s parents might miss their daughters wedding..Time flies…

Talking time.. We lost a good friend a couple of days ago. Mike Wilson, Panda Christie’s Dad died after a battle with cancer. A lovely man who I really got to know when he took Panda and her friends to Ibiza for her 40th birthday.. Sunny, happy times and great memories of a wonderful man.. Poor Panda, we are all thinking of you.

A little old lady was walking down the street dragging two large plastic garbage bags behind her.

One of the bags was ripped and every once in a while a £20 note fell out onto the sidewalk.

Noticing this, a policeman stopped her, and said, "Ma'am, there are £20 notes falling out of that bag."

"Oh, really? Darn it!" said the little old lady. "I'd better go back and see if I can find them.Thanks for telling me, Officer."

"Well, now, not so fast," said the cop. "Where did you get all that money? You didn't steal it, did you?"

"Oh, no, no", said the old lady. "You see, my back yard is right next to a golf course. A lot of golfers come and pee through a knot hole in my fence, right into my flower garden. It used to really tick me off. Kills the flowers, you know. Then I thought, 'why not make the best of it?' So, now, I stand behind the fence by the knot hole, real quiet, with my hedge clippers. Every time some guy sticks his thing through my fence, I surprise him, grab hold of it and say, 'O.K., buddy! Give me £20 or off it comes!'

"Well, that seems only fair," said the cop, laughing. "OK. Good luck! Oh, by the way, what’s in the other bag?"

"Not everybody pays! “

We all make mistakes.. 

Have a trouble free weekend and see you on Monday..

To Finish.. A huge big thanks to all my staff for all their hard work in keeping our gallops open.. Top Team