The end of a decade is always significant and, invariably, a time of renewed optimism as a new decade dawns. But this time, it is different. Everywhere you look there’s chaos – politically, economically, socially, environmentally and every which way. One scandal follows another in the media exposing the dark side of life more than … More The end?
Some long forgotten videos which I had made over 10 years ago, recently came to light. They took me back to my previous ‘incarnation’ in the business world, a life I have now forgotten. It seems odd to look back and not recognise myself in what was the largest era of my life, to date. … More A previous incarnation
You may have noticed from my podcasts and blogs that a big theme in my life is exploring how to be the best I can. It’s been quite a journey which, of course, continues and I have shared many of the insights I have gained along the way to help others find solutions in their … More Food for the soul
Whilst enjoying my daily indulgence of coffee and cake in the garden today, I pondered the glorious scene before me. I live in the middle of nowhere with breathtaking beauty all around and, today, nothing could be heard except the tweeting of birds and bleating of newborn lambs. The countryside isn’t always that quiet! Yet … More Timing is everything
Observing my cat, Bryngwyn, got me thinking. My ever present ‘assistant’ was helping me muck out the horses’ stables (in truth, he was more a hindrance, as he buries his pooh in the bed which is difficult to find and otherwise ends up on the bottom of my boot) and went to great lengths to … More A peculiar type of logic
Christmas is a non-event for me. Partly because I live on my own in the middle of nowhere but also because it really has ‘lost the plot’ and become a season of extreme commercialisation and over-indulgence. I admit, I like to have lunch with family or friends if that’s logistically possible, which it was this … More Let there be light!
I have expressed my views about the dire state of national news in a previous blog, particularly, the negative and dramatic reporting which prompted me to abstain from news completely for 15 years. So, I am pleased to see there is a growing conversation about this online and that a move towards more balanced journalism … More Perils of the media circus
Using conscious thought to create the life you want and become the master of your own happiness, health, abundance, joy, love, vocation and so much more, is a very big subject. It’s actually the synthesis of my previous podcasts* which contain more of the detail. In many ways, this subject tracks my own spiritual journey … More Consciously creating the life you want (podcast)
I have two guiding philosophies regards staying safe in life. The first is to ‘control the controllables’. For me, this is highlighted by living remotely on my own though, in the past, it was was also a key component of my preparation in sport, rowing at international level early on in life and, more recently, … More Controlling the controllables
This week, an old horse who has been living as a companion to my horse Talisman for the last few months, is being put to sleep. He’s reached the ripe old age of 36 and is now quite disorientated. He also has poor eyesight and has gone off his food, so it doesn’t seem right … More A matter of life and death
A friend experienced neighbour difficulties recently. She was being harassed and it had got to the point where she didn’t want to leave the house, felt physically sick when she saw the neighbours and was contemplating selling. This resonated with me as I have encountered neighbour stress in the past on several occasions and it’s … More Silencing fear
I have always been interested in how the heady mix of our human ‘make-up’, early life experiences and spiritual outlook leads us to be passionate about certain things and often motivates our path through life. A fascination with human behaviour led me to study psychology at university and I later found the human dynamic played … More What makes us who we are?
The internet means we know what’s happening globally in real time and while it seems like things are getting worse, I believe the situation is the opposite. The bad stuff has always been there, it’s just that more of it is coming to light which is necessary in order to deal with it. I follow … More How to help others using the power of thought (podcast)
I gawped in amazement at yet another stunning sunset and was filled with wonderment at how every sunset is unique and exquisite. One of the only advantages of the short winter days is that I am outside feeding the animals at sundown and able to enjoy the natural ‘wall to wall art’ which is omnipresent … More Our true human nature
For 15 years, I abstained from a daily intake of news. I didn’t even have a telly for most of that time. The only connection with a world beyond my own life was a magazine called ‘The Week’ – a 40 minute read which summarised all the key global news from the previous 7 days, … More A love-hate relationship with the news
By definition, balance is something that changes all the time in response to people and the world around us. But once things start to go wrong, life can easily get out of control. So what does it feel like to be balanced and why is it so important, how do you notice when you have … More How to regain your balance and equilibrium when life gets out of control (podcast)
In all the years I filmed for Horse Hero (the equestrian video website which was my business until last year) the most talked about aspect of dressage training (apart from the ‘scale of training’) was without a doubt the ‘half halt’, progressing to ‘forwards and back’ later on, especially as a tool for the advanced … More No grand plan
The lovely Rose, Talisman’s sixth companion since last October, has been given her marching orders. So the comic opera continues! Rose was as good as gold for the first few weeks, so much so, that I even bought her some rugs on the basis I had found ‘the one’. There were some issues I was … More Only I can fix me
I believe we have much more control over our body than is commonly understood. If thought has energy (which is proven) and if we can master our thoughts, then it makes sense that we should be able to control our body, our health and our aging process too, despite what we are conditioned to believe. … More How to take charge of your body and your health (podcast)
Talisman’s next friend (number 5 in 10 months) was Polly, a small but rotund little person from just up the road. I was hoping she would be ‘Polly Perfect’ but it was not to be. She was great with Talisman and he adored her though, in fairness, he adores all friends. But when I took … More Solving life’s puzzles
Something I learned very early on in life is that one of the few things you can count on is change – whether at work, in relationships, health or anything else. The thing that’s so stressful is fear of the unknown, so learning how to handle yourself through the process and making it work for … More Affirmations and how to change your life (podcast)
This is a very big question! For me, spirituality is on a spectrum from practical applications in every day life to full-blown esoteric. My spiritual journey began age 17 and has become an increasingly big part of me as time has gone on. It’s a never-ending pursuit……in this life time and others. There is nothing … More What is spirituality? (podcast)
I’ve always thought carefully about food and nutrition, partly as a means to good health and partly because, having competed in two sports at international level, serious sport requires serious fuel. Life has been full-on in business too, with almost no breaks and very little sleep. So, for me, communing with my food before eating … More Talking to your food (podcast)
I can live happy at both ends of the spectrum. Expansive, extrovert and in the centre of civilisation was how I lived during the first 20 years of my career. Building a business in London took that and more. It was full on, day and night and the never ending challenges provided never ending learning … More Conflicted!
We are born fully conscious of our instinct but for most of us, it’s lost through education which trains us to think logically. Yet, instinct is the best ‘sat nav’ we have in life. So how do we re-discover it and hear it over the noise of life and how do we train it to … More Training your instinct (podcast)
Contrary to popular belief, you are not bonkers if you talk to yourself! I have been doing it for years. Narrating your life experience helps you notice what you think about yourself, especially through your reaction to people and situations. And if you don’t like what you think, you can change it. Thought comes before belief, which comes before action. This podcast explains all! … More Narrating your life (podcast)
I have learned that thought has energy, so it can be put to good use for each of us and the world around us. The flip-side is that we have to be mindful of all our thoughts including the ones which aren’t helpful in creating the life we would like. Like any new skill you … More The power of thought (podcast)
It feels more like spring now, the daffs are out, the lambs are bleating and the temperature has risen. However, following rain of biblical proportions which arrived after an epic melting of the epic snow, the ground is saturated which means grass turnout for the boys has been limited. I am expecting things to change … More Serendipity
The seriously BIG snow finally went, followed by relentless rain. The ground turned into a bog – a combination of melting snow and rain, and spring made another brief appearance. My heart then sank as yet another heavy snowfall arrived with arctic winds and more big drifts. It was ‘Groundhog Day’ with a repeat of … More A wounded soul
Things deteriorated. The wind swirled relentlessly day and night and heavy snow continued to fall, whipping itself into drifts of 10 to 15 feet in some areas. Bizarrely, other areas had almost no snow at all. It was surreal. The drive looked like a frozen sea with huge waves coming over the hedge and … More Concluding euphoria!
….I can’t think of any right now, except that I have survived (so far) the indescribable Siberian weather. Snow arrived three days ago and has continued mercilessly, along with arctic gales (‘feels like’ minus 14 even during the day) while blizzards rage. Fortunately, as soon as things started to deteriorate, I jumped in the car … More Reasons to be cheerful?!
I was reduced to tears of frustration yesterday with yet another challenge of living remotely – failed internet. The trauma of having no internet for several days (and therefore no phone or mobile connection either) was bad enough but the exasperation of dealing with an utterly dysfunctional internet provider makes this pale into insignificance. Hours … More Technology sucks!
Here are a few lines reflecting on my own metamorphosis (especially since moving to the wilds of Wales) – I wrote it as a poem to usher in 2018: Only one thing is certain And that is – life will change. Ups, downs and challenges Will bring the full range. It’s never easy, We … More Metamorphosis!
Today we have serious snow which makes life challenging with the horses and out on the yard and it is changing minute by minute from brilliant sunshine to whiteouts. How extraordinary, beautiful (and cruel) is nature?! Late last night before the white stuff arrived though, while it was blowing a gale and painfully cold another, … More Secret lives!
Kitchen decorating is complete and while I never want to do battle with the flexible filler or wield a paint brush again, I do love the result. Two adjoining rooms make up the total kitchen space with an old Rayburn in the front area and a shiny new biomass boiler (which doubles as a cooker) … More An agonising decision!
While more Welsh weather sets in and a gale blows outside, the painting continues inside. It’s been a steep learning curve as I was a ‘decorating virgin’ when I came to the property but I am discovering the best techniques to apply different paints to a variety of surfaces on-the-hoof, so to speak! I have … More No longer a virgin!
Was it the fact my head was still in ‘building works’ mode and I was exhausted from the constant noise, mess and relentless cleaning, so I wasn’t my normal mentally alert and physically sharp self? Things should have been finished the previous weekend but ended up spilling over into ‘planning and packing’ purdah just before … More Crunch time!
‘Oh my God’, there has been mess! This tests me as I don’t do mess AT ALL but I am staying focused on the end place which is a total facelift for the kitchen. I have a front and a back kitchen (don’t ask why!) and both are in a state of unbelievable naffness and … More Let there be light!
Yesterday, it poured relentlessly after weeks of uncharacteristic continuous sunshine, so it was a question of picking the least bad time to ride. There wasn’t one and I ended up getting soaked right down to my hand-made New Zealand riding knickers (appropriately named Fanny Adams) and Talisman looked like a drowned rat! He has been … More Thrilling!
How resilient is the human spirit……..The couple of weeks preceding the trip to Norfolk to compete in the 120K 2* were flat out. This is nothing new. On most days, my bottom only touches a seat when I am eating! So as I was trying to get fields topped to beat the unstoppable grass for … More Devastated!
I am constantly surprised by the kindness of strangers who are prepared to help me in my moment of need…. The last few weeks have been up and down and just a little on the challenging side! Some of you will know that I had been trying to find a ‘good home’ for Horse Hero, … More Divine intervention
A feeling of connection to all things begs the big questions, ‘who are we, why are we here and where did we come from?…..The wild Welsh weather has shot to the other end of the spectrum and, for most of last week, we enjoyed a full blown heat-wave with temperatures up to 29 degrees. I am … More Battle of the bulge!
The human condition is remarkably robust……The 120K international competition in Norfolk for Talisman and I came and went and I have been pondering it ever since, noticing how my thoughts and feelings about it before, during and afterwards have swung from one extreme to the other. Overall, I’d say it was a success and we … More The full range of emotions!
My life has been (and continues to be) one of perpetual motion which isn’t a bad thing from a fitness point of view, although it has other drawbacks! Since my teen years, sport has featured strongly. Initially, the usual things like school hockey and tennis (I also had a pony from the age of 11) … More Fit for purpose!
It’s the journey that defines you….. It was full-on today and thank goodness the clocks changed back to summer time, as I needed every last drop of daylight. Half the day consisted of outside jobs (I can’t take credit for doing all of them myself). They included a first cut of the lawn, first strim … More Utterly exhilarating!
Is patience another word for timing…….. I don’t know if it’s just me, or human nature but I don’t like transitions. I am an ‘all or nothing’ person. If I decide to make an important change in my life, I would rather change completely, ie. end one thing and start another! But life isn’t like … More Timing is everything!
It’s a fine line…. I braved the elements today and snuck out up the ‘hill from hell’ between sleet and snow showers. Boy, it was arctic 500 feet up on the ridge! On the way back down, I got thinking about fitness training… I am less experienced than some at international level endurance but I … More Making it up as you go!
The merits of a backup plan…. I am sitting in the eye of the storm typing. I have no power, therefore no phone, lights or water (as the borehole pump is out). There is a sink full of washing up which I can’t do and I can’t take a shower either – lovely, if you … More Carnage!
I am the sum total of all my experience and don’t need hard evidence to prove it…. When I came out onto the yard this morning, the sun shone down on me which was a treat as the thermometer was only just above zero. I took this as a birthday gesture from ‘mother’ and with … More Happy birthday to me!
How lovely is it when you count your siblings amongst your best friends… My brother came to stay recently from London, along with his trusted hound who is adept at negotiating the Underground as well as main line trains and, of course, is always a great starting point of conversations with total strangers. I haven’t … More A particular type of madness
“The basic necessities of life are the most important things”… In researching whether attracting birds of prey to my land might act as a deterrent to pheasants (sadly they won’t), I came across ‘the bird man’. Mike volunteers for a nature charity in the area and one way and another, I ended up having 10 … More I am not alone!
“You really have to value the people who are prepared to get ‘down and dirty’ with you”…. The winter turnout field is well and truly wrecked. That’s the whole idea but, even so, there came a point when I decided I would have to move the horses and improvise. My land is on a hill … More A cunning plan!
“I felt as turbulent as the storm and found myself thoroughly questioning my rewilding life”…… I so very nearly lost the plot! It was the day from hell with extremities of Welsh weather including ice, snow storms and an arctic wind which made it crazy trying to do the horses. ‘Survival’ was the name of … More A question of survival!
It was love at first sight! Just like falling in love with a man or a horse, something you can’t explain!… I live in an ancient farmstead. The yard features some very old farm buildings (now having a new lease of life providing for all my horsey needs). It includes an old fashioned milking parlour, … More Who found who?
