When I left Andrew Nicholson’s yard to ‘set up on my own’, I was ready for hard graft, excited at the prospect of making my own decisions and was champing at the bit to ride as, when and how I felt was right at any one time. It was, I thought, all about the riding – and as even Andrew had admitted I was ‘getting useful’ at that, what more did I need?

It turns out, quite a lot…

Running a professional yard, I’ve discovered, is about a lot more than being able to ride well!

Things I’ve come to realise – and please don’t be too hard with the drrrr-hands-on-face response, sometimes you have to live things to learn them - especially if you’re young and energetic and determined to be independent …

You can’t do everything yourself. There’s a practical limit in the amount of hours in a day, and a mental limit in the amount of headspace it’s sensible to allocate to something not directly related to your main business focus, in my case, riding. Delegation is scary but essential!
You can’t please everyone all of the time; and sometimes sh*te just happens. I’ve learnt/am learning to take a deep breath, present a case, and step away.
Doing horses properly is properly expensive. And properly is the only way to do it.
The Team is ALL.

In case any of the above resonates – here’s some of the businesses/people who’ve helped me here over this last year and who I think are bloody marvellous. A few are ‘sponsoring’, most are not, but they’re all in my opinion fab at their jobs, ‘get’ the pressures faced by young business-bods like myself, and do their best to proactively support. The latter means a lot when you’re a minnow…