If it's Tuesday it must be Carlisle!

Sitting in the services at Carlisle with a nice coffee by the side of the computer I thought I'd have a quick reflection on the tour so far.

Hadlow, Easton College, Bishop Burton, and Myerscough have all been and gone for another year, although I can't help thinking that it only seems like yesterday that 2011 tour had passed through some of these locations. With all of these there are stand-out moments for me, as I always have the best seat in the house.

Hadlow was and always will be a challenge for filming. It's a venue where the lighting is low, and the surface very dark. It can also be an extremely cold venue, but the people are always warm. I can't remember Hadlow being a first date on tour for some time, and this meant that we were all getting back into the swing of things. The tour teams has been stable for quite a long time now, and meeting up with the extended Monty family is always good fun. Everyone has the same thing in common, to create a evening that people will remember for loads of reasons, and its always for the good of horses (and humans).

I never get tired of the events that unfold throughout the day and evening, as the stories of the horses are told, the issues shown, the solution found, and the roadmap given. Let's have a look at some of the horses then.....

 Hadlow - Headshy horse, and Monty as Centaur the "half man half horse".

 A starter that was by the numbers for both Monty and Alex Morgan, his rider. This tour, Monty is using the latest version of the Ardall Dummy, which since last year has improved greatly. Now with foldable shoulders and head.

 Easton College was a new venue for us, and the college couldn't have been more accommodating, making us feel very welcome. Great venue for filming with a bright clean surface and plenty of lighting! Plus, as many of you know, my favourite groups of breeds being represented by a lovely three-four year old Suffolk Punch called Duke. Heavy Horses!!!!! He was a lovely natured boy, and at the end of the demo (loader) allowed everyone to give him cuddles.

Kelly was happy as a painted pony (Monty's words) was used in the demo.

Bishop Burton, which looks like Hartpury (built by the same people I understand) was a great venue again for filming. Provided our first farrier problem of the tour. Gary Bosworth (RA for the area) worked with Kelly in the private audience to show how to solve the problem.

 Alex continued to ride the starters for Monty

 Then came an interesting and very demonstrable horse which napped through separation anxiety. We were lucky to have Carrie Adams (left) and Bransby Impressario on hand to help with this. The audience saw this coloured horse (right) stop, buck, and refuse to move when Carrie lead her horse out of the arena. Using the blinkers that have gaffer tape over portions of the viewing field of the horse, he settled, and started to relax a little.

Then we arrived at Myerscough for an afternoon demo. This always throws me off my timings! Monty worked with a nine year old and her show pony. The problem had been that the pony wouldn't stand still for audience in a show. This had resulted in both being ejected from this years HOYS. With the audiences help through applause and stamping feet. The little pony started to help itself.

This is Paul. Paul is a veteran from the first Iraq war, and suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress. Monty has been working in the US for quite sometime now with veterans from many different conflicts using horses to make breakthroughs. But today, he brought this to Myerscough and with Paul's willingness to come along, the audience were shown some of how Monty is trying to work to help veterans in this situation. Another wonderful moment, and all because of the bravery of Paul....

OK folks, breakfast is due shortly, so I'm going to fill my face......Greenlands....It's your turn now!