Horseman

With the school holidays, Sophie can get out and ride every day. Louis will be able to soon, but without him around to get 'Bugatti' warmed through and ready to work without going into the ultra-high tension zone, Sophie is having to do everything herself. Granted, today Megumi took him for a quick spin to see what he was like, but basically, Sophie is taking him as he comes, straight out of the box nowadays.

A 12-year old slightly-built girl having the guts to do that is impressive enough, as this is no ordinary Thoroughbred - he's a firecracker, and a damned powerful one at that. However, today was her best ever day to date in terms of riding skills and horsemanship. He was jumpy coming across to the tacking-up area, but she held on nicely, with no sign of panic whatsoever, and walked him in without any drama. She saddled him up, and then had him doing a series of stops and starts, walking and trotting, turning every which way, all with precision and a delightfully soft touch that commanded respect but warranted absolutely no fighting back. Considering how green 'Bugatti' is as a riding horse, I think it's fair to say that today I saw a real horseman emerge. Watch out Louis - you've got some competition...