I don’t really know where I sit with this to be honest. Some people work their competition horses 4 times a week and give them 3 days off and they perform very well and others ride every day and don't seem to have any issues with energy and performance. I work Dolly 6 days out of 7 if he is lucky - often more.

What I have absolutely learned, and it has taken ages and ages is that JJ is better ridden every day than being given a few days off. If he has some days off it is much harder to get him engaged than if he keeps going. Mark’s words do resonate with me “Sarah you know after a few days off it takes some time to get him together again”.

So now I know that (and try not to forget it) I have had times when I think J must be bored of the school and want to do other stuff, but given how well I know him I must confess this isn’t completely obvious.

So, I try my best to vary Dolly’s work, we do a bit of everything so I am not doing too badly in that regard, but these days I am more focused on trying to detect tiredness versus boredom and giving him the appropriate work or time off on the basis of my diagnosis.

Therein lies a challenge that will take some time to conclude.