Claire's blog
Find out what we’ve been up to – yard news, future hopes and thoughts – Claire tells it like it is!

so long summer
It certainly has been a very different August to last year. We’ve had fewer horses in the yard but it has been good to be much busier now the normal racing routines have been resumed, compared to last summer when we were still in the depths of uncertainty due to

juniors and seniors
Whilst our main focus is always horses horses horses, July brings summer jobs and that means lots of cleaning, strimming and painting! Most of our holidayers are out full time, the pointers are of course on holiday too and we have been mostly busy with lots of youngsters at various

springtime is the right time
There hasn’t been a blog for a while as we’ve just been too busy with horses which I am very pleased to report. We’ve had a lovely varied few months with many of the holidayers, including some legends, returning, some RoR competiton outings, pre-trainers, schoolers and point to point runners.

favourites: from babies to winners
Here we are in March already and spring is nearly here. Despite the wintery weather, the suspension of point to point racing and continuing COVID restrictions, 2021 has got off to a very positive start at Fern Farm. We’ve been extremely busy with a full house of holidayers, liveries, breakers,

2020 review and looking to the future
To kick off the blogs for 2021, I turned the tables on the boss and managed to secure an exclusive interview! It’s actually one tough job to pin her down for long enough, but while tacking up a horse and in between rides we managed to grab a coffee and

no room at the inn and a win
What a diference a few weeks can make! After the worries of the last few months and a generally quieter time, the end of October saw a few more horses arriving in the yard, things were looking up and a bit busier. I’m pleased to report we are almost at

back to the point
It’s been a good month in the yard, I am happy to report things are busier and with the recent clock change there is raised excitment and increased workload in terms of winter activities. It really pleases me when I have a yard full of horses and there are just

making friends with the new normal
Autumn is well and truly here. As the future remains uncertain for many of us from a business point of view, the various challenges with regards to maintaining ‘the norm’ around the yard have brought new friends, mixed blessings and lots of different arrivals and departures. We are quiet for

life is like a box of chocolates
Another month whizzes by and despite the resumption of racing we are still all experiencing strange times and have had to adapt accordingly, bringing lots of fun and varied things out of the box at Fern Farm! Business has slowly picked up in the yard and we now have plenty

goodbyes, greetings and new shoes
As I write this month’s blog slightly later than usual, it’s hard to believe we are already staring August in the face. It’s been another varied month at Fern Farm, with plenty of goodbyes, hellos and work to be done. We started off the month by seeing off more holidayers,

the winds of change
It’s been a mixture of calms and little storms at Fern Farm over the last few weeks. Like everyone at the moment we have had to adapt fast and try everything we can to future-proof the business so we can continue to do the job that we love. Regretfully this

May days and lucky stars
The end of April came along with some rain which was very welcome. Whilst we all love the sunshine the ground had got so firm and with so many out on their holidays the rain has helped to keep the grass growing. I am so lucky to have the facility

life in lockdown
It’s the beginning of another week in lockdown and there have been some recent advantages to us in terms of time available for odd jobs and also some fabulous sunny weather. We have accomplished lots over the last week – stable painting is complete, Anthea Morshead’s mare Premier Blanc aka

VickyBlog: all change!
So much has changed over the last few weeks in the yard! It feels more like May than it does end of March/April. In light of the Corona virus outbreak, our point to point season was cut short, with the remainder of it being cancelled as with under rules racing.

keeping on keeping on
In what has been a bizzare few weeks we are settling down into a new routine. I have laid off all the part timers for the time being, many of these have children and whilst school is out it is important they be safe and have the time to be