Och we are very well connected at BHS Scotland and of times find ourselves operating on a higher plain – such is August, 2019, as with one year to go we have become embroiled in an initiative called #Trot to Tokyo to raise the profile of the Tokyo Olympics.

As I write this George Spence and William Fox Pitt are representing Britain at the ‘Ready Steady Tokyo’ test event.

BHS Scotland will be hosting Henry the mechanical horse on our stand at Blair because between July 24, 2019 and the start of the Tokyo Olympic Games exactly one year later, Trot To Tokyo will see Henry attempt to clock up 5920 miles – the approximate distance from the BEF offices in Warwickshire to Tokyo.

At Blair, every mile ridden by the general public will go towards the campaign which aims to raise funds to help send Britain’s Olympic athletes to Tokyo. The BHS is supporting BEF in this project, for us it means an extra busy Blair as besides our championship finals, tearoom , trade stand and with the On the Move lorry in position at fence 1 and all the associated responsibilities of that, the staff and volunteers of BHS Scotland are flat out – we love a busy Blair.

I shall be taking my bicycle – at the moment 'The Yellow Peril' is in the bike hospital having its flu jags and a front gear makeover in readiness!

We are also excited because the BHS is about to release its newly modernised stage 4 and 5 assessments as the higher levels of our world leading equine excellence pathway for coaches, these are our senior and performance level assessments.

It’s very exciting in Scotland at the moment because we have more higher level coaches waiting in the wings than we have ever had. Our pathway is superb because whatever your level through the combination of skill and knowledge acquired through our BHS stages in care, riding and teaching, a career in Complete Horsemanship allows coaches to stand above the crowd and utilise the widest remit of knowledge and expertise to coach our current and future generations.

Or you can choose the grooms pathway to being a stable manager or the riders pathway in your chosen discipline, it can all kick off with the fun of the challenge awards where working with local coaches in your own yard day to day tasks and hands on practical skills are improved and assessed as a very first step on the pathway ladder.

We have had a busy summer on the road taking the BHS On the move lorry to the Border Union, Black Isle, Perth and Turriff shows and with a presence at the Shetland pony show on Shetland and Arran show BHS Scotland has even been offshore! It is lovely to fly the flag and promote all our equine support to the public.

Finally, what else is fancy this month – well your national manager was when asked to judge Scottish Carriage driving’s Concours D’elegance at a rain swept Border Union Saturday. With the brief of choosing the horse/pony and carriage turnout that I’d most like to see captured in a oil painting – it was a joy and the ‘matchy matchy’ yellow wheels and elegant primrose outfit of (eventual show champion) Gillian McNinch driving Mitcheltroy Little Joe a 10-year-old bay 13hh Welsh C to a Round Back Gig made by Reid of Perth was a joy to behold.

Yellow must be the in colour and I even wore a hat!