Happy Easter, it was a very strange one. I think the first Easter I’ve ever had without any family at home, but thank goodness for technology and the internet, as we managed to have a seven way FaceTime conversation involving 22 members of my family. Nearly everyone got to say something, and actually being able to see everyone was just amazing.

We have kept up with family and friends with Facetime, WhatsApp and now HouseParty and Zoom. Alex and Sophie also hatched a virtual Easter Egg Hunt in their flat in London, with cryptic clues leading to a mystery personality anagram, this kept the competitive spirit of the Fraser and Lewis families alive for the whole of Easter Saturday and Sunday morning. It’s now been passed on to the whole Watt family, so hopefully it will have kept everybody busy on this rather cold day.

I hope that when this is all over, I will continue to be more grateful for the smaller things in life. I am always very grateful for my family, for our health and for living in a beautiful place. But now I am more grateful for the little things that make me smile; for slow, sunny days; for the lack of a daily timetable; for the inability to go to the supermarket - rather than just the lack of inclination; for cooking simple meals, for the quietness, for the annual return of the beautiful and joyful goldfinches; for calls from friends and family; for small acts of kindness; and for more quiet time to spend with Mark.

Going into lock-down was a very strange. During February we knew things were changing, the spread of COVID-19 was accelerating, and increasingly it was clear that containment was not happening, shows in Europe started to be cancelled. I became increasingly uncomfortable about firstly plans to go to shows, then plans to school and train, and finally the ability to operate the yard effectively and social distance. I think by the end of the week preceding lock-down Mark, Camilla and April and I were ready and organised for what happened next, but it was still a very strange moment when the lock-down was announced. The feeling, as I sat in front of the TV, was almost like waiting for exam results or sitting outside the headmistress’s study.

Sadly this meant that we have locked down completely, no-one can come here apart from Mark and I, so this is bad luck on Elena, who is now home from school, and Claudia who is not working so much, in that they cannot ride or come to see their horses. There is some controversy about riding, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but we have very little land here and absolutely no grass, so it is not practical, or kind, to turn horses who have been stabled since September last year, straight out in the field, and some horses really do not have the temperament for this. The farriers have been to take the shoes off the younger horses to enable longer gaps between visits, and so Khalissy and Riri continue to be ticked over in the school. This is giving me the opportunity to get to know Khalissy better and to really work on her ride, and hopefully Riri’s flatwork will be easier for Claudia when she is able to ride her. Heidi is having a holiday as she has been in work the longest, and really finds going in the school every day very boring. Askeaton and Pakkse still have their shoes on and so I can mix their school work with a little hacking in the woods which are only 200 yards away. We’ve kept going with some low-level gymnastic work and pole work to keep us all amused and keep our eyes in. Hopefully when we can get going again we will be ready for some training and the horses will regain their competition fitness quickly.

Mark is working from home, and making a brilliant job of it, Anna, Tom and Rory are still at Tom’s parents and Sophie and Alex are locked-down in their flat in London. It has been very strange not being able to see any of them, it must be similar for friends whose children live overseas.

I am very grateful to Bea Fuller, where Emma and Luna are waiting to hopefully go in foal, for looking after them so beautifully and sending me regular updates and photos.

One of the big plus points of lock-down has been not going to the supermarket, I truly hate this anyway, but we have found brilliant local suppliers in Fletching Village Stores and Nose2Tail Butchers in Piltdown, but I am truly grateful to Ocado too for delivering to us on Easter Sunday! We have been very lucky to be supported by Saracen Horse Feeds and that Bodle Brothers have been fantastic with their deliveries.

We have been so lucky to have beautiful weather so far. Typical English weather and Sussex clay in that we went from bog to desert in about two days, but I’m definitely not missing the mud, especially doing them by myself in the afternoons. Spring is my favourite time of year. We have a lovely garden and quite a few fruit trees, so the blossom has been amazing and now the leaves have suddenly appeared on the trees. I think this would have been twice as hard if it had started in October. Hopefully by next month we will have some idea of how the UK in general and the equestrian world in particular plans to emerge from this locked-down state and we can manage to make some plans.