Leave a message here, and I'll get back to you.
My book, To Amaze the People with Pleasure and Delight: the horsemanship manuals of William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle (Long Riders' Guild Press, 2010; revised edition Xenophon Press, 2015 ), is the result of many years of research, much of it undertaken on horseback.
During my MPhil research on the poetry of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, I found many references to her famous horseman husband, William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle.
As I've ridden all my life, I became interested in him too and eventually completed a PhD on his two horsemanship manuals of 1658 and 1667, seminal texts in the history of horsemanship.
Work on the Duke and his horses has been a significant part of my work and life for well over a decade. My own horses have been involved as well as those of El Caballo de Espana. My research lead to the private collection of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna and a guided tour of the Cadre Noir of Saumur, as well as some bizarre eBay adventures and an uncomfortable train journey to Vienna, carrying a framed engraving of the Duke from an antique shop in Prague.
Since completing my PhD, I've been a consultant for the BBC, ITV, Historical Royal Palaces Commission and, on several occasions, English Heritage. English Heritage manage Bolsover Castle, where one of the Duke's riding-houses survives; a high point of my work was the demonstration of his techniques I gave in the riding-house at Bolsover with two Spanish horses.
I've also written a book and several articles on him and given talks and papers in various conference and exhibition contexts. Most recently, I've been script-writer and consultant for Atacama Film during the making of a short feature on the Duke for English Heritage, once more at Bolsover Castle, with El Caballo de Espana.