We were out last weekend with Diaz for a British Showjumping competition held at Blue Barn Equestrian Centre. Unfortunately we haven't got round to registering Diaz with British Showjumping yet so we were competing HC on a ticket again. We did the British Novice and Discovery classes and she jumped two double clears with super speedy times in the jump off. Had we been registered we would have won the British Novice by a few seconds and when we left our time was the fastest in the Discovery by a fair margin as well and I believe we stayed the fasted in that class too so would have won this one too! Must get round to sorting out our membership so we don't miss out on prize money next time! Please Click Here to view some pictures of Diaz as well as a video of both our rounds! We have a weekend off from competitions this weekend as my little lorry (Fiona the Ford) needs some work done before she can be MOT'd so my boyfriends dad is getting what's needed to be done, done over the end of this week. Fiona (guys name their cars so why can't we name our lorries?!? hahaha) is having a bit of TLC so she's fully functioning and ready for the many miles that we will hopefully cover this year. We are hoping to have some dressage training on Saturday which my mum has very kindly offered me a lift to in the trailer, but that will be a bit weather dependent so keeping our fingers and toes crossed that we don't get as much rain as they have forecast for us!! If we do have a lesson I will hopefully have some pictures and maybe some video clips next week sometime. Until next time,
SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On***
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I hope you are well and having a good start to the year?! I can't believe it is February already.....how time flies and all that! Just a quick update after we have had a few weeks quiet on the competition front but have been very busy training ready for the season ahead! The last two weekends I have had SJ Lessons with Diaz and she has been jumping brilliantly. We have been doing some gymnastic exercises with her to help her technique over the fence and then jumping some bigger fences on related distances which just shows how much the gymnastic exercises are helping her develop! She has a very careful jump anyway with a great back end on her so we have been working on her developing more muscle on her shoulders and front end which is really helping her! We are hoping to go out this weekend, either to a combined training show or a BS show! To view more pictures and videos from these training sessions please Click Here! Roxie has had a quiet start to the year with there being so little daylight hours outside of my 9-5 work hours and our lights not working properly in our school at home I've been finding it hard to ride much during the week which has been a pain but there is light at the end of the tunnel now! I managed to get both Roxie and Diaz ridden before work today which was a first.......roll summer!! I have a few dressage competition planned for Roxie over the next few months and there are some summer show series that I am planning to do with her, with the hope of qualifying for the championships at the end of the summer. Roxie does seem to prefer competing outdoors and concentrates on me a lot more then as well without getting too tense. Milli is coming towards the end of her box rest and after having her feet trimmed on Friday she is allowed to start doing some walk work and gradually build up her work level slowly. Although I can't wait to get back on her and get her out doing what she loves most I will have to make sure I have my much needed neck strap on when I do get on as she is feeling very well in herself and rather fresh.....she comes out of the stable for me to muck out doing the odd little buck and just squeaks to herself!! Fingers crossed it isn't a you've been framed moment!! As always I will keep you updated with all the goings on as we've got lots to look forward to this year and I can't wait to get going! SG Equestrian
X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** I would like to wish all my friends, family, followers and supporters a rather belated but very Happy New Year! Let's hope 2016 is a good year for us all.....I can't wait to see what it entails! I'm sure you may have noticed but there has been a few changes on my website in the new year, most obvious one being the name - We are now SG Equestrian! Due to Roxie making an incredible recovery she will be doing quite a few dressage competitions throughout the year and we are hoping to get out to affiliated shows in the very near future and see how we get on! Milli will start to come back into work at the beginning of February and once she has done her walk and fitness work I hope to get her out jumping and may even event her again, depending how she comes back into work. Diaz will continue to do some dressage and showjumping competitions over the next few weeks as we approach the start of the 2016 event season! I am very pleased the Diaz's owner has said she would like me to keep the ride for the time being which I'm very excited about as I think this little mare has a big future ahead of her!! Pictures of my super team of mares below! #girlpower! On the sponsorship front I am very pleased to have such a great group of sponsors supporting SG Equestrian for the year ahead and hopefully years to come. Some have been supporting the team for a number of years and I was very pleased when I received the news last week that I was to be part of the Global Herbs team of sponsored riders for another year! This is the 6th year that Global Herbs have supported myself and the horses and all their help and support, both over the phone / emails as well as face to face has been invaluable and the products they send us each month are very much appreciated by both myself and the horses! All the products I have used (over the years that has been rather a lot!) have done exactly what they say on the tin and worked absolute wonders on all my horses! Please check out their website to see what products of theirs will help your four legged friends:- http://globalherbs.co.uk/ As well as this great news I'm also very excited to announce the newest addition to my fantastic group of sponsors and supporters and they are The Pure Feed Company. I have always taken a lot of thought and consideration into what each of my horses has in their diets and am very keen for them to have as little molasses as possible in their diets and ensure that they are high in fibre and low in starch! I'm very excited to be working along side this company for 2016 (and hopefully further!) I have submitted diets plans for each of the horses and am very happy with what has been suggested. After my first delivery of feed last week, the girls all happily tuck into their feeds every time! It is so much easier having a complete feed all in one bag than adding a bit of chaff, dried grass, mix, nuts, bran of what ever your horse is fed! Saving on time and money......definitely a win win!! For more information on these fantastic feeds please click on the following link to check out their website:- https://www.thepurefeedcompany.com/ We have already had our first competition outing of the year and have many more planned over the coming weeks! I took Diaz to Blue Barn Equestrian Centre last weekend for the first British Showjumping show held by SMP Events of 2016. Diaz isn't registered with British Showjumping yet so we jumped HC on a ticket and I did the British Novice and Discovery classes with her. We got off to a great start, jumping a super double clear in the British Novice with a speedy jump off. They announced my time and mentioned that we had gone into the lead. Here we stayed which I was very pleased with, only down side was that with us not currently being affiliated members we couldn't pick up our rosette and prize money.....may need to get ourselves registered! We went right at the beginning and managed to hold on to our lead whilst the 22 other competitors jumped in British Novice, I was very pleased with this as I didn't go crazy in the jump off part at all, jumped asked Diaz to go a bit faster and cut a few corners! After a bit of a wait we jumped in the discovery class and Diaz jumped a super round, picking up a very unfortunate 4 faults.....I think she was a bit tired after an early start and the gap between the classes. Please click on the following link to see more pictures as well as a short video of us jumping some fences in the Discovery:- Diaz 2016! It's safe to say that we are all set and ready for 2016 and excited to see what it has to offer! To keep up to date with all the very latest on SG Equestrian, please click on the links below and 'like' our page on Facebook, 'follow' us on Twitter & 'subscribe' to us on YouTube for the latest videos! Until next time,
SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** SG Eventing
X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** I hope you are well and starting to get into the festive spirit :) Sorry for the lack of blogs and updates over the last few weeks! I've been so busy with non horsey / grown up things like packing / unpacking (moving into our first house) as well as lots of work going on at the stables as we have had a new yard put down and a new entrance so there's been lots of big diggers about the place which some of the horses haven't been too keen on, but on the positive side it means that we have NO mud.....well until you get down to the fields anyway!!
Milli has her next leg scan on Wednesday and after nearly 8 weeks in I'm keen to see how her recovery has been going. I'm keeping all my fingers and hooves crossed that the scan looks like it should do! She may be able to start doing some walk work now and begin building up her fitness levels again - it will be great to be back on her again....I've missed riding her although I do think I will need to make sure I've got my trusty 'holy-shit' strap on her the first few times I ride her!
I will keep you updated with all the goings on as we approach the festive season and should hopefully have a competition report and results update for you soon. SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** I hope you are well and had a good Halloween weekend? With there only being 2 out of my 3 girls in work at the moment I thought I would have a bit more time on my hands but that really isn't the case, I seem to be busier than ever! Ryan and I are in the final stages of purchasing our first house together and we are hoping to do the big move next week sometime which is all very exciting! Despite all the chaos, I did manage to get out to a jumping competition with Diaz at the end of last week and a dressage competition with Roxie last weekend. Last Thursday there was a jumping competition held at Blue Barn Equestrian Centre and I took Diaz for the 90cm class as she hasn't been out since her last event so I wanted her to go out and have a good time! Unfortunately there wasn't any other entries for the 90cm class so I didn't jump in the class, but they very kindly let me jump two clear rounds at whatever height I wanted, so I jumped her around the course at 95cm and then put it all up to 1.05m - 1.10m. Diaz jumped two super clears for me, making it feel very easy and in the last parts of the course, the jump off part I asked her to step up a gear or two speed wise and also cut the corners a bit which she did very well , jumping two lovely double clears. The second track was the biggest course she has jumped out in competition as well so I was very pleased with her and can't wait to get her out to some BS shows over the winter. Please Click Here to view more pictures and a video. Then on Saturday, bit of a last minute decision but I entered Roxie in to two Novice tests at Blue Barn Equestrian Centre. Scott always has some late entry slots at his shows which is very handy as I managed to enter that morning! We did Novice 24 first and Roxie performed a nice test. I'm trying a slightly different approach with our test riding at the moment and am trying to ask move of her in the trot work without her getting tense or too excitable, with her being a TB mare there is a very fine line between her working soft and getting a bit tense! We scored 65.77% to come 3rd in this test. The next test was Novice 23 and this test was in a long arena so I made sure I learnt the test well and knew exactly where I was going! Down the centre line, track left and just as I started my 15m circle at S the judge rang the bell - turns out the Novice 23 I have has been updated and there is a new version of the test! This is the second time this has happened to me recently.....I think I need to update my dressage test book and just double check the year of the test next time to make sure I have and learn the correct one! Thankfully there was a lovely lady watching who then called the test for me. The whole situation got us both a bit tense I think, but considering I hadn't even looked at the test, let alone ridden through it I was very pleased with how Roxie went and I felt we managed to pull an OK test out of the bag! The judge agreed with us and despite the -2 for our error, we finished with a score 66.67% which put us in 3rd place. Not a bad afternoon out considering it was a very last minute decision to go! Please Click Here to view more pictures and see a video of our second test. The girls may have a slightly quitter week now whilst I move etc but as soon as I'm all unpacked and sorted I'll be ready to crack on with a winter of dressage for Roxie and both Dressage and Showjumping for Diaz. Plus hopefully, in the new year Milli will be back in work as well, for now though she will continue her box rest and is very grateful for the Likit treats and toys she has to keep her occupied whilst she is in the stable. Until next time,
SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** I hope you all had a good weekend a didn't get caught in any of the wet weather we had! I think it's safe to say Autumn is definitely here!! We were out competing yesterday at the Riding Club Area 10 Winter Dressage Qualifier's held at Blue Barn Equestrian Centre. I had Roxie entered as part of a Novice team and initially Milli was entered as an individual in the Novice section. Due to other members horses going lame etc I was called up into the other team on Milli, but unfortunately after the news I received from the vet on Friday with Milli I was unable to take her. With Riding Club competitions, although it is the best 3 scores to count there still has to be 4 members in a team. So, not to let the other members of the team down I took my sisters coloured cob, Todd to make up the numbers. Todd did a very good job for me bless him, considering he hasn't done much for the last year other than be ridden and kept fit by young children he thoroughly enjoyed his trip out. We were very pleased with our score of 63.75!! For more pictures from the day along with a video please Click Here. Roxie was next and I was told before I tacked up that they were running about 15-20minutes behind so I tacked up slowly and headed over to the warm up, thinking I had 30-40minutes until it was my turn. Due to people not turning up they had managed to catch up and after I'd had a walk / trot on a long rein around the arena to warm up they called me over and said I was to go. As this was even before the time I had been given I was still entitled to another 10minutes before my time but I knew this still wouldn't be long enough to get Roxie focused and settled so I did a bit more and then headed in and knew I just had to make the best of what I could get out of Roxie. She started the test well but unfortunately the two helpers who were picking up droppings in between test obviously didn't see me start my test so I had to dodge around them as I started my 20m circle at A, commenting to them that I was doing my test, they didn't move and when I came around finishing my circle they were still picking up the droppings right on the line I wanted to be on!! I said to them again that I had actually started my test but had to keep myself calm as I could feel Roxie tensing up a little bit as she knew something wasn't as it should be.....sensitive TB!!! They then finally realised that I was now half way through my test and they left the arena thankfully. The rest of the test wasn't too bad, not a patch on what I know she can do but I must remember that she's not been out doing much for the last 18months and this was her first time competing back indoors and the atmosphere at Blue Barn was much bigger than at Shotfield where it is all very laid back and chilled. We did still manage to pick up a score of 65.83% which was only just over 1% off the leading score so I was pleased with how she went and exceptionally pleased with the fact that she didn't jog in her walk at all!!! Sounds very silly but this is a big achievement for Roxie especially when she is slightly tense! For more pictures from the day along with a video please Click Here. It got to 8pm and although there were only a few more scores to go up we decided to make a move and head home as my mum was there at 8am for the morning test where my sister Sophie was competing, mum came home and then came back with me so it had been a very long day! I'm not entirely sure where I finished up but Roxie was definitely in the top 10 out of 40+ so it wasn't a bad trip out and Todd was just out of the top 10 I think....not bad considering I can't remember the last time I rode him!! ************************************************************** With regards to Milli, you may have seen on Facebook but I didn’t receive the best of news from our vet last Friday. Although she is still 100% sound she just hasn’t been herself for some time now and after having her teeth and back done, her feet all checked by the farrier nothing was becoming apparent. Milli came in form the one evening last week with a slight bit of swelling and heat on her left fore. I cold hosed it and bandaged it up for the night. By the morning the swelling and heat had gone but I still wasn’t 100% sure with how it looked / felt, she was fine in herself and 100% sound still but after having a chat with the vet, I booked in to take her and have her leg scanned, more for my own piece of mind! On arrival at the vets Friday afternoon we walked and trotted her up and she was 100% sound. When the vet felt her left fore he could feel something not 100% but said it felt like an old injury and asked about her history. When I explained that she’d never had a lame day or any form of leg injury he said it would be interesting to see what her leg looks like on the scan. Unfortunately this is where the news isn’t so good, it appears she has done some very minor damage to one of her tendons between her knee and fetlock, however the vet is 99% sure that it is an old injury. After more scans and comparing her two front legs the vet came up with the conclusion that she has suffered minor damage to one of the tendons in her left fore, nothing serious enough to make her un-sound at all but just something that has been there in the back ground if that makes sense. This would explain why she hasn’t been herself with her jumping since the spring and looking back now I know exactly when she ‘tweaked’ it. Her first event of the season at South of England Horse Trials was where she first stopped and I had absolutely no idea why. I watched the XC video from SofE on the way home from the vets….she was jumping so bold around the novice track; nothing seemed to phase her at all! At the water she jumped in very bold over the upturned boat house and slightly pecked on landing, it was then at the next fence that she stopped so I honestly think it was then that she tweaked it! I feel so sorry for her now but am very pleased that we finally have an explanation for why she just hasn’t been herself recently. The vet did comment, that unless I had her leg scanned we may never have known so I guess the wet weather we have had recently has worked in my favour for once! We think she probably slipped in the field, tweaking it and where we had no idea of any underlying injury it hadn’t ever had time to heal properly, that is what caused the fluid build up / slight swelling which made it visible…….if only they could talk - much simpler!! Poor Milli now has 6 weeks box rest / in hand grazing ahead of her before we have the vet out to re-scan her leg….not that she’s complaining too much as she loving being tucked up in her stable with ad-lib hay, plenty of Likits and out of any rain we have! Fingers crossed we have some good news when we go back for her next scan and we can get back out doing what we love doing and more importantly get the cheeky Milli back to her normal cheeky self! I will of course keep you posted with how Milli's recovery is going and I'm hoping to get Roxie out to our first affiliated BD competition soon. Diaz is starting to come back into work now after having 3 weeks off after Tweseldown, we went for two nice hacks this weekend and she's had a few gentle schooling sessions so far this week and she feels great!! Diaz will be out doing a bit of dressage and show jumping throughout the winter in preparation for next season. Until next time,
SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** I hope you are well and had a nice weekend in the sunshine?! Aren't we having lovely weather for September / October.....long may it continue! After our very busy yet successful weekend the weekend before last, only being out one weekend competing last weekend felt quite nice. Diaz was the only one out competing and we were at Tweseldown Horse Trials. Tweseldown is one of my favourite events, they are so well run and being on sandy ground, the going is always fantastic, plus since it has been taken over by new people there have been some fantastic changes made to the XC course with lots of lovely new fences at all levels! After Diaz started getting slightly stressed in the dressage warm up at Munstead causing us to loose a few costly marks, I was trying a new warm up method with her at Tweseldown and I'm pleased to say it worked very well. There are still things to improve on but she remained chilled throughout the whole test, staying in a nice consistent rhythm and listening to me very well. Her concentration wandered a couple of times as I was in the first arena right by lorries coming in off the road and horses trotting past going to their own arenas. I was eve more pleased with how she went when I saw that we scored 33.0 which put us in 8th place out of 37+ competitors after dressage. This was a new PB score for us as well! We didn't have long between each discipline so it wasn't long before I was down at the jumping as I didn't have much to change other than my saddle and put boots on Diaz. Along with the new warm up routine I have had a play about with bits and she is seeming to love a straight bar happy mouth egg-butt snaffle at the moment, as soft and basic as you can go!! I had jumped her at home in it and she was as keen as normal but not too strong so I was happy to give it a try. The show jumping was in the international arena which can be a bit daunting for a young or inexperienced horse as it is very close to the pavilion with people sitting up above the horses as well as having flag poles around one side of the arena! Not that Diaz minded any of this, she remained very grown up and jumped a lovely clear round! On to the XC and I was keen to get her out on course, it was a more technical, up to height course than the one we did at Munstead the week prior but there was nothing that I didn't think she was ready for. We were called down to the start box and Diaz is definitely starting to know what the game is now and was keen to get out the start box and on with the job. Off we went and she flew over the first few fences really confidently. The first combination fences was at fence 4 with a and b elements of the medieval village and the fences and surrounding areas were all decorated with medieval items and fires. There was also rope everywhere making it look very professional!! The course had caused quite a few problems throughout the morning and the horse before me had been eliminated at the water. Fence 6a was a skinny log up on two steps and the horse was stood no more than 6 foot away from the fence so I had to make sure Diaz was focused and locked on to the skinny fence, which she did jumping it brilliantly and cantering on through the water. From the start of our round Diaz felt confident and was taking me to the fences so I let her run at her own speed to see how quick she is without any pressure to make the time. She jumped a super round, remaining confident throughout and flew over the last fence which was a spooky dragon fence with something over the top. She did exactly the same over it as she did with the owl hole at Munstead a few weeks ago, put her ears straight back and poked her nose out as if she was going to hit her head....bless her! She finished full of running and jumped a super clear for me. After sorting Diaz out I headed down to have a look at the scores and we were definitely going to have a top 10 placing which I was very pleased about but where in the top 10 depended on our time. I later found out that we were comfortably inside the time as well which poses well for when she moves up the levels as it did feel like we were just cantering around for fun! Finishing on our dressage score meant that we were to finish in 3rd place and Diaz won her first bot of prize money which is always a bonus!! Unfortunately this was our final run of this season, however I was chuffed with how well she went, she has improved each time out and learnt so much from every outing! Diaz has had an easy week since Tweseldown and is enjoying a bit of rest time in the field as she has done a lot this summer and I think some time off to reflect on things never does them any harm. Roxie has a few dressage competitions lined up over the next few weeks / months and Milli has some jumping training sessions booked with the plan of getting her back out jumping affiliated to get our remaining double clears at various heights before April. Until next time,
SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** Just wanted to give you a quick results update after a fantastic weekend with all three of my girls out competing picking up many placing's and prizes. On second thoughts it might not be that quick so maybe grab a coffee and some biscuits before you sit down and have a read! :) With a relatively early start I got Roxie and Milli schooled, the yard all sorted, fields cleared, Diaz bathed and plaited, the lorry loaded and off to Munstead BE Horse Trials we went! The weather was lovely and after the journey taking us longer than expected due to traffic and road closures we arrived safely, unloaded the horses and set of to walk the XC. This was Diaz's first run around an affiliated 90cm track and after her super run around the unaffiliated 90cm track at Chilham I was sure she was ready for it! Dressage was first and she started warming up brilliantly doing some lovely trot and canter work! She did unfortunately begin to get a bit tense before we went in which reflected in our test and mark which I think was due to the SJ arena being so close and also lorries and trailers going past close to the dressage arenas. Despite slight tension we scored a respectable 38.5 for our test. With our times being at the end of the day we had very little time to do much in between other than change tack and clothes so before we knew it we were changed and in the SJ warm up which Diaz found very exciting - change of seasons and all that, I think she is feeling very well. After a warm up we went in and started our round. Due to it being later on in the day there were some patches of shade as one side of the arena had trees near by, on the approach to fence 3 I came around the corner in the shade and then there were two strides in the sunshine before the fence. The fence was bright white poles with very spooky wall illusion fillers underneath and it took Diaz by surprise causing a run out! I think it was because of dark into light and her eyes didn't adjust in time and it just caught her off guard, bless her! On second approach she flew straight over it and finished the rest of the round beautifully. I cut the corners a bit but we still picked up 3 time faults unfortunately. Putting this behind us we had a quick change of tack and got ready for our XC. I was keen to get out there and see how she responded to it as there was plenty of questions being asked of her with skinny angled fences, angled palisades, coffin combination, an owl hole and a big trakehner with an angled pole across the top! Considering the majority of the fences were also in the BE100 Diaz made it feel like a complete walk in the park and she flew around clear! When we jumped the owl hole I had a little chuckle to myself as she hesitated slightly on approach as the 'hole' through was very small and considering she has never been asked to jump a fence like this yet I was chuffed she took it all in her stride, on take off she poked her nose out as far as possible, taking the streamline approach through with her ears flat back....bless her! I was even more pleased when I found out that we were 20 seconds inside the time XC and considering I didn't push her that much for speed she is definitely learning how to open up her stride when running across the country which is great news! On looking at the score boards later on I was very pleased with how she had gone finishing in 11th place even if finishing that close to the placing's can be a little frustrating I came away chuffed with the day and it was another confidence building run under our belts and she is continuing to learn more and more each time out which is what is most important! My sister Sophie did very well on mum's 'big' Milli picking up a 8th placing in the same section! *************************************** With a not so early start the following day the horses were all put out in the field for a bit of a leg stretch whilst we did the yard, cleaned and unloaded the lorry and trailer from our trip to Munstead and started to get everything ready for our next competition. We didn't have so far to travel for this competition which is always a bonus, just 15 minutes!! It was Shotfield Farm Equestrian Dressage championship show, they have had a series running through out the summer and after only going to two shows due to eventing commitments I was lucky enough to have qualified both Roxie and Milli for the Novice and Elementary Championships. We had four horses from the Team Gadd / SG Eventing yard there and the day got of to a great start with Adele Kleeman, a friend of my sisters who has been helping us on the yard a riding Todd a bit. They finished in 3rd place in the walk and trot championships! Sophie then did a great dressage test in the second Prelim championships to score 70+% and won the class! Next was The Roma Hollingworth Novice Dressage Championships and Milli and I were first in. The prize giving for the prelim championships had got her a bit excited as they all did a lap of honour in the main arena to music but I used this to my advantage and managed to get some lovely work out of her! Milli was excited to be back out after having a bit of time off so called to other horses once and put in the odd little buck of excitement which made us loose some marks, we still managed to score 71% which I was very pleased with and this resulted in a 4th placing! Next up in the Novice was Sophie and 'big' Milli and they did a lovely test to finish in 5th place! Last to go in the Novice was Roxie and she warmed up brilliantly but she has done this many times before and then turned into a tense over excitable TB in the actual arena. I was trotting around before my test waiting for the bell and she was still remaining nice and chilled and she went on to perform an absolutely stunning test remaining calm throughout! The walk at the end of the test was a big question for Roxie as she is prone to a small jog as I pick up the reins after a free walk and we had to walk up the centre line to finish but she didn't jog once!! As I left the arena the judge got out of her box and commented on how elegant and beautifully ridden our test was! As there was mounted prize giving's after each test I stayed on as I knew Milli was placed and had hoped that Roxie would have got in the placing's as it felt like she did a super test. They announced over the tannoy who needed to be on for the mounted prize giving as I was called on both horses which I was pleased with and even more pleased when I was approached and asked to dismount so they could put the rug on Roxie and I was given a sash.....Yes we had won!!!!! We scored a whopping 78.1% which is by far the beast score Roxie has ever achieved with mainly 8's down her sheet!! There were a few tears from me and mum when we found out how well Roxie had done, especially when we both thought back to how we so nearly lost her 18 months ago and how hard she has fought despite the odds to still be here today let alone be back out competing and doing what she loves best!! Roxie loved being centre stage and posed for lots of pictures during the prize giving and for the lap of honour she didn't want to canter she wanted to show off her medium / extended trot!! After all this excitement I was first in the Elementary Championships on Roxie who had gotten a little bit tense but after a while in the warm up she calmed down a bit a performed a nice test, Roxie always performs better when there is more asked of her so this test really suited her. Unfortunately we lost 6 marks as I went wrong twice, well didn't really go wrong - I had learnt E49 from 2002 and not the one from 2009 which has two additional movements in it.....note for next time - always check I'm learning the correct year for the test!!! I was so annoyed as I later found out, when we finished in 3rd on 68% that losing those 6 marks cost us the win!! Milli was last to go in the E49 and after my mistakes in the first class someone very kindly called the test for me! Milli performed a lovely test and it really feels like her medium trots are starting to come along nicely now! Plus I was very pleased that she didn't offer me a flying change in the counter canter which she tends to be cheeky and do. I was called on both horses for the mounted prize giving for this class and knew Roxie had finished 3rd but was unsure where Milli had finished. Milli and I had finished in 2nd place with a score of 69% just 1% of winning which I was very pleased with. For the Elementary prize giving Milli found it all very exciting doing the lap of honour to music! We were then called to a final prize giving for the points championship and I got 5th place....not bad considering I've only been to 3 of the 6 of the competitions! To view Gallery updates with lots of lovely pictures and videos of tests please click on the following links for each horse: Roxie.. Milli.. After a busy weekend, a weekend at home would be nice but not as nice as being out at an event.....Diaz is back out again this weekend competing in the BE90 class at Tweseldown Horse Trials. I'm very much looking forward to this event in particular seeing the improvements and new fences that have been built at Tweseldown since it has been taken over by new people! Plus it will be nice to have a much needed catch up with Paul from Ultimate Images who is the photographer at the event! Apologies for this update being so long but I hope you have had a good read and liked the many pictures and videos!! :)
SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** We had another great weekend out eventing with Diaz last weekend, this time back at our most local event Chilham Park. We were having only our second run at the 95cm level and it was nice to get around the majority of the BE90 course at Chilham in the unaffiliated event. Dressage was first, and after picking up comments about her looking slightly tense at her last event I was determined to get some softer work out of her and have been working very hard on it all at home! She was warming up very well and just as I was thinking we were ready to go over, the steward came and called us to say we could go over.....good timing!! Diaz performed a lovely test and I came away very happy with the work and it was by far the best test we have done together so far! I was even happier when I found out we had a new PB score as we picked up a score of 33.5. There were a few scores in the late 20's so we were about mid field. I had a bit of a break between dressage and the jumping phases so I headed out to walk the XC course. After Diaz not being too sure of the skinny fences at Bonfleur we have done a bit of work at home on narrow fences so I was keen to see how much she had learnt, and I also took time when walking the course to concentrate on the lines up to the skinny fences, both those as 'B' elements of combinations and those skinny fences on their own. After having a bite to eat it was time for our show jumping. The course seemed to be jumping well and after Diaz warmed up nicely I was confident and ready to go in. Diaz jumped a super round for me and after a change of bit recently she responded and listened to me the whole way round and jumped a super clear!! On to the cross country and I knew we had it all to play for now so I was determined to give Diaz another confident boosting round but this time I was also asking her to pick up the pace a bit to get as new to the optimum time as possible. Diaz felt super and kept responding every time I put my leg on and asked for a bit more speed. She was also jumping very confidently, flying through the water at a strong canter and out over the brightly coloured house, wasting no time at all. She grew in confidence the whole way round and I think she wondered why I was steadying her up so much in front of some fences, but I wanted to ensure she was presented correctly at the skinny fences, which she just popped straight over without any hesitation so my work at home as obviously paid off! She flew over the last fence and still felt like there was still plenty in the tank which was very good as it is very hilly at Chilham! She had jumped a super clear so we had picked up our first double clear and I was even more pleased when I later found out that we were comfortably inside the time! This resulted in us picking up our first placing out eventing together too, on our dressage of 33.5 we finished in 5th place! Diaz had a little support crew of her owners, Janine and Kirstie Leightley along with some of their friends who came to watch her compete and Diaz certainly liked performing in front of a crowd :) We have a weekend off competing this weekend and then we are out both days next weekend with Diaz eventing on the Saturday and Roxie and Milli out at a local dressage championship show which they have both qualified for on Sunday...wish us luck!
SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** |
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January 2020
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