I thought I was getting better at this blogging caper, but it appears I have taken 4 months to get around to writing again. Oops!
The end of last year was busy for us with competition & juggling family commitments. Snip & I competed at TTT dressage in mid November. Whilst we didn't cover ourselves with glory on this occasion, we did do 2 pleasing tests. Funnily enough, I placed higher in what I thought was the poorer test. The mystique of dressage continues for me...!
A high spot of our eventing calendar was Bulla Horse Trials in November. Snip was an absolute superstar & performed a beautiful dressage test & made very light work of the jumping phases. He won! It was a pleasing win for us as he finished on his dressage score, something we achieved on nearly all occasions in our spring horse trials.
Good boy Snippy!
In juggling motherhood with eventing & having less riding time, I did make the decision to compete Snip a level lower than we did in 2012 ( so back at Pre Novice EA & L1 HRCAV rather than going out at 1* straight away). However, I still made goals to do our best & aim for a finish as close as to our dressage score as possible. I am particularly pleased that in the 6 events completed, only once did we incur SJ faults. I do hope in time, we will be able to work our way up to 1* again. At 14, Snip feels really fit & well, the only issue is me - getting enough time in the saddle. In the interim, dressage seems like an easier sport to pursue with young family; less fitness work required and not whole weekends away like eventing. I do really enjoy dressage training, but will always be an eventer at heart! ;)
Henry also competed at Bulla. He's had hardly any HT starts for the past 2 years & cross country has been a bit of a bugbear - in reality, he's still inexperienced. It was therefore really pleasing to get him around clear, albeit with some time faults. It was a sticky round with some awkward moments & took all of my effort to make it happen. Hen then squandered what might have been a top 10 finish by stopping twice in the showjumping! Not really sure what that was about, but as always, there is something to work on! Henry did redeem himself a month later by competing with one of my students at a local dressage & showjumping day. They won their dressage test & placed 4th in the jumping, at what was only their 7th ride together. It made me very happy to see someone enjoying time with Henry. I am lucky to be able to share my horses with some wonderful young riders.
Since then, we've had a relaxed Christmas break with lots of family time. We recently enjoyed a family holiday on the North Island of New Zealand. We travelled from Bay of Islands to Wellington over 9 days and had a relaxing time (even with a toddler in tow!).
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| The thermal wonders of Rotorua |
So 2015 is well & truly here with lots of exciting things in store. The first of which is a clinic with my childhood idol - Lucinda Green! I know that would be met with blank looks from those not in eventing circles, but the woman is a genius. Winner of the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials on 6 occasions, former World Champion & Olympic medallist. I look forward to learning more from her.
