Bury farm High Profile Show

The Bury Farm High Profile Show started with my first ride on the lovely big bay who belongs to Felicity Norrie, Affinity Bay. We woke him up nice and early to make the short trip to Slapton . He warmed up really well and was listening and obedient through the test, he did have a little fidget in the first halt which lost us some marks but overall Team Finn were pleased. He strolled out afterwards as though he knew he was a total star. He then had half a tonne of strong mints from Angela & Felicity which confirmed his status!  Later the commentator announced we were placed in 2nd. Super result in very good company & Finn actually got to have a prance in the prize giving.  Meanwhile the wonderful Merri was arriving with her owner Judy Firmston Williams.  Merri felt confident and on side as we entered the decorated indoor arena,  we performed the Prix St George with confidence , however we had some mistakes in our changes this time which really hasn't happened before so slightly frustrating... However I was encouraged by her relaxation in such an atmosphere. We finished 11th overall and that is very promising for the future. Merri celebrated with sugar lumps afterwards. 

Team Finn were back to Bury Farm on Sunday to contest the Advanced Medium Freestyle and he and I thoroughly enjoyed riding to the dramatic film music put together by Anna Streeter (Fox Trot music) and floor plan by Ali Berman,  I was thrilled that it all went to plan even if we were almost late to halt at the last note of music...phew!  Again came the treats and as Finn strolled off with his fan club I went to find out our score.  71% secured First place and Finn had held his own in a hot class. 

A video of Finn's prize giving http://youtu.be/2-I2_RnoSkw

Bury Farm high Profile was a really good Show and the sun even came out on Sunday. 

Thank you Judy, Felicity, Angela, my sponsors and of course Merri & Finn. 

Today Monday the horses have had a well earned rest. 

Bye for now,

Daisy. X

  

Qualifications...four horses, 12 tests.

As November is drawing to a close I'm happy to announce I have four horses qualified in 12 classes for the Winter Regionals in February. We gained final qualifications yesterday at Patchetts Equestrian Centre with Daya and Bing scoring 73 and 74% In the  Advanced Medium Freestyle placing 1st and 2nd. Finn (owned by Felicity Norrie) had a good competition, he scored 70% in the advanced 105 and one highlight was a score of 7.5 for his four time changes.

It was a busy evening at Patchetts, I had to ride two tests within 30 minutes of each other. On the way to the event I made a quick stop at Fred and Gingers Coffee shop in Kings Langely to grab some green juices to keep me going... After chatting for a bit to long to the friendly staff I left the shop to see Bing driving past in the lorry! Luckily my car is much faster than the horse box so I beat him to Patchetts! 

At the end of this week I'm looking forward to competing at Bury Farm High Profile show...

D x

.

November...

At the start of November I spent two days at a BEF Excel Talent Programme held at Solihull Equestrian centre. I had two lessons on Merri and Bing with Gareth Hughes, as well as a saddlery session with World class saddler Mark Fisher. There was also a position analysis session with Russell McGuire which was very interesting as it compared riding footage from a year ago. I got the chance to work with Adele Carter the strength and conditioning coach who was pleased with the work I have been doing at home with my physio Debbie Simm. Merri and Bing both got a turn on the weigh bridge.... And we will be keeping an eye on the mince pie consumption this Christmas! 

Louis, Finn and Merri had an outing to Bury Farm Equestrian Centre. They were all brilliantly behaved!! Louis won both his medium tests on 67 and 69%, Finn showed a lot of really promising work in the advanced 105, and Merri won the PSG on 70% which is our best result together to date.

Louis is now all qualified for the Winter Regionals at Advanced Medium and Medium level. He gained his final medium open points at Norton Heath where he produced two great tests to score 69 and 71%.

I have the final qualification classes for Daya and Bing at Patchetts for the advanced medium music, fingers crossed! 

All of the horses received brilliant physio treatment from Diane Daynard. We have some new stretches to try at home and a follow up visit in a few weeks. They all really enjoyed their massages and look forward to Diane's return. 

I'm excited to announce that BlueChip Feed will continue to sponsor us for the 2015 season, the horses all look fantastic and healthy and their support is really appreciated.

2014 Round Up....

2014 has been a year filled with highs and lows....

I couldn't have achieved any of it without the support from my Sponsors BlueChip Feed and Equllibrium Products, BEF Excel Talent Programme, the horses and their Owners, the team of vets, farriers and physios, my trainers and my family....Thànk you everyone, non of this would have been possible without you.

I am excited to announce that I am now supported by Sports Aid and part of the Jaguar Academy of Sport in association with Sport England, I am very much looking forward to progressing with their support and backing. 

Highlights of 2014.....

2014 has been my first year as part of the BEF Sport England Excel Talent Programme. The programme has provided inspiring workshops throughout the season, high performance training, support, celebrity guests, a greater understanding of the rules, legal issues, and a chance to work with a team who are the top of their specialised field and to gain a greater knowledge into sports nutrition, strength and conditioning, sports psychology, and the maintenance of a top level competition horse. All of these aspects help to improve us as athletes and maximise success. I have greatly enjoyed being part of this programme and am looking forward to my next high performance camp. 

In March 2014, I won silver at the British Dressage Young Professionals Award Final held at Talland School of Equitation. It was a fantastic experience and I highly recommend the programme. It provided me with interview experience, a greater understanding of costing within the sport, goal setting, creating a five year plan, and the opportunity to ride in front of Carl Hester, Dan Sheriff and Becky Moody. I really value the investment British Dressage have made in my future in the sport.

I have continued to train with Gareth Hughes, Jonathan Chapman, Ian Woodhead, Ali Berman and Dan Sheriff this year. They have helped improve my riding, my teaching skills and the horses. I have also had the exciting opportunity to ride in front of Stephen Clarke and Judy Harvey which has been extremely beneficial as well. 

In October, I got the chance to go to Kent to stay and train with Francis Whittington who won Blenheim earlier this year. Francis, as well as being a fantastic rider is also a very gifted coach and even with only four days , there was a noticeable difference in our style. I was able to compete British Eventing under Francis's watchful eye and put into practice everything I had learnt on my stay with him. With success!! 

I had three horses competing at the British Dressage Winter Nationals, Cleopatra II, Urbanus IV and Bing. It was very successful....

Cleopatra II won the Medium Restricted Freestyle on 75%

Bing won the Medium Resticted with Urbanus in a close 4th

Cleopatra II came 2nd in the Elementary Open freestyle on 73%

It was a fantastic Winter Championship and it was made even better as my sponsors BlueChip were there supporting and exhibiting.  It was also when I first saw the fantastic advert of  Daya and I on the back page of the British Dressage magazine promoting Bluechip Feed.  

We also had a good Summer Nationals, Show-Off competed at her first big show and Bing did a competitive test in the Medium Open. Equllibrium products were exhibiting at the Summer National's so it was a great opportunity to catch up with them .  It was then they told me that the advert Cleopatra II and I featured in had gone international! Wow!

The highest British Dressage score achieved this year was 80% posted by Cleopatra II and I at the British Dressage Regionals at Addington Manor EC.

Urbanus II was placed 4th at the picturesque Hambelden International Horse Trials in the 1* even though the weather was against us.

Louis was also placed 6th at Gatcombe Park International  Horse Trials and  I was thrilled to meet Princess Anne in the prize giving! 

Our best British Eventing result this year was a double clear 25 dressage at Aston le Walls under21 Open Intermediate.

As the 2014 season comes to a close..... I feel inspired and grateful ... It's safe to say I am much more weathered than this time last year, with more miles on the clock, dodgy knees, a pile of broken boots and holes in my jods but we certainly all had a great time.

#makingthedreamareality

D x 

Louis and the Arc Equine

The Arc Equine is a drug free, non-invasive, affordable and easy to use system that can be used in the stable and on the lorry. It uses minute, sub-sensory sequences of electrical currents which mimic those naturally occurring within the body. The following are some of the benefits of using microcurrent technology:

 May this year eventer Louis was placed 5^th place in an Open Intermediate, but finished the cross country with a deep gash 6” long diagonally across his knee. Excellent veterinary care on site to clean, stitch and bandage the wound gave us a good platform for healing, but we were very aware of the difficulties ahead.  To prevent stitches bursting, the leg was splinted and the horse had to be on box rest, increasing the likelihood of granulation and scar tissue, plus stiffening of the joint, not to mention loss of fitness and difficult behaviour resulting from boredom.

The wound 2 weeks after the injury....

 2.5 weeks after...

Along with conventional and complementary herbal therapies, we used Arc Equine daily. Initially we were worried that improvement was slow; it was more than two weeks before the stitches could be taken out. But clearly underneath the visible damage, high quality healing had been taking place.  The wound site rapidly resolved to the thinnest scar. The granulation visible at one stage has resolved almost entirely.  The knee joint returned immediately to full flexion, with no further physio treatment. Six weeks after the injury the horse was back in work. We took a further six weeks to rebuild fitness and do some dressage and show jumping before a cross country schooling session.  

 One month after injury....

All lights were green, and three months after the accident, Louis returned to competition scoring  27 dressage and double clear in a Novice, with the biggest grins on both our faces. Louis finished the season with another double clear and 29 dressage at Pulborough horse trials in the open novice to finish 7th.

Louis now wears the Arc Equine on a regular basis and it seems to reduce his stressy behaviour in the stable as well as easing musclesoreness after exercise.  His recovery was extraordinary, thank you Arc Equine. 

 Five month later you can hardly see the scar....

End of the season adventure.....

Louis and I embarked on an exciting adventure to Francis Whittington's for a short stay.... Francis is a very successful event rider, his most prestigious win was this year at Blenheim International on his fabulous horse Easy Target. 

Our stay was extremely beneficial, Francis is a brilliant instructor and made a quick assessment of our jump style and gave us a target to work on over the following days. 

We went cross country schooling (first time since our fall) and Francis made sure we successfully jumped down hill! 

Louis felt brilliant and I felt confident about going to compete at Pulborough, our last event of the season. 

Unfortunately I had a very early time so we were up at 3.30 a.m....I considered going to bed in my competition clothes as it was very cold in the morning...but it seemed a bit extreme!

We arrived at the event at 6 am, Francis and I walked the course almost in the dark... We had difficulty finding the fences at times so split up to look in different directions...it usually turned out neither of us were right and the fence was actually straight ahead of us! 

Louis did a tidy dressage test for a score of 29. Not bad considering the only dressage I had participated in all week was a lesson I gave to Francis's wife Sam, who also got a great score of 29 in the BE 100 later that day.

The show jumping went well, Louis jumped a great clear.

I felt a bit nervous before the cross country but kept reminding myself that it was the phase I love the most! Nothing beats the thrill of cross country! 

It felt great to be wizzing round the course and we finished clear with five time penalties and were placed.

Later that day the weather was horrendous, there was thunder, lightning and really ridiculously heavy downpours. I felt very happy to have gone early and missed the bad weather as we took shelter in the First Class Images caravan (photo courtesy 1st Class Images).

A great end to the season!

D x 

 

September....

September is coming to a close...I got two black eyes and a broken nose.... Ok not quite broken but it hurts enough!

I have had two main events this month, the British Dressage Nationals and Morton Morrell British Eventing, quite a mixed month.

Bing had a good Nationals scoring 68.34% to finish 11th in a very hot medium open class and Mabel had her first Big show experience, and her reaction was one of shock.

Louis competed at Morton Morell the following week, and it was all going very well tilll the cross country. We went out the start box on a score of 29 (one pole to add to a 25 dressage).

Unfortunately we had a good ride till fence four then I couldn't tell you what went wrong but Louis and I had a rotational fall. I have never eaten so much dirt in one mouth full, but it didn't stop me voicing my immediate concern as to where Louis had disapeared to (I can only remember taking off). 

We both seem to be fine, Louis has a few scratches and will need physio, and I have a bruised face and legs. Air jackets really are amazing, it protected all of my torso.  

This lifestyle never fails to keep you grounded and put it all into perspective.....

Goring Heath 2014

Louis competed at Goring Heath open Novice, we were up with the lark to get the horses ready to travel. 

The journey was fairly stressful, and just as we gave in and dialled the number of the event organiser to admit we were lost, a tiny yellow sign pointed us in the right direction for the Horse Trials...phew! Directions are not my forte at the best of times, let alone at 6am with road closures!

Louis was great to warm up, his trot and canter felt really through and connected. The dressage test went well, there were two small blips, the halt before rein back was brief and one excited transition. Louis mark wasn't as low as we hoped for and he went onto the show jumping with 33 penalties. 

After jumping a great clear round we changed our kit and headed on to the crosscountry phase.

The cross country course at Goring was very strong, there were a lot of up to height questions from start to finish. Louis felt mega! I think I might have been smiling the whole way round (apart from when my teeth were gritted when I had the ride strong through the water complex). Louis finished with some time penalties but I'm thrilled with how well he is feeling and jumping. 

Our next event is Morton Morrell in a few weeks. Between now and then I have training on Louis with Ian Woodhead and Jonathan Chapman. And training on the dressage horses with Gareth Hughes, Ali Berman and Dan Sheriff in lead up to the BD Nationals.

"To succeed in life you need three things..a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone" R. McEntire

Seems like an age since I last blogged ! Finding the time to sit down and blog has become increasingly difficult...today it is pouring with rain...it is time!

Louis has been the horse to cause me the most worry in the past few months.
The Event season was off to a great start, Louis was feeling fit and raring to go for Aston le Walls Intermediate Under21 Event, and he didn't disappoint. We posted a leading dressage score of 25.9 followed by a great clear show jumping round.  We went onto the Cross Country in pole position.
There was a hold on course before I went out the start box while the groundsmen repaired the landing of the water jump at fence five.
Louis jumped a fantastic round tackling all the tricky combinations and both water elements with no problem. However the ecstatic feeling of crossing the finish line with a double clear quickly faded when I looked down at my shirt to see it covered in blood. Louis' knee was gaping open and there was blood everywhere. His knee had split from impact with one of the fences.
Luckily at affiliated events there is a vet on site, this was the fourth phase of our event that day. Louis had a lot of stitches and was condemned to box rest, not a good outcome for a fit eventer.

After some intense care I am happy to say Louis is back on the road!  He went out to Milton Keynes to do a Novice Event and jumped double clear 27 dressage. What a remarkable recovery. We are now looking forward to getting back on track!


This September I have two horses going forward to the National Dressage Championships, Bing who qualified at Addington Manor on 70.9% in 2nd place to Gareth Hughes in the Medium Open and Show-Off who qualified at Keysoe on 70.86% in the Novice Open.

I have also attended a test riding day with Excel Talent Programme in front of David Trott. I was lucky enough to take three horses who were all brilliant. Daya and Bing practiced medium 75 and Merri and I performed the PSG test.

It has take me a while to post this blog update however you can keep up with me on Twitter Daisy Coakley

I am saving for an i-pad to make the whole process a lot more fluent. It is still raining ...thank you for reading and time now to feed the horses.

Daisy.x

Hambleden International Horse Trials

Louis;  second event of the season was the CIC* at Hambleden International Horse Trials in Henley.
Hambleden is a beautiful event. The cross country course runs through acres of stunning bluebell woods and the entire venue is always immaculate.

The CIC* was held over two days, Louis was drawn to perfo his dressage test on Saturday afternoon in the sunshine.  We posted a leading score of 41.1 gaining lots of eights for his canter work and medium trot and even a nine from one judge for his canter trot canter transitions.

The show jumping was well built and colourful in an arena full of yellow dandelions. We went onto the cross country with four faults from the jumping so still in a very competitive position.
The cross country course had two water elements and many combinations up and down hill.
Unfortunately about forty minutes before we ran the heavens opened and the rain poured down.... which made the course EXTREMELY slippery. We flew round with minimal braking (as my reins were so wet and I was unable to grip them) but this also meant it was harder to ride for the time as when I would usually only slow down a fraction for a turn but instead I really had to pull up. We gained 4.8 time penalties and finished 5th, I was really pleased with the way Louis finished, he felt fit and could have gone on to do more.

British Dressage Winter Nationals 2014

The British Dressage Winter Nationals is held at Hartpury Collage in Gloucester. It was an extremely busy and successful show for me and the team. I was competing three horses, Bing, Daya and Louis and there were seven of us looking after the horses and making sure we were on time for all exercise, arena walks, tests and prize givings.   

Cleopatra II Spillers Medium Restricted Music Freestyle Winner

Cleopatra II, Judy Firmston-Williams’ seven-year-old KWPN mare,  posted 75.50% for pole position in the Spillers Medium Restricted Music Freestyle Championship.

Dayas freestyle test was performed to dramatic film music, we devised the freestyle to play to her strengths. Her medium canter is very good and there is one dramatic part in the music phasing that goes perfectly with her bold medium canter towards the judge, which then moves fluidly into half pass and ten meter circles as the music tapers down.

Daya is really starting to develop physically as well as becoming hotter. Her way of going is very soft, supple and harmonious and because she has such a good temperament, she doesn't create too much tension in her body.

Daya had three tests to perform at the Nationals and in the  Elementary Open Freestyle we had one blip in the canter simple change but Daya still produced a brilliant test to come 2nd!

That was the last time we performed to our elementary music but perhaps it will make a comeback higher up the levels as it is so brilliant!!

Day two of the Nationals Daya performed in the Elementary Open class. She felt amazing in the warm up but unfortunately didn't produce a great test as was so excited about going into the main arena again following her two prize givings the day before. In hind-site we should have done an arena walk in the morning! But you can't be disappointed because she is usually so brilliant in the ring, and it shows how much hotter and stronger she is getting physically!

Albion Medium Restricted
Melise Witkin's eight year old British bred Bing took the Albion Medium Restricted Championship. Bing really rose to the occasion, he felt fluent and expressive in his trot and produced some bold canter work. His medium trot and half pass felt lovely. Extended canter is always amazing on Bing and I can’t help but when smile riding it. Its really encouraging as he has come on so much since the summers last year. We are now riding him in a double, he accepted it really well and it suits him! He has progressed mentally as well as physically, he was calm in the arena even though there was an atmosphere from the crowds and trade stands. He really enjoyed his first prize giving!

Felicity Norris's Urbanus IV (Urbanus II when eventing!) produced a brilliant test, I was utterly thrilled with him! He stayed focused on the test even though I could feel his excitement (which was very apparent in the 6.30 am arena walk that morning!). He lost some marks in his walk pirouettes but the rest of the test went really well. 

Thank you so much to my sponsors Bluechip Feed who have been supporting us this year. The Bluechip Pro has made a good improvement on all the competition horses and if you look on the back of this months British Dressage Magazine I am in their 

advert!

Thank you to Equilibrium Products for supplying us with new stretch and flex boots and bandages and also giving all the horses Vitamunch, a delicious treat! 

British Eventing at Gatcombe Park

Louis first event of the season at Gatcombe Park…

Gatcombe Park is situated in Gloucester about a two hour drive from Hertfordshire. I expected Louis to be a bit mad with excitement but he managed to contain himself very well and warmed up for the dressage beautifully. His test went well, with one blip in a canter trot canter transition but I was pleased with the rest of it (especially as you could see all the XC excitement from the dressage arena!).

Link to Dressage test- 24.5

The going in the show jumping was beautiful on arrival but after a few random hail showers the ground was a bit sticky with mud. Louis jumped really well, unfortunately knocking the second element of the triple and double to finish on eight faults.

Both Louis and I were so excited before heading cross country, nothing beats the thrill and adrenaline rush of XC!   

Link to XC- final fences              

He jumped an amazing round, he felt fit and raring to go! He went through the water brilliantly, down big hills to skinny jumps and drops, up steps and through the woods. Our round was quick and we only had 0.8 time penalties to add to our 24.5 dressage and 8 faults show jumping, finishing on a total score of 33.3 penalties.

It was very close at the top and 33.3 left us in 6^th which meant we were in the prize giving which was presented by Princess Anne.

It was a great day; we got home at about 10pm, unloaded the lorry and repacked it for my brother Bonar who was out eventing at Munstead at 7am the next day….Thanks mum! He had a good day too and jumped a double clear. It was great to catch up with old friends and thank you Juliet Sjoborg for the videos.

Young Professionals Award 2014

Young Professionals Award 2014 Sponsored by Penny Pollard on behalf of Core Context Consulting and the Worshipful Company of Saddlers

I applied for the Young Professionals Award last year about a week before the deadline, I’m so glad I did! At that point in time I wouldn't have dreamed of coming second and winning a cheque to further my career in the Equine Industry.

I would really encourage any under 25’s to look into the application process and attending a this new workshop in April

  http://www.britishdressage.co.uk/news/show/1948-u25s---looking-to-build-a-career-in-dressage

My educational journey started when filling out the first application for the award, it helped me map some of my dreams onto paper and start to work out some of the small steps that I need to take to supplement my career, help me progress, technically develop and further my education in the Industry.

I got through the semi-finals at Carl Hester’s and went onto the finals held at Talland School of Equitation.

The day started with a forty five minute session riding three ‘problem’ or ‘difficult’ horses which were all challenging in different ways. We then discussed our opinions of the horses, their strengths and weaknesses and how we might improve them. We then went on to (hopefully) put into practice our suggested improvements!

We then went on to our second riding group, a mix of Prix St Georges and Grand Prix horses, all of which were highly trained, but still had issues to be improved and worked on. The riding sessions brought up interesting topics with top International trainers Dan Sheriff and Becky Moody.

I really enjoyed my interview with Penny Pollard and Dr Moira Lafferty; it’s a privilege to be able to discuss future plans, goals, aspirations and hotly debated topics in British Dressage with such key members of the Industry.

Lunch was held at Pammy Hutton’s, a generous hostess without whom the event couldn't have taken place. Talland is a venue unlike any other; it has the facilities to host such a unique competition.  

Afternoon interviews were one on one sessions with Dan and Becky discussing riders and horses working and performing. This was really interesting and educational.

I am excited about the doors that winning silver at the Young Professionals Award  2014 has opened for me and look forward to keeping you all posted on the adventures to come!

Winter Regionals 2014

We had a very successful Winter Regionals and have secured five qualifications for the British Dressage Nationals!

Cleopatra II secured our first two qualifications at Addington Manor Regionals after coming second in the Elementary Open. Later that day she scored a whopping 80% in the Elementary Open freestyle, winning by a huge margin and gaining her second place at the nationals. Her freestyle test felt amazing, her best test to date! She has dramatic film music with plenty of phrasing, which makes it really interesting to ride to.

http://www.britishdressage.co.uk/news/show/1947-winter-regionals-central-daisy-coakley-storms-the-freestyle

Patchetts Equestrian Center was host to the next Regionals. I had  four horses competing.
Show-Off (aka Mabel) was first to compete. She was brilliantly behaved unfortunately her jockey didn't have her head screwed on the right way and completely forgot to perform a left canter circle, this cost us a qualifying place, Poor Mabel!

Cleopatra II won and qualified scoring 72% in the Medium restricted Freestyle test.
Bing performed his best Medium 75 test to date and won on 68% securing his qualification. His test was flowing after a blip on entry. He scored 8's for lots of his canter work and extended walk.
Urbanus IV (Louis- the eventer) came 2nd and qualified in the same class. He kept his cool and didn't add any of his own freestyle movements!

Now looking forward to the Nationals in April (9-10th)!

Pinch Punch its February....

The first of February brought with it Keysoe High Profile Show, a competition aimed at riders under the age of twenty five. Keysoe is situated in Bedfordshire, about an hours drive from home for me! 

Bing competed in two tests over two days. On Saturday he competed in Medium 73 and scored a fabulous 72.8%. Bings  medium trots and canters were highlights, scoring 7s and 8s, one of the judges final comments was 'wow'. He also scored 8s for 10m circles and canter half pass right. We still need to really improve the walk relaxation and pirouettes.  I was happy with his general way of going especially considering there were gale force winds!!

I am now Sponsored by Blue Chip Feed ( www.bluechipfeed.com ) so Bing was sporting his new rug and numnah in the warm up and we are now looking forward to seeing the results of his new nutrition plan. Will keep you posted!

Bing had some more new items to add to his competition wardrobe from my other sponsors Equllibrium Products ( www.equilibriumproducts.com ) , he was sporting some new Stretch and Flex bandages which are extremely easy to put on, stay in place, are really supportive and look extra smart.

Day two at Keysoe was also a good one, medium 75 had a few blips but Bing scored 68.9% and came 2nd overall!

Thank you to my sponsors and Bing's owner Melise for a great weekend! 


Now looking forward to the Regionals and my 21st Birthday! 

Excel and High Profile!

Excel High Performance was, once again, a very interesting few days. I caught up with the strength and conditioning coaches and they gave me new exercises to try and noticed an improvement in the mobility of my back.

I also had a Sports Psychology, Media and nutrition session, all of which were very informative and helpful.

The horses also saw a nutritionist and a vet, both of which went very well and we are pleased to confirm that the horses are nice and healthy. 

Daya had a great lesson with Gareth Hughes on Monday, we worked on her general way of going and walk pirouettes. Bing had a good lesson the following day, working on half pass and movements such as half pass to medium trot.

I attended my first High Profile Show at Adington with Bing and Daya.

Judy drove Daya up on Friday to compete in Medium 75. There was a big class and Daya managed to hold her own coming 10th over all with two blips in the 'not so simple' simple changes. She won the Restricted section on 66%. I then watched some dressage and shortly after Judy left, Melise arrived with Bing. 

Bing was rather tense on the Saturday but then was his usual bubbly self on Sunday. He managed to scatter horses in the warm up by prancing round with his tail above his head. He won the Medium restricted section on 67.7% and came 4th overall. He also won the Medium Freestyle! He was very well behaved in the International Indoor school and I managed to completely improvise all the canter work! 

Now looking forward to a few weeks of training and show jumping! 

2014!!!

Happy New Year!!

First blog post of 2014! Wowwweee!

The horses are all well into their new year training.  
Daya has been doing flying changes all of December, and her new years resolution is to learn to control her excitment and not do one at every opportune moment...even trot.
 Bing has also been working on his changes, half pass and walk pirouettes.  
Both Bing and Daya have a busy month attending Excel Talent training on the 13th and 14th of January followed by competing at Addington High Profile Show. 
 Louis is back in work and loving life! He is schooling, hacking and has had a little jump. We are aiming to go out for British Showjumping at the end of January.
Young Mabel has been working hard and has got physically stronger over the winter months. She is looking forward to her first Regionals in February! Still lots of work to do before then!

Have a few results to report for January so far...

Mabel went to Bury Farm and gained a first and second with 71 and 73% in two Novice tests. Bing competed later that day and was also placed 1st and 2nd in his Medium classes.

Daya went out two days later and scored 67 and 70% in her Medium tests, winning both. Then Mabel went out two days after that and scored a whopping 73 and 75% at Patchetts! A busy week ful of some great work from all the horses. And meanwhile back at home Louis started his jump training.....He was flying!!