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.
