Competitions and Training...

Merri competed at Bury farm in the Inter I test. It was our second ever Inter I together and I was over the moon with Merri's performance. She produced a harmonious test with highlights in her trot half pass and temp changes. There were still some parts to work on but it was probably our best test to date. Merri won the class on 68%.
Merri's 68% Inter I test- 1st

The same day I had a new ride Camiro II owned by Sharon Higgs entered in the Prelim and Novice classes. Aero won the Prelim on 74% and then came 3rd in his fist ever Novice on 67%. He gave me a great ride and there is so much more to come.

Todd recently had a lesson with Ian Woodhead. We were working on simple changes as developing the half halt further. Todd worked really well.

I have also been training with Judy Harvey with Merri and Tilly. Merri was working on half steps and consolidating some canter pirouette work.

Judy Harvey- Merri

Tilly (Galanci RS) a new 5yo owned by Judy Firmston- Williams had a shorter lesson as we are still building her fitness. She was really well behaved and very relaxed.

Judy Harvey- Tilly

Affinity Bay was very lucky to have a lesson with Stephen Clarke. He worked brilliantly and Stephen encouraged our progress towards the Inter I tests. 

Stephen Clarke- Finn

Spring is in the air...

Spring is round the corner now.... I have seen the first lambs of the season which is always a symbol of hope for the warmer months!

We have been busy with competitions this month on some lovely horses.....
Finn was on this afternoon in the PSG.... although I did accidentally get on an hour early... bit keen!
Overall I was pleased with his test- we had an accidental set of 1x changes on entry and a few other blips but overall I was pleased with his relaxation for the rest of the test and he finished 3rd.
Thank you Bury Farm and everyone who supported a busy day!
Finn followed on day two with a calm test. Although he didn't get the memo that there were a line of four time changes across the diagonal... not two time changes as he so beautifully demonstrated!! I was really pleased with his progress in the canter pirouettes and most of the more difficult work. He finished 3rd in the Silver PSG and 5th Overall.
I am very grateful to Blue Chip feed for helping me tailor Finn's diet to his sensative character. We have just started him on the Blue Chip Calm Balancer... watch this space!

At the start of March Todd (owned by Jonathan Chapman), Cooter (owned by Jo Brett) and Affinity Bay had an outing to Bury Farm.
Cooter was brilliant and won Prelim 15 on 71% and a relaxed Todd was second on 68%. Then in Prelim 17 Todd won on 69% and Cooter was placed 2nd on 68%. Both boys showed improved confidence and marks- there were some 8's & 7.5's.

Later the same week Merri and Finn were out competing at Keysoe Under 25 High Profile Show. Merri did a very good PSG test on the first day to finish 4th in the Silver section. There were two big hiccups in the test but the rest of the marks were consistent 7's and 8's. 

Just Before Keysoe Finn was treated to a physio session from Diane Daynes- He felt amazing all weekend and I am still enjoying the rewards weeks later. 

I have been lucky enough to compete Sue Botha's Dante in his first Medium test. We went to Windmill farm to contest the medium 69. Dante really stepped up to the challenge and scored a green 66% to win the class! He was brilliant in all of the half passes and the canter work was a real highlight.

Breakspeare Riding Club were very lucky to have the brilliant Lisa Sparrowhawk  Performance Coach visit Blackwell's Cafe in Chipperfield. Lisa discussed many topics and created a great discussion about positive mindset in relation to riding and competing. She highlighted how we all perceive situations and images differently with some great techniques and also how mindset affects us physiologically (with some more hands on examples).

Thank you Lisa for inspiring us all!

March has been a very busy month (and we are only half way through!).

I have had had the opportunity to ride some great horses ( see Nugget below) and really enjoyed teaching private lessons and clinics/rallies alike.  

I am now looking forward to training with Judy Harvey, Ian Woodhead and Stephen Clarke in the coming week.

Competitions....

February has been a very busy month full of competitions and training.
Affinity Bay competed at the ever efficient Addington Manor Regionals in the Advanced Medium Open and the Advanced Medium Freestyle.
The first test Finn produced some mega trot work. He was feeling very hot which made his trot extensions, shoulder in and half pass very expressive. Unfortunately in the canter the excitement boiled over and we had some rodeo moments in the changes! Surprisingly   even with three big explosions we still scored 66%.
The Freestyle test was later the same day in the indoor International Area. I was pleased that Finn was more relaxed in this test, although he still thought it was necessary to add some extra tempi changes....
His final score was 69% to finish just outside the top 10.
Our last Regionals was at Merrist Wood where we competed in the PSG Freestyle.
I was thrilled with the trot work and the canter. We had correct three and four time changes and I should have been a bit braver by riding smaller canter pirouettes.
We had one very big blip in the walk to trot transition which as a result meant 4's for our shoulder in left. Unfortunatly there was no more music left to improvise another shoulder in left so that was annoying!
I was disappointed with the score but we did have one major mistake and one of the judges gave Finn a 4 for his changes (whereas the other 2 gave him 7's) which didn't help!
We are now looking forward to training with Stephen Clarke and going out to do our first Inter 1 together.

Todd (owner by Jonathan Chapman) and Cooter (owned by Jo Brett) went out to contest their first ever BD prelim tests. Cooter was a star and won both his classes on 68 & 67% and Todd came second on 65 & 67%.
Todd was a little unsettled in his first test which was caused by warming up with a stallion (he definitely felt a bit threatened!) but the second  test showed some more relaxation.
Overall it was a good day out and both horses were impeccably behaved.

I have been busy training for Pony Club and Riding Club, as well as doing some Private clinics in a beautiful brand new indoor school.

This month I was got a little mention in Horse and Hound Online in an article about dealing with competition nerves and how you prepare on show day....

I'm really looking forward to the busy month ahead with a few new rides and an exciting new baby horse who arrived a few weeks ago! Spring....here we come!