The NOT so Glamorous side of dressage...

   Rain, rain, and more rain... but it didn't dampen our mood competing at Bury Farm in search of those last points for British Dressage Regional qualification.

   We are happy to say the points were plenty with Jo Brett's wonderful Cooter scoring 68% in novice 22 and 71% in novice 38! Cooter scored very well in his transitions and canter work.




















  Angela Coakley's Hero proved his stamina and bravery out in the pouring rain contesting medium 61. Luckily his Irish roots meant he wasn't adverse to a bit (or a lot!) of rain and he did a super test.
A few accuracy marks lost but we will blame that on the rain.... could have done with a riding hat with goggles and wind screen wipers!
Check out our video from the day to get an idea of the weather...The Not so glam side of dressage

A Day of Firsts....

Myself, stand in groom Kate,  and Affinity Bay embarked on a road trip to compete in the Small Tour League competition held in Solihull, Birmingham.

It was a day full of firsts...
It was the first time Kate had groomed for me, my first time driving Finn, first time competing in the Small Tour League and we finished in First place! It was a really great day!

The journey went to plan- Finn didn't have any complaints about my driving and we had a civilised time with plenty of coffee (thanks Kate!). We arrived at Solihull with time for Finn to settle in and enjoy a relaxing massage in his Equilibrium massage pad.

In the Small Tour League you can compete at PSG or Inter I level. Affinity Bay was entered in the Inter I- you do a straight dressage test in round one then onto the Kur afterwards. This was the first time I had done two tests in one day since Finn was competing at Advanced Medium level!

Finn was lying in second place after the first round. He scored a respectable 67% but had a mistake in one canter pirouette and anticipation led to another mistake in the three time changes. The rest of the test was fluent and harmonious with some good marks, especially in the trot work.


Finn produced a stunning freestyle test- he was a dream to ride and I couldn't believe how "on" the music we were. Having only ridden the test once (which was when I did the choreography!) I was chuffed at how well it went! It was also Finn's first time running through the test as when I practiced it I had ear phones in as he can get rather excited when there is music playing!!

He scored 71% and went into the lead not only in the Kur but that also meant he was placed first in the overall competition!

We are over the moon to have qualified for the final in December!

Thanks go to Kate for being a top groom, Judy FW for the fab music, my trainers Ian Woodhead and Judy Harvey, Sponsors Equilibrium Products, Lisa Sparrow Hawk Performance Coach, Eqco Design, Calm Leisure and Blue Chip Feeds.

Check out our video from the day a Day of Firsts

It was a real shock...

 Affinity Bay has qualified for the  Nationals in April next year in the Petplan Inter I championships!

Finn won the Inter I finals at Houghton Hall after completing only his third ever Inter I test. The test showed a lot of power and promise.  We were thrilled to take top position. In the recent months Finn's performance has increased thanks to his new Blue Chip Calm feed balancer. We increase the portion in lead up to the event and I have found a real difference in his general attitude at away shows, he is more relaxed and easier to handle. Thanks Blue Chip- Its definitely  making a difference!

We had two horses competing at Vale View High Profile Show. I had been there once before for BEF Excel Talent Programme training but I had never competed there.

The show was efficient and very well run ...  One thing Vale View couldn't control was the howling wind... which was a real wake up call when doing early arena walks!! 

The horses were a little unsettled at the start of their night away thanks to high winds and noisy generators...a Munch Block from Equilibrium Products Quickly settled them down and gave then something to do.

(Watch our latest Advert promoting Vitamunch and the benefits of using them when clipping) 

The Tastiest Secret

Day one Merri warmed up beautifully but unfortunately got very tense in the arena... so day two we made sure we did the arena walk and she felt a lot happier about the spooky arena.

Her test was fluent, harmonious and expressive. The half passes in trot were real highlights for me and we scored 67% to finished 7th.

Finn also produced a blip free test and finished 6th- clever horses!

With Autumn in full swing and Winter drawing in we have the perfect opportunity to increase training as the competition season gets quieter.

This month I have been lucky enough to train with Stephen Clarke, Judy Harvey, Ian Woodhead and started to train in hand work with Diane Thurman Baker.

It hasn't all been training though...

At the end of October I was invited to the British Show Jumping Awards Ball with Blue Chip Feed- We had a great evening and got to brush shoulders with the BS stars and Olympians... I even got a #SKELFIE (a selfie with Nick Skelton). 

Some things just have to be done....