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
No comments:
Post a Comment