Louise here, it seems to have been a while since my last blog, ooppss. All the ponies are well. Connie and Boo had another flat work lesson with Anne Millar after Warwick Hall. They are both coming on very nicely with dressage scores improving. On Saturday as well as trying to watch Badminton Cross Country I had 5 to ride, 4 to get cleaned and plaited for a competition on Sunday and a lesson to teach. I did get to see quite a bit of Badminton but it also got taped so I was able to watch it back again.
On the Sunday we took 4 to the Duke of Buccleuch Hunt Show. Coco and Connie did a dressage test each, being placed 3rd and 4 in their class. Boo did dressage and the Novice Working Hunter, both of which she won the little super star!! Mum did a dressage test on Ju and was 3rd behind Boo and Ju was 6th in the Novice Work Hunter with me having jumped a nice clear.
The last week seems to have been quite busy. Snowy had his 2nd week with me to get him going for his owner, he was showing some lovely work and really coming on nicely. Connie had a flat lesson on Tuesday, unfortunately I didn’t have time to take 2 as I then had Coco at another Riding Club Dressage Demo, Les saw a good difference in her in the 2 weeks since he had last seen her which was nice to hear.
On Thursday Mum and I went to steward the CIC dressage at Floors which is one of my local events, just 5miles down the road! It was a lovely morning and I was able to watch some great dressage and have a brief catch up with some of the riders and grooms! Then it was home to ride 3 before teaching.
Saturday was a relaxed day with just Boo in the BE90, she has started to get excited at events so our dressage wasn’t as good as it could be, but we will now work on ways to relax to her and get her concentrating. She started the show jumping well but then went a bit green - slid into the 4th fence and somehow managed to pick up and only took the top pole with her and she carried on round the rest of the course clear. She was amazing xc, feeling brave and bold, unfortunately the jockey had sat nav errors and missed out the Rail, Ditch, Rail. But she is home safe and she thinks she was clear. A mistake I haven’t done for a long time and hopefully won’t do again. I also took Coco with me so I could ride her in the dressage warm up as she likes a trip away in the lorry before she competes. We were home by lunch time and Connie had a hack and Coco a jump before getting them ready to compete on the Sunday.
Connie and Coco were both in the BE100, they both pulled out the stops and were superstars. Connie did a very nice test with some very helpful feedback and jumped a lovely double clear to finish 4th on her dressage score in her 2nd BE100, just 2.7 behind the leader with some top names in front of her, Caroline Taylor, Jessica McKie and Nicola Wilson. What a pony she is proving to be!! Coco did a nice test just breaking in her canter and again produced a nice double clear to finished 10th, this time only 3.7 marks behind the leader.
They all spent last night in the field to walk off any stiffness. Today they are all well and we took Ju cross country schooling, this was the 1st time we had jumped a xc fence with her. She was amazing, jumped a mixture of BE90 and BE100 fences, popped through the combinations nicely, into the water without looking and the rail, ditch rail! Can’t wait to do a bit more with her.
On the Sunday we took 4 to the Duke of Buccleuch Hunt Show. Coco and Connie did a dressage test each, being placed 3rd and 4 in their class. Boo did dressage and the Novice Working Hunter, both of which she won the little super star!! Mum did a dressage test on Ju and was 3rd behind Boo and Ju was 6th in the Novice Work Hunter with me having jumped a nice clear.
The last week seems to have been quite busy. Snowy had his 2nd week with me to get him going for his owner, he was showing some lovely work and really coming on nicely. Connie had a flat lesson on Tuesday, unfortunately I didn’t have time to take 2 as I then had Coco at another Riding Club Dressage Demo, Les saw a good difference in her in the 2 weeks since he had last seen her which was nice to hear.
On Thursday Mum and I went to steward the CIC dressage at Floors which is one of my local events, just 5miles down the road! It was a lovely morning and I was able to watch some great dressage and have a brief catch up with some of the riders and grooms! Then it was home to ride 3 before teaching.
Saturday was a relaxed day with just Boo in the BE90, she has started to get excited at events so our dressage wasn’t as good as it could be, but we will now work on ways to relax to her and get her concentrating. She started the show jumping well but then went a bit green - slid into the 4th fence and somehow managed to pick up and only took the top pole with her and she carried on round the rest of the course clear. She was amazing xc, feeling brave and bold, unfortunately the jockey had sat nav errors and missed out the Rail, Ditch, Rail. But she is home safe and she thinks she was clear. A mistake I haven’t done for a long time and hopefully won’t do again. I also took Coco with me so I could ride her in the dressage warm up as she likes a trip away in the lorry before she competes. We were home by lunch time and Connie had a hack and Coco a jump before getting them ready to compete on the Sunday.
Connie and Coco were both in the BE100, they both pulled out the stops and were superstars. Connie did a very nice test with some very helpful feedback and jumped a lovely double clear to finish 4th on her dressage score in her 2nd BE100, just 2.7 behind the leader with some top names in front of her, Caroline Taylor, Jessica McKie and Nicola Wilson. What a pony she is proving to be!! Coco did a nice test just breaking in her canter and again produced a nice double clear to finished 10th, this time only 3.7 marks behind the leader.
They all spent last night in the field to walk off any stiffness. Today they are all well and we took Ju cross country schooling, this was the 1st time we had jumped a xc fence with her. She was amazing, jumped a mixture of BE90 and BE100 fences, popped through the combinations nicely, into the water without looking and the rail, ditch rail! Can’t wait to do a bit more with her.