"Last week was the week of the Hickstead young horse championships and CDI, and we had saved Bracks (Headmore Boadicia) for the International six year old semi-final, which was held on Wednesday 28th.

We were third to go in what was quite a large class and, as I was trotting around the outside of the arena waiting to start my test, I could hear what I thought was an aeroplane but I couldn’t see it in the sky. It transpired that it was actually a helicopter that was landing next to the arena, and it then took off again during my test. The noise was so loud that I couldn’t hear the bell and the judge had to tell me she had rung it!

Bracks was amazing and didn’t even look at it, we just had a small mistake in one of the changes but all in all it was a fairly solid test. She got a score of 79.2% and finished third, qualifying us for the final that was held on Sunday.

So, on Sunday, we went back to Hickstead for the final which was held in main arena. The stands were packed and there was quite a big atmosphere, it was a very big ask for the young horses. There were no mistakes in the test, the half passes were good and the changes were lovely, but she just got a little bit tense in the atmosphere which kept our score down at 70.06% and we finished sixth, but we had some lovely remarks from the judges who commented on her lovely changes and her willingness to work, as well as saying that she had been well trained so I gave myself a pat on the back! Although we were disappointed with the mark on Sunday, we were thrilled to have qualified for the final and very pleased with her."