"I had three horses last week at the Winter dressage championships, with very varying levels of success. The first horse was Bracks (Headmore Boadicia). I had no hopes for her as I hadn’t even expected her to qualify from the regionals - I just took her to gain some experience at a big show.

She surpassed my expectations however, coping very well in the spooky arena with a very electric atmosphere, to finish fourht in the Novice open, despite still being quite green and wobbly. All the others that beat her were older and more experienced. However, our chances in the music evaporated when, due to her being in season, she napped to the warm up, which was a real shame as she was going much better in the second test.

We also had Delboy (Headmore Delegate). Uncharacteristically for him, our elementary tests were very tense and riddled with mistakes, notably lots of piaffe. I think he remembered his prize givings from last year! He still managed ninth in the elementary music, but marks ranging from 3 to 8 put paid to our chances of winning. But everyone kept reminding me he’d make a super grand prix horse! Due to him obviously being abnormally worried, we sought the advice of Sheila Noble from Nupafeed who sponsor a class up there. She was very helpful and offered us plenty of advice. After taking her advice and giving Delboy the recommended dose of Nupafeed, he was much better, but I kept it under powered, riding with a view to the future, feeling that it was more important for his future career that he gained confidence in an electric atmosphere that we don’t very often get in this country. However, he was fourth in the medium music, despite a few mistakes, just out of the placings in a very strong medium open class.

The last horse we took was Wizard (Wurlizer). He was rather over excited to be out competing, having had an easy winter season, and found it all a bit too much, especially in the very electric atmosphere of the evening performance. On the up, however, everyone I spoke to said he looked phenomenal, when he wasn’t being over exuberant. I think he just needs to do more competing, but at least he enjoys himself!

So, although we didn’t come home covered in rosettes, it was a very good experience for all the horses and I think, in the long run, would have done us all the world of good!"