“With the winter qualifying season now well underway and nearing the end, I decided I had really better get my act together and organise myself! As Del (Headmore Delegate) is the only horse that I have fully qualified, we took Dante (Headmore Downtopia) and Bracks (Headmore Boadicia) to Crofton Manor to try and get them underway.

My mum was away with some elderly relatives up in Darlington so this meant that, as I’m STILL not allowed to drive the lorry, Kerri who works for us and is a very good friend of mine had to take me. We left with Dante on Tuesday wrapped up warm against the hideous weather and we arrived in plenty of time. Thankfully, we were warming up inside so we only had to brave the elements for five minutes while we did the test. I had given him some of my trusty Nupafeed as he hadn’t been out since the regionals and he went beautifully both in the warm up and in both tests. He came a little tight in the neck in the first test but it still flowed well enough to score 71.03% and win. The second test was better although he got quite hot in the canter work and thought about putting in a buck in the second medium canter, but at least he was enjoying himself! He still scored 72.14%, also winning this class, but the most exciting thing was that he scored a perfect 10 for his final halt (he also scored a couple of 5’s through being a bit green, but we won’t mention them!) but it was very refreshing to see a judge using the entire range of marks. We got home, and it was still raining, but as Kerri was parking the lorry there was a massive bang like a gunshot and I nearly jumped out of my skin. It transpired that one of the lorry tyres had failed and burst, thankfully when we were at home, but we had to get the tyre changed before we took Bracks out on the Wednesday. Kerri said that she thought that the bang was her leaning on the door and, as it was the front tyre on the driver’s side, I told her that it was obviously because she was too fat as she had burst it!

We then took Bracks back to Crofton on Wednesday to do her first two mediums and her first competition in a double bridle. Both Kerri and I were very excited as all of our Dengie clothing had arrived so we all looked amazing in our new coats and rugs! It was an earlier start then with Dante. But we still managed to leave just about on time. The weather was just as miserable, but we were very warm in our Dengie coats and Bracks in her Dengie rug! She warmed up fairly well, and the test wasn’t bad for her first medium but it felt very green. The half passes were very wobbly and the walk pirouettes were big, but we got round. We scored 66.67% and finished 2^nd, which I was pleased with in her first medium. We then went into the qualifier and she felt much more confident. The half passes were much more secure and it rode easily. We scored 70.88% and won, so we were thrilled with that result!

Following those results, I am now feeling more confident regarding getting my horses qualified as both Bracks and Dante are now half qualified and I have another month to finish it all off.”