“I had a week of firsts last week! We took Bjorn (Headmore Bjorndajoke) and Wizard (Wurlizer) to Sparsholt on 27 February for the unaffiliated show.

Elementary, dear Bjorn

Bjorn did his first ever proper dressage test, an elementary. It was elementary 42 which, as I pointed out to my Mum after she had entered it, was in a small arena which, ordinarily, would not be an issue but, as Bjorn is so big, it made it quite tricky! I nearly killed her when I found out I had to do that test but, as Mum pointed out to me, at least it would get him in an arena... and hopefully he would stay in it too! We arrived at Sparsholt in the wind and the rain, but Bjorn was a very good boy in the warm up despite the weather; he settled very quickly and behaved beautifully. He was also super in the test, we managed to stay in the arena for the entire test which was an achievement in itself, especially as it was a small arena in the middle of a larger arena so Bjorn thought that he had a lot more room than he did, he seemed rather confused when I kept asking him to turn in the corners! He was a bit green and wobbly in places, which is understandable, and there was the odd little mistake but he still scored nearly 67% and finished third, just one mark behind the two equal winners.

Wiz’s first Grand Prix

Wiz and I then had our first Grand Prix, which was a massive step for me. I was absolutely petrified! My aim was just to get round! Wiz warmed up really well and was really pleased to be out at a party showing off his tricks! The test went fairly well, we had a few little mistakes but I was expecting that, but I got everything done in just about the right place! The judge stopped me afterwards and gave me some really encouraging advice and our piaffes got better as the test went on. His passage was super and I managed to get the canter zig zag and all of the changes, but our canter pirouettes were still a bit large. However, for our first attempt at Grand Prix I was over the moon and we scored 63.62% and finished third in the massive pick your own class so, all in all, it was a very worthwhile trip out!

Radio star

Then, on Monday morning, I was on the radio again but this time rather than being on the phone I actually had to go into the studio as the interview was going to be about 10 minutes. I was absolutely terrified and really didn’t want to it but BBC Surrey’s radio presenter, Nick Wallis, made it enjoyable! Once I got into the studio and got talking it flowed easily and I really enjoyed the interview. They want to ‘adopt’ me and keep tabs on my progress, so I may be doing it more in the future!”