"Ross and I got back from Australia on the 19 January and neither of us has stopped since! We had a fabulous time meeting up with his family and some of my friends that have moved back to their native country.

One of the friends was Helen Owen, who I met while working for Carl [Hester]. She owned Dolendo while she was living in the UK but sold him when she moved back. We had a fabulous time gossiping about the UK dressage scene since I last saw her three years ago! 

When I got back I went and picked Hugo up. He had had a good time getting back into work and had played over some poles and small jumps to use up some excess energy. I had booked to go and see Carl a few weeks later, so it gave me enough time to put some dressage work back into him before travelling down.

I had hoped to travel down on a Sunday morning but just before I left I found a message on my phone from Carl that the weather was awful down there and I should maybe wait till the next morning... but it was a beautiful day at home!? So I changed plans and decided to leave at 6am on the Monday morning...I woke up to dreadful winds and rain but no message from Carl to say 'don't come' so I left gripping the steering wheel hard.

It turned out Carl had woken up to even worse weather that morning but didn't have the heart to tell me not to travel down a second time! Anyway, all was fine and nine hours later I arrived safe and sound...but a little windswept.

Freddie reunited

I saw Freddie for the first time since November and had a few small sits...Carl is still doing the majority of the work but it was wonderful to feel how he has developed and progressed in his training. He is coming home for three weeks next week to have a little time out from training, with homework of re-establishing what he hasn't been doing with Carl. He will then go back down to finalise the changes and then he and I will be put together for the advanced work.  

Hugo huffs

Hugo had a melt down at Carl's. He had spent two months without seeing the big wide world and working with other horses and decided that he was not going to be able to cope with anything. His reaction was a bit worrying with the thought of Winter regionals at the end of February, but Carl did his best to help and give me some hope of thinking that I may make it. 

Come on Colin

The new exciting news is that I have a new horse! He name is Colin (Corchapin) and he is a four-year-old 16.1hh chestnut gelding by Negro. I first saw Colin in October and thought he was lovely. When I asked Carl about him he said he was his and not for sale. Four months later and a six-year-old luckily caught Carl's eye and he needed to sell Colin and another one to buy it...so I jumped at the chance. By the time I went to try him he had already been vetted so I did hope that I was actually going to like riding him. As soon as I cantered him, he booked his place on the lorry!

Arriving at mine was a shock to Colin's system. He had always been used to getting ridden inside and with company, now he had to go outside on his own! For the first few days I simply lunged him to get him used to his new surroundings, he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights! As the days have gone on he now just looks like he is saying 'good heavens'...he is progressing well getting ridden three or four times a week and now with me getting straight on without lunging beforehand. 

"He hated it!"

In preparation for the Regionals with Hugo we took him to SNEC and Kingsbarn just to ride in the working in when there were competitions going on. Both times there was a huge improvement on how he was at Carl's and was very well behaved. On the Friday of the competition at Rowallan, they do a clear round type of test, where you can go into the arena and work for the time equivalent of a test with no judge present. We thought this would be an ideal chance for Hugo to see the arena... he hated it! After a lot of answering back from him and help from the ground he worked very well and went everywhere he was told when he was told to.

Reverse gear

The next day was the Novice Freestyle. As usual he worked in very well then went through to do the test and he started his antics again. We went down the centre line, halted and then proceeded to go backwards for about half a minute. I turned into a Pony Club rider and flipped my reins from side to side in an attempt to get him going and eventually he gave in and went. Unfortunately there was no hope of catching up with my music so I had to make do and ride the compulsory movements when the trot, walk and canter music were playing. The frustrating thing is he still managed to get 68%, gaining 7s and 8s for the compulsory movements and dropping to 4s and 5s for the musical marks.

I did have second thoughts on returning the next day for the Novice Open but I decided to have a go. We were first in and I decided that it would be best to go HC and go into the arena 10 minutes before the test and get him to accept the situation. After a shorter tantrum he gave in and sulked his way through the test...typical teenager! I rode a forwards test, thinking very little about clear transitions and the details of the test...his reinback and halts weren't the best but we completed and I was very pleased with what we had achieved. Despite everything the judges really liked him and two gave him 73%...so I know there is something worth persevering for!

Spring along

Next in the diary: Pick Freddie up, take Hugo out for some Novice Summer qualifiers, ride Colin at some different venues and shows then at the end of May it is the Young Horse qualifiers...time is definitely flying along!"