We're finally back out and about!

With the horses now all settled in their new surroundings and the fits of excitable gymnastics subsiding, it was time to start getting back out and see what the winter season could have in store for us.

Off to Cherwell competition centre and an entry into the novice qualifier to test the water. Mia was unusually calm in the warm up and I was really looking forward to getting into the ring. It was all going perfectly until the last few movements, a slight loss of concentration on my part resulted in a flying change and a significant lack of counter canter resulting in two 4’s. Still we managed a score of 69.2% and one step closer to qualifying for the Novice silver regionals, or so I thought. Turns out that Mia’s British Dressage membership had expired during lockdown and the results would not be counted, gutted….

I have been trying to keep up with my usual training schedule, however the distance to our new base is making it a little tricky. We are starting to really look at getting Mia to transfer her weight further rearwards and collect a little more. She finds it quite hard work so it's slow progress with a few steps at a time and release/reward but we are getting there.

This week has been quite busy already with a trip to Central Dressage for a session with Andrew Gould on Saturday and then another session at home with Rebecca Cowderoy on Monday. Still one more training session on Thursday all in preparation for our next trip out to try our hand at the 6YO young horse qualifiers. Having learnt my lesson from last year’s 5YO attempt, I am hoping we have a better understanding of what is required and are a little better prepared.