I think it’s fair to say that the last few months have been fairly chaotic!
At the end of April we took Loki to his first international after having him just a few weeks, so that firstly he could have this experience without the pressure of bringing in the higher marks, and also so that I could find out exactly how he reacts and copes, which will tell me a lot for any future shows. He’d never really done overnight shows and certainly not one that lasted a week long, so it was going to be a huge learning experience for him.
Loki and me!
We decided to keep him at Sophie’s as knowing him so well she could help me to get to know him quicker and would also be able to tell if he was feeling any different to normal and what to do. He travelled brilliantly but wow was he excited to be out and about! Once we arrived in Belgium he spent the first couple of days bouncing around his stable trying to talk to anyone that went near him, we even introduced him to apple bobbing to try and keep him entertained but he just got frustrated that he couldn’t get to the apple and we ended up soaked. He was a complete superstar to ride and we had two great training days before competition had started, although I think he wore himself out a little bit as straight after the trot up he lay down in his stable and fell fast asleep. It was a good show with strong classes, but he took everything in his stride and pulled in three strong performances, we even got to do our first freestyle together, which, after seeing the start list, I definitely hadn’t expected us to qualify in the top six.
With Loki in Lincoln working with Sophie and Pimms still at home training with Stephen I think it’s fair to say I’ve spent a few hours in the car and despite some logistics and packing challenges, I’m so lucky to have had two great teams supporting me and enabling me to do this.
Packing for two horses!
So on to Wellington, the first of our final selections and our National competition where I had both Pimms and Loki qualified, so a new experience for me, packing for two horses instead of just one! I’d been testing Pimms a bit more in the arena as I knew there were more marks in her if we could take more of the work we get in the warm up into the arena - and wow did she do that at Wellington! I always feel like she’s a bit better competing outside and she was really firing on all cylinders, even after a slight delay before our first test when we entered to discover the letters weren’t quite in the right places so we had to wait until they were moved. A good first day with both horses gave Pimms the win on over 72% and Loki in 2nd on 70%, a result I was more than pleased with, particularly as Loki had a five-year-old class going on next door. That night was the eve of my 30th birthday so as a special treat we had pizza and prosecco by the lorry and some questionable karaoke – apologies to anyone staying for the premier league - it was us. An early night for us though as the individual was the following day and once again Pimms was on first. We’ve changed the warm up routine slightly and it really felt like it was paying off as once again she felt amazing and completely on the ball. The test went well and if anything, she was a little too hot at times, which lost us a couple of marks but is easier to correct and was exactly where I wanted her. I was delighted to see a score of 73.75% and went back to the lorry for a quick change before getting back on Loki. He felt even more secure in his work and went in and did a very consistent and mistake free test which I was delighted with for where he is at this point. I went back to the lorry and saw online that Pimms was still in the lead with just my score on Loki left to come and the next rider on 70%. I was not expecting to then see 74.9% and 1st pop up next to his name, I had scored a 1-2 but Loki had beaten his older sister into 2nd! I couldn’t believe it - I was so thrilled with both of them and what a way to celebrate my 30th birthday!
Loki and super groom Lewis!
After another busy few weeks of work and training came Hartpury International, our final selections for the Europeans and both horses were attending. Both felt great and had been going well and I was keen to try and reproduce the performances and scores that we’d achieved at Wellington. Loki is changing all the time and after a slight hiccup in the Team Test he put in a solid performance in the Individual to finish just behind the silver medallist from WEG – not bad for a six-year-old! Only one horse could qualify for the music so he missed out on doing this, so I decided to use the time to have a training session on him, he felt super so we let him think he was competing too! Pimms had a brilliant week, she got better each day and notched up three wins with over 74% in the freestyle and it was great to start seeing some of the work that I know she’s capable of.
After the intensity of the competition we spent Friday afternoon enjoying the Grand Prix in the sun where several of the Dressage team riders were competing, culminating in a spectacular ride from Charlotte Dujardin – I hope one day I’ll see an 80% on the scoreboard for one of my tests!
The following day I was up early to head to an event that I was running for work. With over 1,200 people scheduled to attend, the organisation had kept me pretty busy over the past few months and it was a huge relief that it turned out to be such a success, but I was pretty glad to see my bed that night!
Until next time…