Competition Time!

So, we have had the first wave of competition go by already, we took 6 horses down to Addington for the premier show and all went really well, very pleased with them and it was a good indication to see where they're at after this Winter's training.



Worldwide was 1st and 2nd in his Medium tests-I was especially pleased because his tests were outside and it was rather fresh and cold! In the week leading up to Addington I had made myself venture outside with him so he got used to the chilly weather beforehand and needless to say I had some rather eventful rides! He coped with the pressure of the test so much better with having had his training become so much more established at Medium level over the winter, last year while he was still being trained towards Medium level he would easily get tense and nervous in the ring.


Woodlander Rockstar and Woodlander Dornroeschen competed at PSG/INT I. Rockstar felt so much more established at PSG, it was my first INT 1 on him- very pleased with all his lateral work, just need to work on getting him to contain his power a bit more still, he is always so keen to take impulsion forwards! Dornroeschen was looking great, she just had a few costly mistakes in the canter work.

We had Marakov, Two Sox and Monet in the Grand Prix-it was a very big class! Marakov was a little spooky but with it being the first show of the season it was understandable. Very pleased with Two Sox, a very clean and accurate test and feeling well for 17- he got one of his best scores to date, over 71%! He was so fresh the day before, squealing and bucking like a just backed 3 year old but he seemed to know when it was time to compete and settled well. Monet was very calm which is what we were aiming for with him has he has been inclined to get rather over excited in the past, not being able to show any halt immobility or walk which is very expensive even if he does the rest of the work really well. He did halt and did walk with only a small mistake at the end of the extended canter.


On Saturday we took Woodlander Santana, a 3 year old stallion owned by Alison and John Walton, Woodlander Wavavoom and Woodlander Rockstar to the Stallion Show at Hartpury where they had to show themselves in hand and give a short music display under saddle-a very eventful evening! Having the 3 Stallions on the lorry and having to unload them and show them in hand first thing when they had only just arrived was a little bit hairy to say the least, there wasn't too much room on the car park to keep them away from each other and definitely a lot of male testosterone in the air! Mike rode Santana who coped very well with still being relatively new to being ridden under saddle and Wavavoom felt great, slightly out of control at times but his range of movement felt amazing. Rockstar was the ultimate professional, at the end of his display he had Woodlander Rhythm and Blues (his son) come in which made him grow another couple of hands, proud Dad!

The next thing on the calendar will be the Winter Regionals with Worldwide and then we are hoping to go to the 2 week show that is being held in Vidauban, France mid-end March. It is quite similar to the Sunshine Tour in Spain re the range of classes that they have available (Young Horse to Grand Prix) but hopefully will not be quite so far to travel...
 
Maria x

Maria turns 27!

So, I am now 27 years old, I had my birthday last week! For Christmas I decided to buy theatre tickets for my family as their Christmas present to ensure we did something.


We went to watch the Lion King which was lovely, the costumes were amazing and the way the stage kept changing was unreal. It was a lovely day so we had a little look around London afterwards, taking in the atmosphere. My parents had gone down the night before for the Breeders dinner where Lynne (who had bred a lot of our horses) was awarded the prize for Farouche, we travelled up on the day so we could sort the horses out first thing.

I have entered Addington at the end of the month, we have 6 horses going so will be busy and following on we have a Stallion Show at Hartpury. The horses have been going well, I reclipped Ed (Two Sox) yesterday as he was fast becoming a wooly bear again and had the double on him today, he gave me rather an enquiring look as I got on him as if to say, "I take it that's the end of the holiday then!" A bit of test practice is due before we compete I think, we will probably run through the tests in the next few days just to get our bearings, it's amazing how quickly you get out of practice!

Maria x