Hickstead Unaffiliated Dressage Championships 3rd Sept 2011
followed by
Lee Pearson Clinic
followed by
Lee Pearson Clinic
This month has gone even quicker than the last! It started with the Hickstead championships at the beginning of the month where Pip and I came 5th and won some lovely prizes including a rug! The following week we participated in a clinic run by the British Dressage South East Region - organised by Sharon Walker the BD regional rep and Joyce Wood - the regional para rep at Cobham Manor with Lee Pearson, MBE, OBE & CBE - no less!! Our session was brilliant - Lee really pushed us to the next level - he wanted to see what Pip was capable of - having heard that he had competed at PSG in Germany previously. As in the past - Pip did not disappoint and the round of applause after our one time changes across the diagonal said it all! Everyone agreed that they had worked hard but had come through it with their horses working 'up a gear' Our sincere thanks to British Dressage South East Region for kindly subsidising the sessions and allowing us all a brief glimpse into the 'brilliance' of Lee Pearson and his significant knowledge gained while amassing a total of 24 gold medals since starting paralympic dressage!
Since then our time has been spent training training training - all with the competition in Breda early October in mind! We have fine tuned the floorplan for the freestyle to music - a few flaws showed up when the previous floor plan was ridden at Hartpury but I think we now have a very strong and symmetrical test - which the judges usually prefer - and is easier to remember!! Pip is now clipped out - thanks to my friend and clipping maestro (only one of her many attributes!) Debby Winchester - he looks fab - and with the wonderful weather right now was badly needed.
As we head towards October basking in sunshine and temperatures approaching the 80's and above (warmer than the Virgin Islands at the moment but without the hurricanes!) - we are all thankful for a gentle entrance to the winter months when it all becomes - really - hard work!
But all my thoughts are now for the first week in October and the international competition in HOLLAND... am looking forward to it believing that Pip and I can make our mark on the international stage - I only hope I don't have to eat my words... watch this space !
Since then our time has been spent training training training - all with the competition in Breda early October in mind! We have fine tuned the floorplan for the freestyle to music - a few flaws showed up when the previous floor plan was ridden at Hartpury but I think we now have a very strong and symmetrical test - which the judges usually prefer - and is easier to remember!! Pip is now clipped out - thanks to my friend and clipping maestro (only one of her many attributes!) Debby Winchester - he looks fab - and with the wonderful weather right now was badly needed.
As we head towards October basking in sunshine and temperatures approaching the 80's and above (warmer than the Virgin Islands at the moment but without the hurricanes!) - we are all thankful for a gentle entrance to the winter months when it all becomes - really - hard work!
But all my thoughts are now for the first week in October and the international competition in HOLLAND... am looking forward to it believing that Pip and I can make our mark on the international stage - I only hope I don't have to eat my words... watch this space !
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