Top of the morning to you and what a great time July has been for me . At the beginning of the month a small group of us headed down to Cheshire for a mini break at Somerford Park. The young master was beside himself with excitement at the prospect of some cross country training and I can’t say I wasn’t looking forward to it either.
The weather was perfect for the old girl and her cronies who were camping and Bumble ,Comet and I heard gales of laughter coming from the campsite throughout our stay.
Two new boys joined our gang , Pip and Alfie , who both come from my Emerald Isle and I was soon informing them on the benefits of Fibre-Beet and the importance of keeping hydrated in the hot weather.
Our cross country session was magical with every type of fence to tackle. The young master was on top form taking me through water. Over skinnies and plenty of combinations . With so much choice of height and variation everyone in our group had a fantastic time.
I soon realised this had been the cake before the sandwiches, because when we arrived home I had to knuckle down to some serious dressage practice ready for the Pony Club area competition . The young master was determined to do well and while we aren’t bad at trundling round with my nose in the right place – accuracy has never been his forte!
This carefree attitude was replaced with precise timing akin to a Mercedes Benz thanks to Phil Brown who has manged to do what so many have tried and failed over the years and instill the importance of an accurate test.
The day of the Area dressage dawned fair and I travelled to Rillington Manor again with Misty both of us plaited up and generally looking pristine . We both worked in aware of dark clouds looming over ahead. Suddenly there was a downpour and as I entered up the centre line, hail came at me in biblical proportions . I was pretty pleased with how the young master held it together, he didn’t get uptight at the freezing rain and we produced a pretty good test all things considered . At one point I couldn’t help myself calling out to Misty in the next arena ,”don’t forget your arm bands ” but she didn’t reply as I think she takes it all a bit more seriously than me!
The young master was delighted we came fourth in our arena, with Misty fifth in hers and although our team didn’t trouble the leader we all had a good time with more excitement to follow the next day at a One Day Event up at Northallerton.
Our dressage test was not quite as sparkling as the previous day which I put down to the young master knowing cross country was to follow and he does love that element! Not having done a ODE since September we were both looking forward to a good gallop!
We show jumped clear despite the surface being very deep and unlevel in places. The cross country was great and it felt like old times as we cruised round . The young master was puffing a bit when we pulled up and needs to get into better shape before we head to the Pony Club Area Trials next week . The double clear, with a couple of time pens, was good enough for seventh place and a day off on Monday.
With Pony Club camp at Askham Bryan next on the agenda, tune in for my August Blog to find out what antics we have all been up to!
Bye for now.
Billy x
