Yesterday, with a few nerves and the odd flash back to eventing on my dear friend Pasha, we made our way to the dressage arenas at the local Pony Club ground to practise. While I pretty much had the course down pat in my head, what I wasn't ready for was what Roxy came up with.
As I walked to the centre and prepared to trot it just felt right, we continued on to complete the test and I was quietly stunned at how great it felt and how well Roxy handled it. My friend Christine also practiced on Neville and again another green horse was kicking arse. Now by no means do I say that they were perfect and neither were we, but when you look at the whole picture it was a particularly impressive ride.
By the 3rd go I really felt that Roxy could handle this and handle it with a decent amount of class. She was on the bit alot of the time, rode into the corners, moved freely (although a crop will be needed just as a gentle reminder), transitioned in the right spots and all in all was a really, really good girl who was focused most of the time.
I am not a professional and I can only ride 3 times a week if I am lucky, but to get Roxy where she is today has made me immensely proud. We still have some hurdles that need sorting (her need to flirt and an objection to narrow strips of mud) and she will never be a high performance horse but she lets me dabble in a bit of everything and that is more than I could hope for.
The RDA event is on the 30th of May and I am hoping that I can film my dressage and maybe the jumping and cross country as well, but if she only does what she did the other day you wont be able to wipe the smile off my face.
Until then ride with the confidence you had when you were a kid and smile until your cheeks drop off!
Lorrie and Roxy
xx
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