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Going from Strength to Strength

We took Data to the British Dressage Summer Regionals at Frys in East Yorkshire and were delighted with how he went.

Data was in great shape and was placed seventh in his section with a good score of 67.29%. We were all extremely thrilled with his performance, especially his owner Judy Bettinson.

We got some lovely comments from the judge, her words were… ‘This combination will go far, a very promising partnership’. I was over the moon with these comments and proves all the hard work is worth it.

The weather stayed nice too and Judy, Data’s owner supplied the picnic for the day which was divine with lots of lovely food and drink.

Zeus is going from strength to strength and we are busy competing him steadily to gain more experience.

He still has his moments and he decided he would test my ‘stickability’ a couple of times in the warm up but thankfully I stayed on board.

However he was very good during his test and was placed sixth in his Prelim class. I was very pleased with him and so were his owners Bernie and Kevin.
Catch up again soon!
Harriet

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A First Dressage Outing For Zeus

ZEUS went to his first dressage competition at the weekend and behaved really, really well.

I was so pleased with how he coped working in with all the other horses. He did a nice test and did everything I asked of hi.

His halt was super at the end… not one bit of fidgeting!  His walk was really good, very settled and didn’t jog, all his transitions were good too, for a young horse who has only been in ridden work three weeks I was delighted especially as he finished fourth in his class.

Data was very good too he was third in his novice test and was second in the elementary. I was very pleased with him and as it was my first competition with him I learnt a lot about how best to warm him up and how he reacts in a competition environment.

Working horses at home is never the same as when they go to a competition so it was a great opportunity to have a ‘practice’ before the riding club team competition next weekend.

I have had a new girl start working for me part time, she is going to cover weekends and help Vikki in the yard when I am away competing. Rachel is currently doing her GCSEs and is going to be a great addition to the yard.

It was great to see some rain in the last few days and it was a very welcome sight as the grass was starting to look a little brown and the ground was getting very, very firm. Hopefully the grass will turn green again and the ground should soften up in time for my next competition.

We have started painting our stables which is a mammoth task and somehow there always seems to be more walls than you think! So the horses are playing musical stables at the moment while one by one we get each stable painted.

Happy Riding!

Harriet

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Zeus Proves He’s A Rock Star Horse!

Things are progressing well with my new ride, Data.  I have been asked to do the riding club team dressage with him and we are in the Elementary level team.

He is a really nice horse who is willing to learn, has a good brain and shows plenty of talent, so fingers crossed that the progress will continue at a pace.

My other new ride, Zeus is coming along really well, although I think he must have been a rock star in a past life as he is slowly destroying my yard!

All horses are different and you have to treat them as individuals and adapt to their ways as necessary.

That said it is important that owning and producing a horse is team work and you can’t afford to let them have their own way with everything.

Zeus has pulled the hay bar off the wall, chewed the window frames, thrown his feed bucket out of the window ont o the drive and attempted to knock the wall down!

More work and bonding required I think!

I am planning to go show jumping at Port Royal this Sunday with Snowy, while Sultan is still enjoying his post Bramham holiday!

Last weekend one of my pupils Bella Watson, was competing and recorded her personal best dressage mark of 26 and then went double clear to finish sixth in a very competitive section, and I was delighted for her.

I went to the hair dressers this week, which I hate! I find it really irritating to sit still and do nothing as I am always usually rushing around all over the place!

But at least I don’t look so much like a scarecrow anymore!! Ha ha!

That’s all for this week, bye for now!

Harriet

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Meet Zeus!

Well a lot has happened since I got back from Bramham – I haven’t stopped!

I have an exiting new dressage horse on the yard – his name is Zeus, he is a 17.2hh, five-year-old, almost black Hannoverian gelding.

Zeus is out of a very good dressage mare and by a stallion called His Highness.  He also has Donnerhall lines in him – Donnerhall was a very famous and successful German dressage stallion.

So far Zeus hasn’t done anything – he was successful in hand as a youngster at the Performance Horses Grading.  These gradings are very prestigious and help to find future top horses.

Zeus is settling in well and we will be starting him lunging and long reining this week.  Watch this space for his progress.

Last weekend I was invited to a Pro Am Polo match at the White Rose Polo Club.  We had a fantastic day, we took a picnic and Pimms and went to the after party too.  I am very tempted to have a go at Polo, but am worried that I might have one lesson and get hooked – I’ve heard that it can be quite addictive!

Last week I went to Sowerby Bridge to my sponsor, EquestrianClearance.com to sit down with Lee Marriott their Online Marketing Manager and edit some instructional video clips that we have been working on.  It took much longer than expected, however I came away armed with the knowledge on how to edit video clips and will have to finish off the remaining clips at home.

Over the next few weeks, I will be preparing Snowy for Aske One Day Event, in Richmond, North Yorkshire and also doing dressage with Data and Ronald.  Data joined my yard a month ago, and is settling in well already.  He has qualified for the Summer Regionals Dressage competition which is in September and held at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, so I hope to get out a couple of times before then to get to know him a bit better.

Bye for now!

Harriett

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