As I enter online competitions both from The Mane Show http://www.themaneshow.co.uk/ and from Dressage4All https://www.dressage4all.co.uk/ for some reason this month they both decided to do Prelim 1, however this was helpful as I meant I didn’t need to memorise a new test as I practiced Prelim 1 again. In the past I have sometimes entered the same video to both institutions, however given mine and Jack’s recent training from Katie I thought it was better to get some more practice in, as well as to see how Jack and I would do on our own without Katie’s help.

Last time we did Prelim 1 I found that Jack’s head was bending beautifully over his back but I then forgot the basics in that my circles looked like squares. Interestingly, the judges didn’t seem to find this too much of an error to point out in the comments, but for my own personal gratification I wanted to practice it. I gave Jack a good warm up and remembered to sit back in the saddle whenever we went into canter. Jack often spends the first 20 minutes of any session trying to convince you that he is too old to be doing this kind of work, however he is only 20, I’m sure he can manage a couple of canter circles!

After the warm up I found that both myself and Jack were working super hard, but it all paid off as he began to work nicely which was great as I didn’t have any help from the ground, proving that every now and again I can ride! I then kept checking on my hands to keep them steady and bent at the elbow and used my inside leg to push him into the corners. Some corners were better than others, and one rein was slightly better than the other, I think it was the right? I can’t really remember which! In the end we were able to produce a nice test which I have since sent to the judges at Dressage4All, and we will receive our results towards the end of the month, so now we can move onto the next one from The Mane Show!

To see our entry click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68_4Q-IgNtM