The temperatures today were at a chilling -3 degrees upon where no sane person would want to leave their bed at 6:30 am. However #teamderby all got to the yard and we got the horses all groomed and ready to go relatively quickly.

Dressage was first and thankfully I remembered all of the test this time! However I was on a 15 hh flea-bitten grey called Pod, he was a rather strange character but I knew he could put his head into an outline. Once on though it was also clear that he was not a very straight pony either, as when going down the long side he often turned his head out to the outside and so bending incorrectly. I ended up fighting with him a little and holding very strongly on the right rein just to keep his head straight. I tried loosening my hands up a little in order to push him into the contact which did work temporarily, however he wasn’t the easiest ride! The test itself went okay, however I did not feel as though it was the best performance given as he was still continuing to fight my hands for a lot of the movements, so much so I found it difficult to make him turn as I was too busy focused on trying to get him to calm down. Later I realised that my hands and arms were completely in the wrong position so I was frustrated at myself. However some horses you can’t immediately click with, and 10 minutes to warm up isn’t exactly the longest amount of time to get to know one another.

Show jumping I was on a bay 15.2 hh called Rory who had amazing self carriage just like Bella! Warming him up was like a dream although he did have once pace of canter which was simply – fast. He also did not respond to me pulling on the reins to get him to slow down or halt, so I tried doing little half-halts and being really light with my hands, although it still was strange to ride without much of a contact. Going over the practice fences caused him to collect himself and slow down in the canter which gave me more confidence, and the round itself was very smooth as we went clear so couldn’t have asked for more.

Knowing our luck, Liverpool who hosted the last competition (16th January) once again forgot to bring our rosettes, however what made it even worse was that our own club president brought some rosettes, however it was the wrong box! She did give us all promises that we shall get them in the next few days which is good, however overall team Derby came second, with my team captain Amelia placing first, Yasmin fifth, and myself sixth. Not as amazing as two weeks ago but I’m very happy with the result, and even though I don’t have them yet here is a picture of the rosettes I won, as I didn’t manage to get any photos of myself riding!

P.S. Someone also fell off today and has been sent to the hospital as there might be something wrong with her femur, seems these competitions are ruthless!