I have to say my plan of doing more dressage this winter has not gone quite to plan.   I signed up to a 6month trial membership with BD, in the hope that I would have no excuse not to go!   I think you know where this is heading……here’s my excuse: I changed my lorry to a trailer just before Christmas.   This took a bit of time, in between selling my beloved lorry, buying a trailer and taking my trailer test.   Christmas and New Year has come and gone, and I am really trying to focus on my goals, and how I am going to achieve them.

It’s fair to say this year is going to be a busy one.   I have my Hen do in Feb, getting married in march and honeymoon in April.   Then I have three other weddings (and hen do’s) to go to, as well as trying to plan my events and training time in around those.   I think I am going to get a wall planner!

I have been training really hard twice a week with my current trainer; Helen James.   I started riding with Helen when I changed yards back in August.   Helen is based on-site at Hollow Farm and has been really key in sorting out the finer details when it comes to Luna and my consistency on the flat.   We have covered everything from straightness, accuracy in my riding and control and variation within the paces (and everything in-between!).   It is all still a work in progress, but the result is hugely improved working paces, and the ability to vary the speed and power within those paces.   Luna has a tendency to become quite introvert at a show, and although she is never actually naughty, she is also just not in the zone!   This meant I was losing valuable marks for inconsistency in the contact, losing balance in transitions and the paces not forwards and travelling enough.   I would ride very conservatively, and tended to come out of a test with a list of things that hadn’t gone how I wanted them to, but I had also done nothing to change them!   So this year is all about fixing those problems!

Determined that Luna and I would go Novice this year and now mobile again with my new (to me) trailer, I booked myself a lesson on the cross country loop at Lyneham Heath, with Daniele Bizzarro.

I have heard good things about Daniele, but have never ridden with him before.   I am cautious of trying new trainers as I have had conflicting advice previously and end up feeling really lost with what we are supposed to be achieving.

Daniele took time at the beginning of the lesson to find out about what we had been up to, why last season hadn’t gone well, what our setbacks were, and how we could rectify those things.

The weather was grim, I had a call from Lyneham on route to say the hunt would be in the area, and it was my first time towing totally solo, but I had a really great, constructive lesson.   Daniele set us up small courses, with very specific lines in them designed to stop Luna wanting to bowl forwards out of balance after each fence.   Working on rhythm and balance to the fence, without me interfering, and with Luna being polite, but with the big powerful canter, and the popping jump at the end, not the explosive leap!   Daniele really preaches the importance of the discipline within the paces and having a thinking horse.   It doesn’t matter whether you are in 1^st gear or 5^th gear, you should be able to sit up and half halt and your horse should say “what next” while looking for the next fence(s) and assessing what the question.   My job is just to get her there (is that all?!).

One of my regular riding stresses, is getting to the fence on the right stride, particularly when moving up a level, I am aware that the difference between 1m and 110m is quite a lot- particularly on the XC.   Daniele has a simply approach to this…..forget about strides.   If the horse is in a balanced quality canter you will get there.   If you get a bit close, then you have a light forehand so the horse can get the shoulders up and over.   If you are on a free’er stride, then the hind quarters are already underneath you ready to push that bit further.

We jumped all the Novice fences and came away feeling really positive.   Luna felt on good form, though a bit yee-haa (first time xc since September).

We are now aiming to build fitness and get out to a few eventer challenges in the pre-season run down, with the aim of being ready to enter Moreton Morrel in the beginning of May.