Hi everyone! My name is Lucy McKeown and I am a 21-year-old dressage rider and university student from Staffordshire. Since my introduction into the world of dressage as a teenager I have been working hard with my trainers to produce two horses from recently broken youngsters to Novice level competition (working elementary). They taught me so much about the principles of training, despite not being typically bred dressage horses. As such, I feel that I am a true grass roots rider and I believe that riders who follow me on social media enjoy seeing what can be achieved by a regular amateur who has big ambitions. I love the atmosphere and community feel of big shows so much that I regularly compete and volunteer at my local summer British Dressage regionals. Blogging about work life balance (and volunteering, among other things I juggle with my university studies) is something I am planning to blog about in the future. I feel that the pressure of competing and training horses within a busy lifestyle is an issue that many can relate to! Being a brand ambassador for Genius equestrian would give me the perfect platform to share more blogs about our experiences and to show how genius equestrian products could enhance our journey.

 

The first of my horses is Lily (Song for Lily). She is a skewebald Irish cob with a lively and feisty nature. My journey with her began in 2010, at which time we were both learning the ropes of dressage. She was very sharp and strong as a youngster, so it has been a journey with many ups and downs. We persevered and now progressed to regional (affiliated) and national (unaffiliated) competition together.  Another exciting addition to our yard in 2016 was Terry (Lissycasey Gold), an chesnut Irish Sport horse. He is a sensitive, with a very willing temperament and a real love for his work. They are both affectionate characters and very much part of our family.

My competitive achievements include top 10 placings (8^th and 4^th) at Trailblazer’s National Dressage Finals and reserve champion in the combined training (it took us a year to get the confidence to jump at this level, but Lily’s boldness and bravery saw us through). Top 10 placing at Petplan Area Festivals at Prelim (8^th) and Novice level (9^th) and a top 10 placing (10^th) at the BD Winter Regionals. We have also been selected to represent our region as part of British Dressage youth teams at the inter regionals and at the national under 25’s championships (Prelim and Novice), narrowly missing out on a top 10 individual placing 2017.  These achievements were beyond all of my expectations as I produced Lily myself from walk and trot tests to Elementary level (it did take 6+ years but with her cob conformation and sassy attitude I wasn’t sure if we were ever going to make it!).

 

For me, my stand out achievement with Lily was our Novice Petplan Area Festival last year. It was our first time doing the Petplans at this level so I went into the warm up, determined to focus on myself and enjoy my cob. She felt on top form and I was so proud that I had produced her. I knew as soon as the test was over that I was thrilled with her no matter what the score was. Then to find out we got 66% at our first Petplan at this level was incredible. We later found out that we finished 9^th, I couldn’t believe it, as the standard of horses was very high (I was trying not to notice and compare myself to others, but it really sunk in when I was watching after my test). Lily can be really excitable, hot and opinionated so it felt really special when she gave me her all that day.

 

My achievements with Terry have included qualifying for all of the big shows mentioned above. Disappointingly, I was unable to compete due to injury. Whilst unfortunate this gave us the opportunity to develop our partnership. We have now qualified for the BD Winter Regionals taking place in a few weeks’ time, where we will be riding at our first championship together. Our goal for this competition is enjoyment without pressures or expectations!

 

My future goals for Lily include improving our placing at Novice Petplan this year and to keep working on our Elementary moves (they are slowly getting there!) with the hope of doing Elementary Petplan in 2019. My goals for Terry include riding our first dressage to music test, Petplans at Novice and Summer Regionals at Prelim. My biggest goal is training Terry to work at Advanced Medium in 5 years…a little ambitious maybe but my core belief is that if you can dream it, you can do it. Having big goals like this push me to be the best I can be even if they don’t happen when I expect them to. Overall the most important thing for me is that my horses are happy in their life and that they enjoy their work, everything else is a bonus. I would love to hear about your horses and your goals? Please comment or message me on social media, I would love to know!