If I really put this day into perspective, I am amazed at how far I have come since starting BD.

So, here’s the scores…

Novice 23: 67% 1st bronze

Novice 37A: 60% 2nd bronze

Here’s the ‘more’…

I used to be intimidated at the thought of doing a BD affiliated Prelim, and always wondered how an earth I would feel confident at Novice and above. It seemed so out of reach. However, I have now done many BD Novices and this would be the first time I have done two in one day with my Irish boy Terry.

In our tests, he has not always stayed forward and supple to the contact but we had got a fair few Petplan scores this year which I was really proud of. Today was meant to be the day we achieved our final two scores for a second area festival.

The first test went really well, possibly one of the best Novices we have ever done. Still tight over the back at times but our good parts were rewarded with 67% and a win in the bronze section. After a year of just scraping 62%, I will definitely take that

The second test was N37A which is a bit harder but I really enjoy riding it. I find the 10m circles help to keep him connected and I enjoy riding counter canter. That being said in the actual test we broke into canter in one of our trots and he was quite tense throughout. Finishing on 60% was not ideal because it means we just missed out on finishing our qualification.

Whilst not getting the scores I wanted put a bit of a dark cloud over the day, I wanted to keep in mind all the things I learned from that competition. This is because in terms of test riding and him responding to me it is some of the best riding I have done.

No matter what happens, the feeling of a bad score or not getting placed will last for a few days at most but, a consistent commitment to developing your horse and your training goals will last for your whole riding career.