We have been doing very well at dressage and so far this year having already competed at the NPS Dressage Championships, I am now qualified for British Dressage Native Pony Championships at Prelim and Novice, Petplan Area Championships at Novice and Midway Dressage Championships, also at Novice.
Well on top of all this I went with my Highland pony friend, Iona, to do a 'fun' pairs Level 1 Trec competition. Mum and I have never done a full Trec, we go and dabble with the control of paces and fun obstacle courses. It was agreed all round that we would just do it for fun. It's been part of a secret deal as Iona has agreed to do riding club pairs dressage with us (its top secret, practice is ongoing - as long as Iona's poorly paw gets better soon - we made it a bit sore doing Trec).
Anyway we met at Bibury. The first bit I love, you have to canter as slowly as possible, I so have this licked I can practically canter backwards, so I get a maximum 30 marks. The downside is we are supposed to walk back as fast as we can and while my little legs and short stride help loads with the canter they are useless for the walk back and we only got 1 mark. Iona pony is slightly faster cantering but her little legs are quite speedy coming home!
Next was the obstacles. Some are really easy, like opening the gate without Mum letting go and cantering the clover leaf, though Mum and I absolutely love cantering the bending poles, definitely our favourite exercise. I'm still finding jumping strange jumps I have never met before a bit more daunting and I do like to stop and have a look first, though Mum has me out and about practising this, so hopefully I will get braver at that. Iona had to contend with a horse and rider who didn't know the rules about letting a better (Iona pony) go past when she got caught up. This threw Iona out a little but she was still oresome and scored lots more points than me, but she does have a lot more experience and doesn't find jumps scary.
We got a little rest before we set out on our 'hack'. This meant the humans had to read a map, Mum made us go round in circles, so next time I think Iona's human should take control of that element. We had to kick on as the times were between 7-8kph and I know from my Endurance pony training earlier in the week that you need to keep moving, especially if you need lots of pee stops like I do! Sorry no pictures of the lovely poppy fields we passed as Mum had to keep her mobile turned off so we didn't cheat - we don't need to cheat, we are just fabulous as we are.
The humans seemed pleased and we all had a good time. I didn't think anymore of it as I had promised to accompany my horse friend Lara out on a fun ride the next day, so I was keen to get my head down and have a rest.
This was on our renamed fun 'gallop'.
Well Mum has just turned up and told me that Iona pony and I have come 3rd and qualified for the Level 1 Trec pairs National Championships - can you believe it. I'll have to consult my diary and see if I have time to fit another Championships in. Hopefully I will get to add some more pretty rosettes to my Championship wall. I've got a day off today, so I had better go eat and rest, goodness knows what Mum will be having me do tomorrow!
Well done Cyril! You may need to get a bigger hat though if you carry on onwards and upwards. Message from Dinkum - it's ALWAYS a good idea to inspect the jump first. And then to clear it by a good metre, just to be on the safe side :)
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