Well rather a lot to catch up on really...

Where to begin.. I suppose that I AM FREE!! No more school ever and a year before going to uni so I have got plenty of time to play with and I am really really excited about it!! I finished exams on the 22nd of June and we had our leavers ball that night at Epsom Racecourse. It was an amazing night and a great way to say goodbye to everyone formally, although I will be making sure that I see everyone as much as I can, however with the amount of time I am spending at the yard it may be interesting!
The first week I was off I was just getting used to how life was going to be now that I have no where to go.. and I am really enjoying it! Then over the weekend of the 30th June and 1st of July I went on an Ultimate Frisbee Tour with the school. You may laugh but it was so much fun, and absolutely knackering. If you get a chance to have a go do because its so sociable and much more than just chucking a Frisbee round. We finished 12th out of 19 which wasn't too bad considering it was our first ever tournament and some peoples first matches too. I did return with a black eye because I had managed to ... Run into someone on my own team - smooth I know and have still got a bruise over a week later! The things I do.

Back to the horses and on Tuesday 3rd July we headed of to Tweseldown for my first event since exams. I had Lily in the BE90 and was slightly nervous really considering I had fallen off in the last 2 cross country competitions I had done, however I needn't have been. A fantastic dressage left us on a score of 25, she was soft and switched on but without being silly, all credit to Simple System helping us get her on a diet giving her enough energy whilst still keeping her brain sensible, it has made an obvious difference to her attitude to work. She then show jumped clear as it was rather small but I was pleased as she remained focussed and on the job which is something I had been struggling with a little bit. I was very nervous for the cross country as there was a tricky combination away from home and she can be a little backwards thinking when moving away from the others. The first two fences were a little sticky but once she realised I meant go she went and flew round the rest of the course adding just 4 time faults to her dressage score leaving us in 7th place. See the Video HERE
On the Wednesday we were back at Tweseldown for the BE100 with Ozzie. Having not done a dressage test since pairs fancy dress in December and before that was at Weston, I was apprehensive as to what the dressage was going to be like. Well I needn't have been, we came out with a 32.5 despite me going wrong so I was more than happy with that, and we were 4th after the dressage - its a miracle! And of course a fantastic double clear in true Ozzie style although not really strong at all. He was a delight all day and I would have finished 2nd but due to being HC we weren't placed. I was thrilled with how he went and can't wait for pony club areas.

After going out 3 times in the 6 months between January and June poor Ozzie was out 3 times in a week last week. On Saturday we headed to Felbridge for the Area 11 Pony Club Showjumping. I was doing the intermediate and you jumped 2 rounds followed by a jump off for those who had gone double clear. Unfortunately I managed to over check a very co-operative Ozzie into the bottom of an oxer and he just touched the back rail. He then jumped a beautiful clear in the second round in less then perfect weather.. which was effectively having buckets of water chucked over us, the only rain like that they had there all day, not that it bothered Ozzie. The result of all this was that the team finished 3rd with the top 2 to qualify and I didn't qualify as an individual obviously. So a bit disappointing but hoping I qualify for the eventing. 

I have got this far without mentioning some very exciting news... With my website revamp you may have seen that I have a new horse on the Horses section of The Team page on here. Well I have not been hiding him somewhere he is my new super pony. He is called Coco and we bought him from a lady we met out show jumping about 3 years ago. Liz and Kari Hale have bought him for me to be a bit of a Novice Schoolmaster and see how we get on. He is so cool, really light in the hand but so switched on and forwards thinking, and its impossible to miss him to a fence as he turns the corner and sees a stride himself. I already love him to bits and can't wait to get him out eventing!!

We then headed of to Felbridge again on Sunday for some combined training with Lily and Coco in the BE100 and Ozzie in the Novice. Coco was fantastic and we are still getting to know each other so had a couple of miscommunications in the dressage to end up on 34 before he jumped a beautiful clear showjumping. Lily was also really good and did a 35 dressage before jumping a super clear. They finished 5th and 6th respectively so not a bad effort. It was then the turn of superpony aka Ozzie. He was a bit strong in the dressage but he is now staying relaxed and this left us on a score of 35.5. He then had the last part of the combination in the jumping because he made it too short, I swear that shouldn't happen to a 14HH pony jumping horse distances. Despite this he still came 4th. I then took Coco for a clear round in the 1.10. He was great and just had the middle of the combination which considering was only our 2nd time in the ring together the first being the 1.00m jumping I was rather happy!

So all go here at Team GEWeventing but I am loving my time off. 

Thats all for now and please can someone stop it raining as I really would like to go eventing again this season and at the moment it doesn't look as if that is very likely!!

Sorry for the mammoth report but it has been a while. A huge thank you to Simple System for their continued sponsorship and fantastic advice and support with all the horses, I never realised how much difference getting the horses on the right feed could do to their performance. If you are interested in finding out more about their products please don't hesitate to Contact Me or visit their website at Simple System Ltd