Forelock and Load sponsored rider Kate Sanderson is here to give us her June update.
Now I’d be lying if I said June hadn’t been a manic month… I don’t quite know what possessed me when I’ve had 6 full months to get my British Dressage scores in for the Area Festivals, to leave it till the very last month to try to take them all in. Isn’t there such thing as fashionably late?!
But we did it (just!) over four competitions and 10 tests we are finally all qualified for three Area Festival classes; Elementary Silver, Elementary Freestyle and Medium Bronze.
However it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Firstly, I learnt my brain can’t handle 3 tests in one day… Secondly, Dram had been feeling fantastic in his work, and I really felt we were achieving a lot more consistency in his tests and way of going and this has been rewarded with higher marks. We were all set to do our first medium freestyle, when he just hadn’t felt 100% on my side since getting on him (despite getting a good score in the medium test before hand). We occurred a blip in the test and just the very startings of him warning me he wasn’t totally happy in himself. Thankfully after the drama of last year, I know to listen to any small signs. A week off and changing a few things, we then went back out the following weekend and achieved a new personal best at medium with 67.4%.
Because the last few weeks have been overtaken with getting BD scores in the youngsters have taken a bit more of a back seat and just been schooling and hacking at home. I had originally put up for sale my 5yo Erin at the very end of May due to finances, but after a change of circumstances she’s stopping a little longer and I’m thrilled to now be looking forward to getting on the event circuit later this year!
