With the green light given to go back Eventing, the yard has been thrown back into full swing and we are getting busier every week. The horses are all going out on the lorry training again, and the preparation for everybody's first event has started. I am very excited to experience the yard in the middle of the season , and to witness all the horses get out properly at their events.
With lock down restrictions being slowly lifted, it was wonderful to finally catch up with my amazing sponsor Christina Draper. She and her daughter traveled up to the yard to meet Belle for the first time, and to take some photographs. Belle was super and went beautifully, as well as putting up with us all flapping around her trying to get the shot! Something that I really love about Christina is that she has such a huge amount of patience with the horses that she is trying to photograph, willing to wait around for a long time until she gets the shot she wants.
We (finally!) manged to get out XC schooling mid way through the month as well, I wasn't sure what Belle was going to be like as she is so relaxed about everything at home, but she was amazing. Starting out, we just took everything steady to work her out but before long she was flying around a short course, and she really rose up to the occasion! She felt like a completely different horse to the one I was used to at home, but it was great to feel her step up a notch and enjoy herself.
As I only have Belle for a limited time, I was very keen to get her out eventing as soon as possible to see if all our hard work over the past few months had been worth it. So, after a chat with Harry about his plans, and what he thought would be best for Belle and I, we put an entry in for the BE100 at Barbury International Horse Trials! I am feeling so much more comfortable on board Belle now, and I especially notice that in our jumping. We have popped around the course at home (on grass), and I definitely feel so much more confident in my own ability to take her around well.
Very much looking forward to the next couple of weeks, and getting into the preparation for our first run of the season!!
Click below to see more of Christina's fantastic photographs.
