EWA Combined Training

So today is one of those days where I have fallen in love with my horse all over again. It's hard to believe where we started from and the journey we have taken to get here.

I guess I should start from the start! After riding Coolie, plaiting Henry and leaving home a little bit late, we arrived and Andrew disappeared to do my helper duty. Henry and I were left alone to get ourselves ready for dressage. Andrew is a great help in getting me and the horse ready usually, as well as distracting me and keeping me calm. Without him, my nerves were making themselves very known, but I told myself to take some deep breaths and focus on what we had to it.

I was running late, and really torn about lunging Henry. In the end I decided that I was the one who benefitted from lunging him so hopped on and figured he had already seen the warm up when I had walked him around when we first arrived. Henry was a little more unsettled getting ready than last weekend but once I was on he was all business.

There was heaps of room in the warm up and so we found our own little space. Henry got right to work and after he had settled we started to move around the other horses a bit more. He didn't put a foot wrong and we were ready to go in no time at all.

We got to go in the fancy international arena which can be a bit spooky. I let Henry take it in as we trotted around but he was on task and not worried about anything. The first half of the test was lovely, Henry was working really well into the contact and listening to me perfectly. Our free walk was nice and scored a 7, and his transitions were good. The second half after the walk started with him getting a bit tense in the first few meters of trot. I held with my hands where I should have pushed him into the contact but I got him back in a few strides and he settled back into the contact. The second bobble was when he picked up the wrong lead to the right, but I changed it quickly and the rest of the canter was fine. Sadly it scored a 4 of course!

I came out of the test feeling so proud of him, I couldn't have asked for more. The green bobbles will resolve in time, but for now it was a great test for where we are at!

After a break and some lunch, catching up with friends we were onto show jumping. This was our first round at 65, and the course looked good although the footing was really deep. The first jump had fill and I knew I'd have to ride really positively into it but knew the rest of the course would be fine.

Our warm up was a little bit rushed, there were only 2 horses before mw when I got there! Not my most organised but it was fine, it meant that Henry and I didn't have time to worry about the VERY VERY busy warm up and just got right onto to trotting and cantering. I think that was a good thing because Henry immediately focused on me and wasn't worried about others at all.

Easy over number 1

When it was our turn we trotted into the arena and suddenly Henry was on. He was confident and ready to do his job. It was an incredible feeling. I knew we would be just fine. We presented to the judge and came into fence 1. He saw the filler and flicked his ears at me, checking he was ok. I cuddled with my leg, sat up and he popped it perfectly. Game on! The next 2 jumps were really nice, but he got an awkward spot to fence 4 and had the rail. He looked a bit at fence 5 because it was in the shadows but jumped well, and then looked again at 6A which had people and shadows. He knocked the A element but gave B plenty of clearance. The course was smooth after that and the rest of the rails stayed up.

Making 2 look tiny

I honestly couldn't have asked for a better day of my horse. The whole day he listened to me, tried hard and worked well. He didn't feel very green, and although he had green moments they were very minor and didn't cause any issues. It's amazing how far we have come, and how much confidence Henry has now. Hard to imagine it will only get better from here!

All done!