Grace warmed up surprisingly well. She was swinging and loose which was a great improvement to the last times she has been out, however, as we got into the arena she froze and developed judge phobia. I had to work really hard to get her past the judge's box and even harder to get her past the cafe so it was not surprising that as we got half way up the centre line she backed right off the leg and refused to go near them!

With some gentle coaxing, we managed to get around the test without too many incidents. I was quietly pleased with her because even though she had been a huge diva, the good bits had been really good and not once did she set against my leg and kick out. This was a big breakthrough for her. Also, I remained very calm and positive too, which was another major breakthrough!

She came out on 65.45% and 4^th place which was better than I had hoped for in her first outing. I decided to do the Novice just to get some ring practise for her, but rather than being less spooky as she had already been in, she was actually ten times worse. Again, the good bits were good but the spooking was horrendous and she ended up on 59%.

Not one to be deterred, I took her back to Aintree yesterday to do the Novice 38. There was no pressure at all; this was just a chance to get her back out again. She warmed up even better than she had at the weekend, but as expected as she got into the arena she just turned into a plunging tense diva who was scared by everything. However, I kept the connection and the test had some really nice bits in it. I was so pleased with how she reacted to my leg I was really not too concerned about the result. Imagine my surprise when I discovered she had achieved 66.45% and won the Restricted class!

Due to the weather and some personal issues, I have transferred my Regionals entry to Willerby Hill in Yorkshire. Grace and I will be travelling up on Monday 22^nd February ready to compete on Tuesday 23^rd February. If she works as nicely as she has been these last two competitions, regardless of the final result I will be really pleased with her as it is a far cry from the horse I last competed in October 2009!

Last week we arrived home from Barbados' tropical climate to be greeted by a winter wonderland that was highly impractical. I had hoped to start working the girls, but the arena was still quite hard and the drive up to the yard was lethal. As a result, the first few days were very frustrating. I could not pick up my new three year old from DHI where she had been staying while we were away and the Regionals seemed a million miles from being a reality.

My main concern with Grace was that she would take a huge leap backwards when I brought her back after four weeks holiday. Just before I went away she was working really through and forwards without any tightness through the back and starting to use herself. I dreaded getting on her and feeling that horrible cramping feeling underneath me!

The first day I got back on her she decided to set off in canter and would not stop for 15 minutes... a good sign, at least she was forwards! Since then, I have been able to gain a little more control and (I can barely believe I can say this) she has picked up where she left off.

In my lesson with Helen Bradley, it was pointed out that I needed to get the big jumping canter from the first stride and that I needed to achieve this on the lunge also. I have not lunged her in side reins since summer 2009 as she objects to them rather dramatically. However, she is now much more through so on Wednesday evening I put her in the side reins and lunged her in the round pen. Occasionally she can show a little short in front on the lunge because she is losing balance and the round pen surface is a little firmer than the arena. From the very start I made her really forwards, ignoring what the front was doing and concentrating on getting the jump in her hind leg and the thoroughness so she could then soften in front.

I am so critical of her foot falls and spend most lunging sessions watching her legs intently. However, on Wednesday evening no matter how hard I looked there was not one short step and she just looked so powerful and loose... Cue tears pouring down my face as I stood in the middle of the round pen; I never dreamed I would get her to this point!

To improve my own position, I have enrolled in a pilates course organised by British Dressage. The first session was last night made me aware of how weak certain muscles in my body are. I could also feel a lot of tension in my shoulders which I know creeps in my riding too. I am a little delicate this morning!

I have finally organised myself and booked Grace in for two competitions at Aintree in February just before the Regionals. Hopefully that will get us both into a competition mindset as it has been almost five months since we were last out...

The past few weeks have been decidedly 'non-horsey' for Team McNair. My husband and I took a trip up to the Lake District for a few days holiday and ended up being snowed in and unable to return home. As a result of this terrible weather, the horses have not really been worked for a few weeks and have earned a well deserved rest.

The day we went to the Lake District I had a last minute lesson with Helen Bradley who managed to talk me into entering Grace in the Winter Regional Finals in February. After our confidence knocking attempt at the Summer Regionals, I had more or less decided to give the Winter ones a miss. However, Helen made me realise that Grace is far from the horse she was back in August and it is time for me to get on with it and take her competing again!

We have had so many problems and issues I wanted a fresh start, a clean slate, and all the other cliché comments that come to mind. Grace's competition name has always been Graceful Addiction which I chose when I first bought her. However, she is by the stallion Ginola du Rezidal (Greeton du Rezidal) and most of his offspring have the 'Rezidal' in there somewhere. So, after a few suggestions receiving sniggers and coughs from my husband (I wanted Her Royal Graciousness as I thought it was quite fitting) I decided to go back to her routes! She is now registered with British Dressage as Grace du Rezidal!

We have a busy month ahead of us as the Winter Regional Finals are on 14^th February 2010. By the time I get back from our holiday I will have exactly one month to get her fine tuned and ready to strut her stuff. I am currently looking for a few competitions to get her back out and about again and for the first time in a very long time I am absolutely fizzing with excitement at the prospect of showing off my beautiful girl once more!

Finally, this year has been a really testing one in so many ways. As a result, I have treated myself to a three years old jet black dressage prospect named Bolana (Houston x Gregor x Uppercut xx). I think she could be something very special indeed and feel honoured just to own her and have her in my stable. The plans for her are the Young Horse classes 2010 and the KWPN grading in August at Myerscough... It is going to be a busy year!

Please can everyone keep their fingers crossed that 2010 is the start of great things to come for me and my ponies! And once again, Happy New Year!

On a wet Wednesday afternoon, Grace and I set off for the Unicorn Trust in Stow-on-the-Wold for a sleep over so we would be well rested for the clinic on Thursday morning. Grace travelled really sweetly and settled in at the stables without any fuss or upset. Once I had tucked her up for the night, I could spend a lovely relaxed evening in the horsebox munching on iced Madeira cake and catching up on some DVDs.

I got up at 6.30am and started to get ready for the demo. Being a dressage diva through and through, of course Grace had to be plaited up, coat shined to within an inch of her life and dressed in the obligatory white boots!

Michael started her off by turning the clippers on away from her and placing a hand on her shoulder. He explained that this seems the least sensitive area for the horse and Grace's body language visibly relax. Each time Michael made a small change she reacted but the reactions became much less violent and you could see that she was genuinely trying to work things out.

What surprised me more than anything was that on the left side she would have the clippers all over her body, tummy, over her stifle and up to her ears and yet as soon as she was asked to think things through on the right side the reaction was significantly worse than it ever was on the left. Michael gave her a lot of time to come to terms with what was being asked and at the end of the session she was standing quietly while the clippers were run from ears to tail. She would still react quite violently with her head, but that is something we can now work on and hopefully progress it.

I am planning on sending her down to Michael's yard at the beginning of 2010 to let him complete her training and hopefully have her fully clipped out without sedation.

The vetting and the trot up

Phew... We passed 

Warming up for the second test in the cold wind 

My beautiful English Pointer, Tia... she was a Dressage Doggie for the weekend

Since the suspensory ligament issue I have had real issues getting her to step truly under with her left hind. Some people say horses do have a memory of pain, but I beg to differ. She is so tentative about using it that I cannot help but think she is testing how it feels. It is only recently that I have felt her push from behind and sit on her left hind leg in the canter from the transition... a real revelation.

As a result, her transitions have improved and the trot work is starting to get some cadence to it. We are still not consistent in the steps but it is definitely heading in the right direction. A few months ago it seemed we would never reach this point...

On Tuesday I asked her for a real collected canter and she took my breath away. Grace's whole body felt completely relaxed so I asked for a canter to walk transition and it came so easily to her. I then asked for a walk to canter and whereas my other mare does these accurately but without much umph, Grace had so much expression through the transition that I let out a huge whoop of joy!

The only down side to this week is that Grace has looked a little footy. She had her fronts done last week and because the gel inserts were costing so much, we decided to try her without them. I do not know whether it is just a strange sensation after having her whole sole covered, but she just looked a little short on the lunge in front. I spoke to Mark Gilliver and he suggested seeing how she gets on and if she is still tender we need to start looking into more long term options. Someone I know has mentioned plastic sole covers which can be reused so I am frantically scouring the internet to find something. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

In typical Grace fashion the run up to the Home Internationals was fraught with complications. Grace developed a mild sniffle as a result of the haylage being quite dry and I caught the lurgy! I had so much to organise and just not enough time to do it all in, so typically as we set off on Thursday morning I just knew I would forget something... the milk!

Grace settled in at Rowallen really well, but she felt a bit spooky to ride which escalated in the arena walk on Saturday morning at 6.45am (we managed to demolish an area of the arena... very embarrassing!). However, in the actual tests she was a lot more with me and at times produced some good work. The marks were not fantastic for us throughout the weekend and I came away feeling pretty disappointed, but once that had worn off I realised there were so many positives to take from the experience.

There was one glaring problem in both tests when I watched the videos; Grace was simply not round enough! Although she was given straight 7s for her paces, I could see the inconsistency in her contact and at times she looked almost worried about taking it forwards. It was when she avoided taking the contact that her strides shortened in front as I could see her visibly tighten through her whole body.

After several conversations with friends, the general consensus was that I should try her in a fixed ring bit as opposed to my Neue Schule Verbibend loose ring. The only problem was that Grace really mouths on the mouthpiece, whereas in the Myler she just curled up and shut down. So, I started scouring the website for options.

I soon discovered that Neue Schule have an eggbutt snaffle and also a baucher... And then it hit me, my friend bought one a few years ago when we went to the BD Nationals!

The first day I tried my friend's bit Grace threw a real tantrum and tried every evasion she knew. However, I just kept my hands quiet, continued to ride her forwards no matter how she felt and suddenly she dropped into the contact, she became soft, pliable and then started to swing through her back. The feeling was unbelievable!

The following day I tried her in it again, waiting for the initial resistance, but it never arrived.

Since then, I have ridden her in it two more times and she has just been an absolute pleasure. I have started to get excited about riding her again, something I have not experienced for quite some time. She feels so secure in the contact, I can make small adjustments with the reins without a huge over reaction and she just seems happy!

Grace has to be sedated by the vet to be clipped, so thankfully I organised this a few weeks ago and tomorrow she will be naked once more. As we have two important competitions on the horizon I thought she would be much more comfortable working and easier to cool off. Now I just have to decide whether it is legs on or off.

After her time off work, things have gone backwards a few steps but I do feel we are progressing. As I am now representing the North West team, I decided to have some lessons with Helen Bradley as she worked well with Grace on the Selection Day. With Helen's help I have started to get her much more forwards from my leg, straighter and less 'humpy' through her back. We still have quite a bit of work to do yet as her canter is without a doubt her weakest pace at the moment, but hopefully with a week of schooling I hope to make a real improvement before the Petplan Area Festival.

As she has not been out competing since our disastrous attempt at the Regionals, I have booked her in for an unaffiliated HC this week. My only aim is to ride her forwards and through and get rid of the bucks and tightness which cause so many issues.

This week she also had a new set of eggbars fitted (even more use for the green boots) and my farrier was pleased with her progress. She has now dropped a size which should offer even more support to her heels while keeping the flare out of her feet and the toes much shorter. Fingers crossed these promote further improvements and keep her sound for the future.  Do you think there is ever a time I will not worry about this lady?

The first afternoon Grace was turned out in the field she came in minus one shoe despite turnout socks pulled right down and two pairs of over reach boots. Of course, in true Grace fashion, the one she lost had to be the right fore!

My fantastic farrier, Mark Gilliver, came straight out to refit the shoe but he explained she really did need to keep these shoes on. Not one to be defeated by  a piece of metal, I started to trawl the internet to see whether I could find something which would keep her shoes protected.

Suddenly, it came to me! My friend's Thoroughbred mare was really footsore following foaling four years ago and because she had to walk over sharp stones to get to the field, my friend bought some poultice boots. I was not even sure whether these were still on the market, but with some determined computer searches I finally found somewhere near that had two in stock. I drove over there after work, bought them and started to wonder how I would keep them on.

Initially, I just used the Velcro to fasten them on and sure enough they had come off by the time she was brought in from the field. However, they had done their job; both eggbars were still in place. Thankfully I had also bought some extra large over reach boots to put on inside the poultice boots just in case.

The following day I duct taped them on and voila... She now has two big green bags attached to her feet every time she is turned out in the field. I know she feels rather foolish, but if it means she can still be turned out then I am willing to put her through that embarrassment.

I can now officially say I have found the solution to keeping eggbar shoes on; I should patent it!

For three weeks she walked pretty quietly. Yes, we had a few tantrums, bit nothing that I could not handle or that worried me. However, the day she started trot work she completely lost her head. My poor husband looked ashen faced as he watched her throw me about like a rag doll. It became so bad that after 20 minutes, I voluntarily dismounted before she did it for me.

The next few days continued in the same vein and my already delicate back started to really spasm as a result. I dreaded getting on her because I knew it would be a really horrible experience.

On Tuesday I could no longer risk riding her alone, so contacted the vet and discussed our options. ACP and Sedalin do not affect her when given orally, we do not have access to a horse walker on a daily basis (plus as hyperactive as she was it would probably have ended badly anyway) and I could not afford to send her to a rehabilitation centre. Thankfully, as she was already trotting she could start having some turn out which made a real difference to her behaviour. She went back to being a lovely horse to be around. It is amazing how just 30 minutes of turnout a few times a day can keep their brains sane.

She felt quite sound in the ridden work, but I could not eliminate the dread that was rising whenever I thought about the final IRAP treatment and trot up on Friday morning. What if there had been no improvement over the four weeks? What if she had to go back on complete box rest? And worst of all, what if this was the end of her ridden career after everything we had been through?

As we got to the surgery, she was trotted up in hand and looked ok. But this is no indication as she has always been sound on a straight line. However, when she was taken to be lunged on the hard surface all my hopes sank, I could still see the shortened step, which Peter agreed on. So, we lunged her outside on the arena surface and she looked completely sound! I did not dare to say anything until Peter confirmed it. He has said she is making good progress and now needs to start using the foot correctly in order to remove the memory of pain. But the best news of all is that she is to come back into 'normal' work next week!

I did not want to write anything before visiting the vet, but now we have been signed off by Peter, Grace and I have Scotland to look forwards to!

Elaine Gray, the North West RDO, emailed me this week to say there was one individual place available for the Home Internationals and would I like it? Of course I would! I am ridiculously excited to go over to Rowallen in October and have already bought my Team jacket!!!

Could this be our new start?

For now, I am trying to concentrate on getting her back into work. We have a really busy October ahead, so a lot of training is now required to get her back up to scratch and working consistently. With the Petplan Area Festival on 11th October at Myerscough and then the Home International, Grace and I have lots to look forwards to again. If you see us, please come over and say hello!

Last week was a real low point for me, but I hope I am coming out of the other side now. No matter how hard I tried to keep the positives in my mind, a sinking feeling we were back to square one would not leave me alone. I spent hours analysing whether I could have prevented her injuring her Impar ligament, researching past cases, but there are very few documented. Most cases seem to be connected to some other issues going on within the foot. I came to the conclusion that I should be grateful I had caught it so early.

I do not know whether it is just my memory system shutting down on hearing yet another ailment to contend with, but I could hardly remember exactly what the following few weeks would bring for Grace. Thankfully, I have a very understanding vet who went through it all again with me and reassured me in her recovery process.

In the first week of walking, she started quite calmly and with lots of walk-halt-walks I kept her brain occupied for the 20 minutes we had been recommended to complete daily. However, towards the end of the week 'DISGRACE' started to rear her ugly head and show just how athletic she can be! Having been through this on several occasions with her, I unfortunately know that this is not something that will improve, it only gets worse.

Now we are in week two, the TopSpec Calmer is being administered in abundance and she has a new addition to her tack... our old trusty neckstrap!

Grace had her first IRAP injection into the coffin joint this morning, so hopefully that will help bring the inflammation down and promote healing. Peter Scholefield checked her shoeing for me while we were there (as requested by my farrier) and he was really pleased with how they had been fitted so at least I know we are on the right track.

In just over a week, I can start trotting Grace in straight lines before bringing her back into work as normal. She will have been out for just over four weeks, so hopefully will not be as difficult as she was last time... Then again, with Disgrace now in full swing I should know not to 'hope' for things like this.

The good news is that Grace and I are the first reserve for the Home International NW Team. Having almost missed out on the Inter Regionals myself in June (I ended up taking Han as reserve), I hope and pray I will not be needed! It is heartbreaking for something to happen which prevents you going when you have worked so hard. So a huge Good Luck to all the members of the North West Team...

For now, we will continue our death defying walks and hope for some light at the end of the tunnel very soon!

Following BD Camp, I decided to take Grace over to Hird and Partners for a check up as she can get a little footy towards the end of the shoeing period which is caused by low heels. We have been working to improve this since the xrays in January, but just towards the end of the camp I could feel it reoccurring.

Our appointment was at 12pm, so we arrived there in plenty of time. After a quick sandwich and a custard from Settles (the best custard shop around... it is in Bolton on Chorley New Road) it was time for Grace to be seen by Peter Scholefield.

I trotted her up and explained my concerns. We then lunged her on a hard surface and sure enough the little niggle was obvious. Although it is not a lameness as such, it is a slightly shortened step so was enough for us to be able to nerve block and xray. Unfortunately, the xrays showed absolutely no diagnosis because the images were no different to January and the angle of the foot had started to improve. It was not up to me how we proceeded.

I did not want to keep shoeing her without the knowledge of what we are actually dealing with. So I consented to having an MRI of her fronts done.  Thankfully Peter agreed this was the best option and the long wait began as it can take up to three hours for just one foot alone!

The results were not a 'horror story' as I had been expecting, phew!

Grace has mild inflammation of the Impar Ligament which attaches the Navicular Bone to the Coffin Joint. She has been prescribed three weeks of walking under saddle and a course of IRAP treatment which will start on Friday. The prognosis is very good and she should be back out competing in September.

This information was a huge relief because I had hoped to achieve a place on the North West team for the Home Internationals. Unfortunately, Grace and I have been unsuccessful which I am absolutely devastated about. It was a small glimmer of hope that everything would start to go right for us at last, but this has now been extinguished and I cannot get rid of the horrible sinking feeling of inadequacy in myself.

As the Regionals drew closer, my nerves became more and more fraught. With the Regumate, Grace started to let me ride her and no longer tightened through her back whenever I sat a little deeper. This was a great achievement in itself.

However, on the morning on the Regionals I was so jittery I could not think straight. I do not understand why I get like this, people have suggested that with experience I will start to feel more confident in myself and my horse; I hope they are right!

Grace warmed up nicely, but when we got into the test arena her eyes were on stalks and I had some difficulty getting her past the judge's box without flying sideways. I think this little upset really got to me, I tensed up, she tensed up and this was quite costly. Due to us having some real forwards issues in the past, I suspect I had her too forwards and was not sitting her back enough, therefore allowing her to run onto her head.

The first half of the test was going quite well, but she jogged in the medium walk and then performed walk to canter when we should have been trotting. As a result my head went into over drive and flapping mode; I was so cross with myself. We came away with 60.4% which was so disappointing but although I had a little cry on the way home I tried to pull myself together and mark it down as experience.

Grace had a few days off before we set off for the North West BD Camp on Thursday afternoon. I was really looking forwards to the weekend as I had Kate Attlee for the pairs lessons who I think is an excellent trainer. She seems to get the absolute best out of you and your horse and this weekend was no exception.

Kate worked really hard on my position as well as getting Grace sharper off the aids. I brace my shoulders against her, perhaps because she has been quite difficult with her bucking, but by keeping my hands up and forwards, my shoulder blades back and together, the effect just took my breath away. It is the first time I have truly felt Grace was completely on my aids; everything clicked! We did some collected canter with her towards the end of the second lesson and I could not stop smiling. She felt outstanding!

I feel as though I have so much to work with after this weekend and would recommend the BD Camps to anyone who has an interest in dressage. I cannot wait for the next one! I just hope I can replicate the quality of trot and canter we achieved with Kate at home.

To watch a short video, click here: GRACE AT THE BRITISH DRESSAGE CAMP 

Last time I looked at the calendar I had a good couple of weeks to 'fine tune' Grace for the Regionals. However, when I started to do a plan of action this morning I felt a cold shiver of reality. How have I only got one week before the big day?

In true Grace style, we have not had a straight forwards few weeks. Following the tightness I could feel in the Novice test at Fry's, she continued to be so crabby when ridden. I had a few lessons with Jo Wright-Graham, but we both agreed that she just did not want to go forwards and every time I rode her a little harder or tried to achieve a better connection, she would spit her dummy out and really close down on me.

After our lesson on Tuesday I ended up driving home in tears through the sheer frustration I had experienced. Despite trying very hard to stay positive, the old doubts started to raise their ugly heads and I questioned whether we should be attending the Regionals. I would hate to get there and her not go forwards; it would just be a horrible battle.

I am starting to realise that Grace is more sensitive than I ever realised and I am finding that she needs a softer approach at times to avoid a real confrontation. Because I have been noting when she behaves like she did this week, I arranged for David Aldington to come out and scan her on Friday morning. As I suspected, Grace was at the peak of her season and had a huge follicle which was almost ready to ovulate. Although I accept it could all be a coincidence, I have put her on Regumate to see whether this helps her and we will reassess in a few months time.

Getting her to eat the Reguamte has been a very interesting task. When the first attempt ended in her rearing up and striking out at me, I decided to try syringing it into her mouth because she was getting so worked up about it that she would go nowhere near the bucket when it was added. However, with the help of golden syrup and TopSpec Doctor Green, I think we have cracked it and the past two mornings she has finished the feed complete with the Regumate. A tiny step but a huge achievement.

To ensure there was no other pain causing her to back off the leg, I took her down to Mark Windsor this afternoon to have her checked. Thankfully, he proclaimed her to be 'perfect', so that is one less thing for me to worry about when she starts playing up.  

The other thing that had changed slightly prior to attending Fry's was that I had sarted to  include Alfa A into her diet. A very good friend suggested that Alfalfa can make a dominant horse more dominant and a hormonal mare more prone to mood swings. It could be nothing more than a fluke, but her behaviour changed just four days after she started having the full rations and she developed utercaria initially. She is no longer having Alfa and is back on her regular feed of Dengie Healthy Hoof (which she loves), TopSpec Balancer, TopSpec Cool Condition Cubes and their magnificent Super Conditioning Flakes. Why do I keep making changes just before something important (I changed her bedding the week before the Inter Regionals...).

So, we now have a really busy week ahead. Not only do I have to get Grace ready for the Regionals, but my two year old Pro-Set gelding is coming home tomorrow to prepare him for the BEF Futurity at Myerscough on 4^th August. Two big competitions with only a day separating them... I will be one very drained lady after all of that! But I will have to make sure I keep some energy for the BD Camp which starts on 6^th August... phew, I'll certainly sleep well the following week!

Filling in the entry and biography form was really quite difficult for me, how could I give a brief summary of our history together when so much had led to this point? However, I have tried to convey how special this event is to me without writing a 1000 word essay, although I have gone out of the box slightly.

I set off for Fry's with no expectations; after all, we have months and months to get the second part of the qualifier for the Winter Regionals. This was more a test to see how Grace would cope staying away from home for the night and how she would work the second day in preparation for the BD North West Camp in August.

We arrived at Fry's, parked Doris (the Daf) near to the stables and I went to find out my number and declare with the secretary. I felt quite positive about the tests but more importantly I was looking forwards to riding her. She has been working so well recently that I can't wait to get on and do something with her, I have to check myself at home otherwise I would be riding her every day!

Grace was really hot to warm up again, but less so than last weekend. She was just starting to let go when we had to go in for the first test, P19. Ideally, I would have liked to have given her a little longer to get her hind legs more underneath her, but it is difficult because you can sometimes do too much as well.

We spooked and plunged all the way down the drive to the arena, and once in there she was ogling everything in sight. However, I tried to keep her soft, round and through which I did achieve for 90% of the test. The other 10% was spent with her either backing off to spook at something of tensing against the leg when I tried to get her forwards again! It felt a reasonable test though, with some nice bits and some really horrible bits, but that is dressage!

The second test actually felt much smoother but lacked some of the impulsion she had in the first one. The canter was better though and more uphill, however I now realise that we have to start working on self carriage and more push from behind in order to get her a little more gymnastic in her work.

After a quick wash down, the obligatory polos and apples, I settled her in her stable for the night and watched in awe as Grace fell in love! She was smitten with a beautiful black gelding in the stable next to her and spent the next hour or so letting him nibble and lick her chin with her eyes half closed in complete bliss.

Leaving the love birds to it, I went to check the results. In P15 Grace had come 3^rd with 68.5% which I was pleased with, but the best news I could ever have received is that she came 1^st in P19 with 69.55%! We are now qualified for the Winter Regionals in just the second week of qualifiers... talk about from one extreme to the other. It has also broken my issue with P19 as I always seem to get the lower marks in this test and it is the one used for the Regionals. I just need to learn to ride 15m circles more accurately as I seem incapable of this at the moment!

Due to qualifying, I decided to withdraw from the Preliminary on the second day and treat myself to a lie in. We just had N22 in the afternoon which I was doing under the Training section.

When I went in to tack her up I noticed that she was really grumpy having the saddle put on. She would not stand still while I girthed her up and proceeded to squirt all over the place whenever the gelding next door made a sound... this was real love! As a result, when I got on her I could feel that her back was up and she was really tense, I think as a result of coming into season.

I struggled to get her to let go and this translated in the test. There were some good bits, but I found her very difficult and unwilling which is slightly frustrating when I know she can do a really decent Novice test. We came out with 60% which I thought was very fair, but I know that had she come out the way she did on Saturday we would have done a much nicer test. If she can get 60% when she feels the way she did yesterday, I am not worried at all about moving her up to Novice.

So, for now we are taking a break from competing and concentrating on training her more towards the Novice competitions. We have a practise run for the Regionals at Arkenfield on 29^th July, but other than that we have a tough couple of weeks of lessons ahead. I just want to ensure we do our very best at the Regionals, the placing is irrelevant. If I come away feeling we truly did our best then I can ask for nothing more than that.