When this year started I set myself a couple of goals in my head. I didn't want to share them because ultimately I was too scared to, too embarrassed at what people might think and I honestly thought they would be laughed at. I kept them in my head and I told a very select few people throughout the year. A few times I lost sight of the dreams and just when I thought they were possibly getting closer they then seemed as far out of reach as they could ever be. But, as long as I had the dreams no one could take them away from me and one day I just got out of bed and told myself I'd reach them - whether it was alone or with the support of others, so I began to share them more and confided in others I never had before.My goals included:
- Compete at the regionals at Prelim level
- Compete at the Area Festival at Novice level
- Compete in the Northern Region teams
- Qualify for the Freestyle to Music Novice regionals
- Get in Horse & Hound with Ceaser
Honestly? I thought of that list a few months back and couldn't believe how far out of reach they seemed, but then everything seemed to start going my way.
More on that another time.
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I decided to take last Friday off work as a local venue were having a 3-day affiliated BD competition and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try and get the Freestyle to Music regional qualification I had wanted for so long. The last time we had tried to get it the judge told me our music didn't suit Ceaser and our floor plan wasn't the best. However I wasn't prepared to change my music because it means so much to me, so I worked on everything else in our lessons and getting Ceaser working in a better frame and more uphill.
I was slightly apprehensive about whether I had done the right thing by booking in for two novice classes as I was away with work Tuesday-Thursday so it would mean Ceaser would have a couple of days off and then have to go straight out competing. The day before the competition whilst on my last day away with work I found out I had passed my Masters in Sports Journalism so needless to say by the Friday I was walking round on cloud 9 and nothing was going to ruin my good mood!
Ceaser initially warmed up well and looking back on it I think I was very fortunate my music class was first. The warm up was busy with the bigger horses because it was a weekday show, but I tried to keep a focus on what we were there to do and ensure we utilised all of our 40-minute warm up time.I tried to remember and put into practice what my instructor had said about collecting Ceaser up, doing lots of transitions and circles, changes of reins and mixing things up to keep him focused. Once he's warmed up, then tapping behind my leg a few time to ask hind legs to engage to help create the impulsion. It worked well and he felt great.
Everything felt much better for being slower and I was pleased, but mad with myself that we had ended up behind my music and was adamant we would be penalised for it!
The test felt nice, we finally had some power in the medium trots and I focused a lot on getting my halts perfect, without Ceaser stepping back. We had been working a lot on getting a little more bounce and activity in the canter in lessons, so I concentrated on imagining I was trying to get his knees up more whilst keeping everything together, ensuring the hind was engaged and active. Ultimately it felt like an 'ok' test, but I'm always critical and I'm constantly finding things I could do or could have done better.
I took Ceaser to cool off and was in a bit of a down mood that my music really needed changing and I had allowed the hectic warm up to get to me a little. I put Ceaser away, walked off to get my score and didn't expect too much.
As I was approaching the board I saw someone had won with 72.50% - blimey I thought, we would be very far behind that.....until I followed our name and saw IT WAS US!!! I could not believe it, I had to stand and stare at the sheet for a good few minutes AND find our sheet until I was convinced I hadn't made a mistake and we had WON with 72.50%. I'm slightly embarrassed to say I ran back to the horse lorry to Mark, whom just stared at my sheet and then swore a little. I won't repeat what he said, but put it this way, we were both extremely shocked! I couldn't believe it...!
We had achieved ANOTHER of our goals; we were going to the Novice Freestyle to Music Regionals.......and then Horse & Hound phoned..............
Dreams can come true - if you want them to <3
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