EQUINE - Young Riders Blog Jan 2018
1 Jan 2018
ANUARY BLOG
NORTH WINNER: LEIGH-ANN ALLAN, 21 FROM PERTH
Image courtesy of Ronnie Low Photography at Scotsburn
Wow can’t believe how quickly January has flown by although winter seems to be dragging its heels to leave!!! Its been a couple months since my last update and I hope you all had a lovely time over the festive period.
December and January have both been rather quite months thanks to the snow and ice!! I seem to be spending a lot of my time battling the weather wither its layering up on clothes (and rugs on Dee Jay), lots of mucking out or trying to break the ice on the water troughs however, when it’s been possible I’ve been out doing lots of hacking on Dee Jay with lots of lateral movements, transitions and hill work!!! I even managed to get to my first training session of 2018 over at Inchcoonans Equestrian where Daniel Scott was holding a grid work clinic. It was nice to blow away the cobwebs, have some fun jumping again and it was a great exercise to work on rhythm and control.
This month I’ve been searching through all the websites and calendars to make my 2018 plan. I’ve got lots of exciting things planned and a massive (probably unrealistic) goal for 2018 but I’m going to give it my all to see where all the training can go. I’m very excited to see what this season is going to bring as Dee Jay is feeling amazing and we are in such a difference place from this time last year so onwards and upwards….
For although my horsey life has been quiet I’ve made some big decisions and changes lately including having left university. Although still not ready to join the big bad world and become a ‘proper’ adult just yet I’ve decided to focus on my dream this year and look forward to all the new challenges that lie ahead!
As I’ve been making my plan for this year I’ve been looking back on my 2017 season and what a year it was!! I set out the year aiming to do my first BE event starting with a BE80 and aiming to progress to a BE90. Never in my wildest of imagination would I have thought I would be able to start the year off double clear at BE90, gain three top ten finishes and finish the year clear cross country at my first Novice!! I’ve travelled 100’s of miles to training and competitions and I can honestly say I’m totally addicted to this sport!! I look at the photos on my wall and I remember all the moments of that day the mistakes I made, the mad panic, the countless wrong turns trying to get to the event but overall the joy, happiness and laughs I’ve had at every single event I went to this year. Eventing is hard and requires so much time and money and dedication and often a lot of disappointment. I’ve been asked would I give it up and trade it for a ‘normal’ life where I can afford to go on holidays, have long lies, have a nice car, days off to lounge around and my answer is quite obviously no. No matter how hard things get I will never forget the days where everything went right, where I chased my dream and had a blast doing so. For isn’t that what life is for... chasing your dreams and making memories that will last a lifetime.
SOUTH WINNER: ROSA ONSLOW, 19 FROM HAWICK
January has been very quiet on the horse front for me. Both Sunny and Kaiser have had their winter holidays and therefore have been enjoying relaxing in the snow. We usually give our horses a 8 week holiday at the end of each eventing season.
I am currently in my gap year, we thought it would be more beneficial to train all winter and give their break in January as I am away travelling for a short amount of time in South America. I have to admit me and mum were very happy with our choice as the weather became diabolical in early January and so even if we wanted to ride, we couldn’t with over 12 inches of snow! Hopefully their holiday will pay off and they will come back fresh minded and keen to work. They have both just started their basic fitness work, which Mum and Annie (our super groom) have very kindly started to do for me. I am very lucky to have lots of quiet single track roads around our house, to strengthen our horses tendons and so our walk and trot work is very easy to do!
I am now feeling very odd as I am the other side of the world with no riding and I am already very excited to get back to it. We have planned in detail my program for when I get back so that hopefully my eventing season does not suffer! However I did manage to find some horses in Argentina and go for a ride in the Andes which was phenomenal- it didn’t take me long before I needed to find some horses!
Next blog I will hopefully also have some more exciting news to fill you in on..!
SCOTTISH RIDER FEATURE - FEB ISSUE
