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Ponies & Prosecco

Holiday done and we are back to business and hitting the ground running. Two show jumping and two XC clinics done already this month with a Dressage Show and Gridwork clinic left to go. 

With the Area Festivals next month maybe we should be paying more attention to our flat work!  But let’s be honest it’s more fun to leave the ground especially when you can be on a group with friends. 

Our first trip out was to Carmen Court for a jumping clinic with Janine Lamy on the first Saturday of the month. I took both Wigs and Buzz. It’s fair to say I was pretty tired from just bathing and scrubbing them clean, let alone riding. Both boys coped so well with the heat and I think it was the best Wigs has ever felt. Of course Buzz just loves being out and thought it was great fun. What a pair of dudes!

Janine had a double dose of us as the following Tuesday we went to an all day clinic at Lodge Farm in Matfield. In the morning we had a show jumping clinic. This was the first time I have ever show jumped Wigs on grass so I was more nervous about this then the XC. However Wigs thrives on the freedom that came with jumping in a larger arena and was super keen. Hopefully next time it will be a bit less exciting and we will be able to slow our tempo a bit.

After a quick lunch break and gear change we went out onto the XC course. This was my third time going to Lodge Farm for XC training this year so we both felt confident and soared around the course. We even tackled some new fences. 

This was the perfect confidence boost before our clinic this week at Tweseldown with Ben Hobday. I was super nervous before this clinic and had a few trips to the toilet before hand. 13 years ago I had a nasty fall XC here and I broke my leg so severely that I was left in a wheelchair for the best part of a year. This was the first time I had ridden at Tweseldown since that day. Luckily I have a lot of trust in Wigs and he definitely looked after me. By 20 minutes in we had done several courses at about 80cm. We tackled our first corner with out hesitation and a step to house combination. Ben then challenged us and gave us a new course to ride which included some BE90 and BE100 jumps. This definitely got my  nerves going again as this was out of our comfort zone and I became a bit of a passenger riding to some of the bigger fences resulting in us stopping at a couple. However I gathered my senses and which some wise words from Ben we sailed over all of the jumps. I was so proud as these were the biggest and most technical XC fences I have ever attempted. Ben is really good at inspiring confidence in people and will stop and tell you what went right and what went well, and how to correct it. I left the session feeling very inspired and determined to ride much more effectively. 

Now it’s time to crack on with our flat work and try to slow our canter back down after all this fun galloping across country. We have the Area Festivals at Speedgate next month and I am hoping to give it my best shot, so now the hard work starts! 

Love 

Lizzie and Wigs 

xXx

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