Heather - Petplan Equine Ambassador
Knowing I’ve got Petplan Equine behind me takes the stress out of an already really stressful situation, should anything happen to my horses.
I was thrilled to hear that I had been chosen as a Petplan Equine Ambassador and I had a super two days meeting all of the other Ambassadors in Cheltenham on the Ambassador training day! It was great to get to know everyone, including the Petplan Equine team and Lucinda Green, who is such an interesting, inspiring and lovely person.
Heather has four horses: Taz, Leckie, Anthem and Little Legs!
Since then, Taz Bear and I have been trying our best to get out training and competing. The ‘Beast from the East’ put a hold on our plans for a week and it was really hard going at the yard, with snow up to my knees and frozen taps. The competitions I planned to get to were cancelled, which was really frustrating – when will spring ever arrive?
We managed to compete at Northallerton Equestrian Centre. We hadn’t had much work due to the snow and Taz was on his toes! Despite this, we came first in the Medium Music class with our new Bear themed music and I was really pleased with him. We also competed in the Medium qualifier which didn’t go quite as planned, with Taz getting rather excited, throwing in a huge bronk and me landing on his neck - we scored a 1 for that movement! I think it should have been a 10 for my stickability!
Heather out competing with Taz
I recently had a great lesson with Annie Cowan, working on collection, extension and our lateral work. We have more training booked in and I’m feeling really positive about our plans. I’m so lucky to have Petplan Equine’s support and get some really good training to help us develop. We also have some British Dressage Training days to look forward to.
We also competed for our Riding Club team, Three Valleys Riding Club. Our team came third and Taz and I were second in the Medium class as individuals – I was very pleased with him. I am competing as an individual again in April in the music qualifiers at Medium level.
My plans are to keep aiming for more Medium qualifier points for summer regionals. We are fully qualified for Medium Silver for the Area Festivals and we are also having a go at our first Advanced Medium in April! Very excited!
Heather plans to step up to Advanced Medium with Taz this year
Leckie, my three year old, is doing very well in his in-hand work and long reining. He is walking out well in tack on long reins, round the field and over poles. I’m hoping he’s going to be a good boy to back this summer! He has a lovely willing attitude to work so it’s looking promising.
I have a lovely ex-racehorse that I’m producing to sell, she is very sweet and I’m hoping to find her a super home soon. I hope to have another ex-racer joining us this month too!
At the yard we had our summer series of dressage start on Easter Sunday, so I’ve been busy preparing, including a mountain of Easter eggs to give away! We run classes from lead rein to Advanced Medium so everyone can get involved and there is a lot for everyone to do.
So busy times ahead and lots of things to look forward to, as I write this the sun is actually shining! Spring could be here finally!