Petplan Equine
Sponsored Rider - Juliette

January to March Update

Finally spring has arrived, bringing the chance for us to put all that winter training into practice! Boodles has started the year brilliantly, feeling very well (read ‘fresh....’) and with far more confidence and enthusiasm than last year. We have had several outings already, starting with my first experience of a BE Jumping and Style (JAS) competition at Arena UK. This was very different to anything I had tried with him before and our first visit to this venue, but Boodles posted a lovely clear round in the BE90 section, with only a couple of wobbles which affected our style marks. Still we managed a respectable 21st in a class of over 60. Our round was captured on video this time- see how we got on here:

We went on to an arena event as our first event of the season- an unaffiliated 90cm at Keysoe where we managed a 31.75 dressage and another double clear for second place. He has really come on from his winter training; it is so rewarding to see him so happy and confident in his work!

Our first BE90 of the season took place at Oasby in March, where Boodles really came alive! He was very excited to be out and took some calming before the dressage- he was very enthusiastic and threw in quite a few excited leaps and bucks! I hardly dared to move in the test itself but we were rewarded with an encouraging 29.8 dressage- not bad in the circumstances I felt! We had an unfortunate three poles in the show jumping as Boodles was a little too forward and was not really listening to me- resulting in a few flat jumps. I was so pleased with his enthusiasm though, and this was the first time I had ever felt that he was finding the jumps a bit too small! Cross country Boodles was starting to settle, and although he wanted to gallop along he allowed me to settle for a steadier rhythm and we had a lovely clear round which he made feel easy. We negotiated our first ‘sunken road’, a corner and the dreaded roll top before water which last season would have been a big test- he bowled along and never felt worried about any of it- we had 4 time penalties (too slow) so next time I’ll let him up the pace a little! Overall we finished 12thand I was so pleased with this effort; it was only last April we were having problems at 75cm so he has come on so much in the last few months.

Jess has had a slight delay in her start to the season as we have had a tooth problem to contend with. She developed a painful tooth abscess which initially showed as a painful swelling of the jaw that I noticed when putting her bridle on. Now, with the offending tooth removed, she has returned to full work. I hope to start with her at an unaffiliated hunter trial to get her back into the swing of things- we are aiming at Poplar Park on 3rd April as our first outing. She will then be aimed at her first BE100 of the season in May.

The end of March saw Boodles and I meet Lucinda Green for a Petplan Masterclass. I had been eagerly anticipating our session and hoped Boodles would be on his best behaviour. It was a stressful trip up the A1 for us with a huge traffic jam which delayed us for an hour! Thankfully I managed to join the class late and we had a fantastic session. Lucinda was brilliant- she was full of enthusiasm and very positive about all the horses and riders and gave us some very useful tips- particularly for Boodles who can lack bravery; I really liked her advice to lengthen the rein and hold my hands wide to maintain the contact, then when he puts his nose down in the last stride to look at the fence I am not pulled out of balance. And if he did stop I would be likely to stay put!

Next month Boodles will be heading to Norton Disney for his second BE 90 of the season, hoping for an improved show jumping round this time. Mid-April we will make the yearly trip to Somerford Park in Cheshire for our 3-day boot camp eventer training. This is so much fun, I have been going yearly for the last decade now!