After what seemed like months of not being able to properly work the horses or go to shows we have finally got back to normal. During a welcome week off work we managed to fit in SJ practice at Lloyds farm wonderful indoor, dressage training with Samantha Morrison who is now permanently based at Kingswood EC, jumping BSJA at Field House and competing BD at Kingswood.

Beanie is now back in full work and Redhill SR  is just getting back to full fitness following their Christmas break (which was definitely extended due to the crazy weather).

All activities were very profitable despite Verity having to ride Beanie in driving snow during her dressage lesson. Bean showed that she is feeling on top form at the show jumping by jumping a fantastic double clear in the discovery and finishing fourth. Verity saw a few strange strides during the round as a result of being a little rusty but Bean knew exactly what her job was and didn't let it phase her at all. The dressage was equally as successful if not even better, Redhill SR won her prelim qualifier despite only having been back in work for two weeks and Beanie won the Novice qualifier too. This was Beans second win at Novice since October so she has now qualified for the Summer Dressage Regionals later this year. Not bad qualifying in the minimum number of attempts possible.

This weekend is full to the brim with horsey jobs (like emptying the muck truck), family birthdays and celebrations but we are also hoping to make the trek to Markfield for Verity's first experience there.

It is almost March.... and then the eventing starts again, Stafford BE100+ is already entered so I guess XC schooling should also be squeezed in somewhere!

Another well supported BSJA show at field house with excellent entries and a lot of experienced competitors. Since the new surface went down this venue has really gone from strength to strength.

We took Redhill SR for the British novice and Stormhill Sun Bean for the discovery.

Redhill SR jumped another double clear around a tricky course and finished in a very creitable 3rd place, amongst only a handfull of double clears.

Stormhill Sunbean jumped a super round in the discovery,keeping a lovely rythm, at only her second show back, but had an unlucky 4 faults.

This weekend we will be focusing on dressage taking a selection of horses to Kingswood, another venue that has made a massive investment recently.

Another busy weekend with our horses out competing, after last weekends successfull trip to Fieldhouse's BSJA Show our attentions turned to the B.D. show at kingswood.

Our lovely 4yo continued to impress, winning her section of Prelim 15 with a score of 68.26%, gaining half of her qualification for this years regional finals. A delighted Verity then took part in a very strong prelim 19 class, finishing in second on Stormhill Sun Bean with a score of 69.09% and in third on Redhill S.R. with a score of 68.64%. Redhill SR continues to improve and Stormhill Sun Bean made an impressive return to the dressage arena following her break.

We also took our new mare, Lioness, to field house to a BSJA training show, she had never been to a show before. Lioness behaved perfectly, coping with the travelling, warming up and competing as if she'd been doing it for years, she jumped a lovely clear and is now ready to begin her affiliated career.

It was very difficult to get motivated yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, we had been very busy taking horses schooling and to training shows at various venues on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning and the endless rain seemed to make everything take twice as long. We had planned to take Redhill SR and Stormhill Sun Bean to Field House equestrian centre to their BSJA show. However we decided to brave the conditions and make our way over to the show, leaving the yard at 17.00 last night.

We arrived just in time as the course was being set for the British Novice. Verity rode Redhill S.R. in this class and they produced a lovely, flowing double clear leaving them to take the final award, finishing in fifth place and giving Redhill S.R. another double clear for her record. Verity is really begining to click with this 4yo daughter of Secret Rumor. It was then a mad rush to get the horses swapped over and Bean ready for the Discovery. Having not jumped since scope (early September) we thought a quiet pop round a discovery would be just the ticket, once the bell rang the plan changed slightly, Verity and Bean stormed round to finish in second place.

We are now looking foward to another busy week with plenty of shows this weekend to get ready for.