Showing Tag: "carriage" (Show all posts)

Easter Holiday Update

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, April 3, 2016, In : Day to day 
So my Easter holiday has been a bit of a non event this year. I've got so much uni work to do (looking at you masters project...) that I'm still only coming home at the weekends. I did manage a few days at home over the Easter Weekend which was lovely and we had a great drive out on Jasper.
With the clocks going forward we've now switched the ponies routine over so they are now going out at night (although still with rugs on as the weather is so changeable) and they're in during the day. I lo...
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New Goals for 2016

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, February 29, 2016, In : Day to day 

Hang on a moment, its nearly March, isn't it too late to be setting goals? Not according to psychologists and I reckon better late than never. This probably isn't an extensive list but these are my medium term goals for this year.

1. Get better at clipping Jasper's legs.
I'm going to confess this has always been my Mums job. The only time they get clipped is before a competition so they have to look good and there's no room for me to practice and have a go.
I realised at the weekend if I want ...
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The fitness programme begins!

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, July 17, 2015, In : Day to day 

Hello everyone!
I'm sorry its been a while since my last post. I've been super busy working like crazy and I've just come back from a fabulous 2 week trip to Crete (excuse the bragging).
Now that I'm actually home properly and not jetting off an fabulous holidays (which you can read about on my lifestyle blog if you're interested) its time to start getting Jasper fit again so we can tackle a few outdoor events this summer.
Have to say I am seriously excited about this!
While our plans are not...
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Weekend at home driving

Posted by A O'Neill on Tuesday, May 26, 2015, In : Day to day 

Hi guys :) I've been so bad at writing this blog that many of my readers probably don't know that I've actually got myself a job. This is pretty tough to balance alongside uni and driving Jasper in fact I wrote about it on my Lifestyle Blog because it can be hard at times. My job involves shift work and this weekend saw me getting up at 5am on both days. Not an easy feat when: a) you are meant to be revising for 3rd year exams and b) you sure as hell aren't a morning person.

While I was at sc...
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'Horses shouldn't be on the road'

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, May 22, 2015, In : Day to day 

I'm sure there are many people who agree with that statement. After all roads are for cars not horses. Horse riders do not pay tax to be on the road. What possible right do they have to be there?

I've just read an article on Horse and Country about this issue and it absolutely enraged me. So much so that I have taken to my long neglected blog to write about it. The article is about the results of a poll on road users who feel that Horse Riders should have to take a test in order to ride on th...
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BCA Indoors

Posted by E O'Neill on Tuesday, December 30, 2014, In : Indoor Driving 
Hello again!
I'm kicking off my New Years resolution off early and starting this blog back up again. 2014 has been a difficult year for Jasper and I and we have faced many setbacks (mostly my degree getting in the way!).
After well over a year off from the carriage driving scene Jasper and I were back on Sunday for our first competition in what felt like forever.
Despite not knowing my test very well and feeling like I was just driving about randomly we were 4th after the dressage. Jasper then ...
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July 21st 1st Place at Lyvers Farm ODE

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, July 21, 2013, In : Outdoors 
Today Jasper and I headed off to Lyvers Farm near Salisbury for a ODE run by the WHHC. After 3 seasons of pretty much exclusively doing Nationals taking a step back down to club level was rather weird and for me remembering everything in 1 day was very challenging (must be getting old!). I had another chance to practice the test I am doing this season and we had a great score of 50.04 with just one ball down in the cones. This was slightly frustrating as Jasper and I were cantering along nice...
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July 18th Horse Quencher Delivery

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, July 18, 2013, In : Sponsorship 
Nice big parcel has arrived of Horse Quencher and the weather here in Wiltshire is scorching as we are gripped in the heatwave. Jasper now has plenty of his favorite drink to help him stay hydrated and in top condition. It will definitely be coming with us to Lyvers Farm ODE this weekend. Also new pictures from Sandringham in the Gallery page.

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July 12th Home from Majorca

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, July 12, 2013, In : Day to day 
Home today from our first family holiday in 8 years. We've had a fantastic time in Majorca with plenty of sun, sea and sand. Now tanned beyond all recognition having enjoyed some well earned R&R. Glad to be home though and Jasper was certainly pleased to see us :) Shame we missed Catton but it was certainly worth it!

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June 30th 1st in Intermediate Pony

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, June 30, 2013, In : Outdoors 
Jasper was a star today with a fantastic clear in the cones to win our class. With less than 5 penalties in hand when we went in our cones round was rather nerve wracking as the competitor in 2nd place is extremely good at cones, so any mistake I made could be costly. She then had 2 cones down, allowing me to relax and we had a fab round with just the tiniest amount of time penalties. I think I am going to have to spend some time practising the faster cones speed I have to make in Intermediat...
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June 29th Marathon day

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, June 30, 2013, In : Outdoors 
Today the rain has finally let up and we've had glorious sunshine. Our marathon time was really early at 8.30am and it was freezing at that time of the morning. My teeth were chattering the whole way round the marathon! Today Mum is back on the backstep but she has hurt her foot and can't walk that well so I was really nervous as I knew it was completely down to me to remember where we were going. However I remembered it fine and we had a good round. Jasper was extremely lively this morning a...
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June 28th Dressage

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, June 30, 2013, In : Outdoors 
Today's dresaage test has had its fair share of drama. After coming down the centre line the judge beeped the horn and said I was doing the wrong test! This caused a fair bit of panic amongst the Intermediate Pony Class as we had all learnt the same test I had but as the first competitor in it was fairly stressful to be told you had learnt the wrong test. Eventually it turned out what had been printed in the shedule was not what the judge had been told to mark and I was allowed to restart. I ...
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June 27th off to Sandringham

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, June 30, 2013, In : Outdoors 
After 5 hours of driving we have finally arrived at Sandringham National. An hour of that was spent stuck in traffic on the M25 (no suprise there!). We are set up and its been raining since we arrived. Fingers crossed it brightens up for Dressage tomorrow!

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May 5th Cones Day

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, June 1, 2013, In : Outdoors 
We came 2nd! Not bad for our first attempt at Intermediate level! With 1 ball down and a few time penalties we held our place to come 2nd overall. Its been an amazing weekend with glorious sunshine the entire time. Now for the long trek home and back to uni to start actually doing some work as my exams are rapidly approaching!

Thanks to all my sponsors for their support.

Secondhand Tack Online

Blue Chip Feeds

Horse Quencher UK

Mr & Mrs J Young
Barleycroft Farm


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May 4th Marathon

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, June 1, 2013, In : Outdoors 
Best marathon of my life today :D so proud of our little pony! He flew round the marathon to move up a place to 2nd with great times. I am particularly proud of our last obstacle which we had similar times to Advanced Pony Pair!
He was raring to go round the marathon and had a nice low heart rate of 57 at the halt. He drank his Horse Quencher and electrolytes and the sun shone. Great day, looking forward to cones tomorrow.

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May 3rd Dressage

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, June 1, 2013, In : Outdoors 
After a hectic early start with lots of rushing around the stressage is done! Picture is of Jasper chilling in the sunshine before our test. Thanks to Kate for plaiting him for me.
Jasper warmed up beautifully and then decided to impersonate a steam train in his test and proceeded to yank my arms out. Not sure what that was all about but we still had a good score of 57.07 so we have already nearly hit our season target of a low 50's dressage score now we have moved up a level. Currently lying ...
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May 2nd Off to Ashfields National

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, May 2, 2013, In : Outdoors 
Today we are off to Essex for our first event of the year, Ashfields National. This is one of my favorite events and I'm really excited. This also our first event at Intermediate level and the forecast looks excellent so should be a really good weekend!

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April 21st Carriage Fair

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, May 2, 2013, In : British Young Drivers 
Today the British Young Drivers were out in force to run our trade stand and display in the South of England Carriage Fair. This is generally considered the 'start of season party' and is a great chance to catch up with everyone. We raised over £200 and although the display didn't quite go to plan it was still a good laugh. Thank you to all our volunteers and everyone who helped raise the money. Thank you to the BC committee who have given me one of our new gilets to wear, its gorgeous!

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April 7th Obstacles

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, May 2, 2013, In : Indoor Driving 
Today was obstacle day and also the final day of the competition. Jasper flew round the obstacles but we always find Indoor obstacles challenging as they are often tight which doesn't suit Jasper and the scoring places greater importance on this phase. We were delighted to come 3rd overall and it was a great end to a fantastic season. Now we have got a 4 hour drive to Pembrokeshire as I am supposed to be on a field course in wales!

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March 15th Wiltshire Life Awards

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, March 16, 2013, In : Day to day 
Last night was incredible! My Mum and I spent an excellent evening at the Wiltshire Life Awards Ceremony, enjoying the delicious food and entertainment. My category had been shortlisted to four people with extremely strong candidates so I thought I had no chance and decided to just relax and enjoy the free champagne. We were the penultimate award so had an agonizing wait for the result but eventually it was our turn, where I was announced the Young Achiever of the Year! I was very suprised to...
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March 9th Next lesson...

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, March 9, 2013, In : Day to day 
Today Jasper has been a star! After a lethargic start Jude jumped on for 5 minutes and we then had an awesome lesson. Much improved with his medium work and rein back. Although he does reins back well in harness he has suddenly decided he doesn't know what rein back is under saddle, which is odd as that is where he orginally learnt to rein back. Very pleased with him. Spent the rest of the day getting ready for our competion tomorrow. Thank you to my sister Kiera for cleaning my carriage in e...
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March 4th We're in Ridgeway Rider

Posted by A O'Neill on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, In : British Young Drivers 
Check out our Media page for the latest issue of Ridgeway Rider which has my nomination for my intructor Jude as an inspirational trainer. It was a lovely article. Thank you to everyone at Ridgeway Rider for printing it and thank you to Jude for all the help she has given me over the years.

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February 23rd Lesson and IHDT Championships

Posted by A O'Neill on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, In : Day to day 
What an improvement from last week! I thought we were going to have to start from scratch again after the winter with working on Jaspers medium trot. But today he was actually doing it which was amazing. Great lesson, very pleased with him :) thank you Jude for your help, it was a great lesson and I wasn't as exhausted afterwards this time. Was hacking Jasper home when we rode past the postman. He is clearly new around here as he looked mildly alarmed to see someone riding a horse and was the...
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February 16th Dressage Lesson

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, February 16, 2013, In : Day to day 
Had my first dressage lesson with Jasper today for the first time in ages. He was an absolute star and was really trying with his lengthened strides which he seems to have forgotten how to do over the winter... Lots to work on as always but hopefully some progress is being made too.

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February 14th Valentines Day

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, February 14, 2013, In : Day to day 
No, this isn't some mushy post about how cute Valentines Day is, or some angry post about how life isn't fair. But the fact I am at home, on this particular day, writing this post should give you some clue about my relationship status. I have simply made a list of the reasons why I think horses are better than boys. That's not to say I hate boys, I don't. I just think there are some advantages that my horse will always have over any boy.
1. My horse thinks I am wonderful, no matter what. Unles...
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February 5th Shortlised for Wiltshire Life Awards!

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, February 10, 2013, In : Day to day 
Today I got some very exciting news that I have been nominated and shortlisted for the Young Achiever of the Year category in the Wiltshire Life Awards!
This is a fantastic surprise and I am really excited to be attending the ceremony on the 15th March. Not only is this a recognition of my own achievement but it is a chance for Carriage Driving to be in the limelight and to get to meet new and different people and share my experiences with them.
As always any updates will be posted here and th...
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February 3rd Cheering Ann on at Sparsholt

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, February 10, 2013, In : Indoor Driving 
Today I am not competing myself (which is very strange!) as I am trying to watch the pennies and only compete in really necessary events. But I have instead gone along anyway to cheer Ann on with Socks and to backstep for Vicky in the obstacles (see pictures).
I always find it a weird experience being at a competition with the atmosphere that I associate with having myself in a particular mental state in order to maximize my performance (see all this sports psychology is paying off!), which i...
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February 2nd BYD Committee Meeting

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, February 10, 2013, In : British Young Drivers 
Been up to Stow again today for a BYD Committee meeting that was extremely productive, with lots discussed and plenty of plans made.
A summary of the meeting can be found here.
Its the furthest I have driven in quite a long time so I am really tired now, but it was worth it. Watch this space to see these plans being put into action.

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February 1st Updates

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, February 1, 2013, In : Day to day 
Been a really long week at uni so I am looking forward to going home tonight.
Just thought I would share with you a few links, this one is to the Horse & Country TV website where we made it into their album of snowy pictures. My profile is also now up on the University of Southampton Sports and Wellbeing site
We also got a mention on Jo Bassetts blog for Horse & Rider magazine and our picture in as well.
As ever you can also follow us on Twitter @Carriage_Driver subscribe to this blog or our ...
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January 26th Shopping day

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, January 27, 2013, In : Day to day 
We should have been at an Indoor event at BCA today but it has been called off due to the snow, despite the fact that it has nearly all melted here. It was decided that it was too dangerous and it has been cancelled due to Health and Safety. While its a shame we can't compete today there is a small bit of me that is glad as it is very cold and I  did not have to get up at some unearthly hour this morning.
Instead we drove Jasper this morning, and then met up with Ann, Hester and Julie at the R...
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January 24th Exams are finished :)

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, January 24, 2013, In : Day to day 
Finally my exams are over! As they have stretched over nearly three weeks so far the return to uni has not been much fun. To be honest quite sick of being locked up in my bedroom staring at notes so finally freedom! Refreshers starts next week and we have been reliving the fun of our Freshers week today when I found my camera with loads of pictures on it that I had forgotten about.
Can't say my exams have gone brilliantly but I have done my best and worked hard so there's not much more I can ...
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January 19th Driving in the Snow

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, January 20, 2013, In : Day to day 

Great drive with Jasper in the snow today, he was not very impressed! You can see a video of our drive here
The other picture is Jasper galloping up the field today as he was desperate to come in and out of the cold.
He is such a wuss! I have done some revision today as I have yet more exams next week which was a lot less fun but I do at least feel productive.


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January 18th SNOW DAY!

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, January 20, 2013, In : Day to day 
Woke up this morning to about 4 inches of snow! This was all incredibly exciting but... I had an exam in the afternoon so spent all morning cooped up indoors revising :(
But at 12pm we were told the uni was shut, exams were cancelled and we escaped outside to freedom and a massive snowball fight! Amazing fun!
The bad news is that obviously I still have to do the exam but they have postponed it to a Saturday that I am away competing on. Not sure what happens now but hopefully it can be sorted ou...
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January 17th Got my Bursary Kit!

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, January 17, 2013, In : Day to day 
Its all a bit doom and gloom here at uni at the minute as everyone is stressing about exams. To cheer myself up today (and to procrastinate in truth!) I went to collect my kit that I get as part of my Sports and Wellbeing Bursary at the University of Southampton. Just thought I would share with you how snazzy it is :D
Got my 3rd exam tomorrow and then just 2 left, literally cannot wait for them to be over and one with!
Also check out our video of Kiera, Ann, Hester and I messing about at Spar...
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January 6th Win at Sparsholt

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, January 12, 2013, In : Indoor Driving 
Today we headed back to Sparsholt to compete at in the Wessex Regions January event.
After being in second place after dressage, we then had a clear round in the cones with several time penalties to be 2nd place in the phase and then remain in second place after dressage and cones. Knowing we had to make up ten penalties to win (and the person in front of us is renowned for being speedy) we were hoping to hang onto our second place. However, Jasper thought otherwise and we had the fastest obst...
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December 31st Happy New Year

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, December 31, 2012, In : Day to day 
Happy new year from everyone at Team O'Neill! Hopefully 2013 will be every bit as awesome as the past 12 months have been. Looking back, my highlight has to be representing Great Britain with Jasper back in July during those glorious few months for British sport, I have never been more proud of my country or of my pony.
Much as I wish Carriage Driving was in the Olympics, I feel privileged to have a small taste of what it is like to compete at the highest level, and you never know, one day we...
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December 30th Hat Trick at BCA!

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, December 31, 2012, In : Indoor Driving 
Jasper and I scored a hat trick today without third consecutive win in Novice Pony in the Thames Valley Region.
After an early start we arrived and did a nice dressage test to put us in 2nd place. I was particularly pleased with Jasper's attempt at lengthening today, as I thought he really tried. We then had an easy clear in what looked like a very challenging cones course but it actually drove fine. Jasper was then amazing in the obstacles and we had the fastest times in our class to win the...
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December 25th Feeling Festive!

Posted by A O'Neill on Tuesday, December 25, 2012, In : Day to day 

ITS CHRISTMAS! No matter how old I get I still have exactly the same, child like attitude towards Christmas and get stupidly excited about it. Today Jasper and I dressed up as Father Christmas and went to spread some Christmas cheer around our Village. Jasper was keen to be out and was trotting along proudly, which was probably to do with the fact his blinkers prevented him from seeing quite how silly I looked! Jasper is a bit of a poser and if he was human, would have been embarrassed to be ...
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December 14th Home from Uni

Posted by A O'Neill on Tuesday, December 25, 2012, In : Day to day 
I can hardly believe my first term at uni is over! I have enjoyed it so much but I am definitely ready to come home to recharge my batteries. My holidays look set to be busy as usual with competitions and work to do to as well as the usual commitments of family and uni work.
In truth right now I am very tired and just looking forward to a nice lie in as well as to driving Jasper.

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November 25th Sarah's off to her new home :'(

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, November 30, 2012, In : Day to day 
Today is a really sad day for me today as my pony in a million Sarah is being sold to her new home with Kim. I am going to miss her so much. I will be honest and admit that there has been a tear or two shed about this. I think it was harder parting with her again because when she went out on loan I truly did not think she was going to come back again, so I already knew how hard it was going to be. Hopefully she will give her new owners as much happiness and confidence as she gave me. Sarah wi...
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November 17th Finally Home :)

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, November 19, 2012, In : Day to day 
So glad to be home right now. After a quite frankly horrid week at uni it was worth getting up hideously early on a freezing cold morning as I forgot all about my rubbish week and fell right back into what I loved doing. Thats not to say that I don't love uni, I really do. I have an absolute blast usually but I had so much work due in and it was really difficult! Heres a pic of Jasper out and about on a chilly autumn morning. Secretly this is my favorite season and it was so nice and sunny th...
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November 11th BYD On Foot

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, November 19, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
Its been a long day for me today!
After yesterdays early start the discussions then continued late into the night last night so an extra hour or two in bed this morning was greatly appreciated. The theme of the day was Review and Planning with most of the talks being given by fellow National Young Drivers (including me!) at The Unicorn Trust. I also got a chance to talk to the BYD Sports Psychologist, Nichola today which was fantastic as my life is going through so many changes at the minute w...
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November 10th BCA Indoors 1st again!!

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, November 19, 2012, In : Indoor Driving 
It only seems like a few minutes ago we were last at Berkshire College of Agriculture but we are back again today to defend our win in Novice Pony with our usual team firmly back in place. After a dressage of 30 we were in joint 4th but then had the worlds luckiest clear in the cones to move us up to 2nd place. My Mum confessed as she thought Jasper was looking a bit 'lethargic' she had been oating him up all week. Yes I know, clearly Jasper thought this was brilliant and decided to do an alm...
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October 30th University of Southampton Sports Bursary

Posted by A O'Neill on Wednesday, October 31, 2012, In : Sponsorship 
Today I received the fantastic news that I have a place on the University Of Southampton Sport and Wellbeing Sports Bursary! This is a bursary designed to support elite athletes to help them reach the peak of their performance and to cope with balancing uni and sport. I am so excited to be part of this and it is a brilliant step forward for carriage driving as a whole (not just for myself) as the sport is starting to be taken more seriously.
I got through to interview last week, which was now...

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October 28th 1st at Thames Valley Indoors!

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, October 29, 2012, In : Indoor Driving 
YAY!!!! Jasper and I won our first indoors of the season! We also had the best score of the whole event and he was an absolute star all day (none of his usual nonsense about loading either). We were joint 3rd after dressage with 24 (leader on 23) and it was all pretty close fought. After a clear in the cones and just a few time penalties we moved up to second. Today we also had a switch around in Team O'Neill with my Mum being in Crete to see my Grandad with my other two sisters my Dad was ch...
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September 2nd Paralympics!

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, September 3, 2012, In : Day to day 
Whooo! Spent a fantastic day watching the Grade III para dressage with Ann (thank you for my ticket!). What an inspiration! Huge congrats to Deborah Criddle who won a Silver medal for Team GB and later that day were also celebrating Team Gold! What a fantastic year for equestrianism with the Silver in eventing, team golds in both showjumping and dressage as well as our amazing Individual gold and bronze in the dressage. At the same time our para drivers were in Breda celebrating Team Bronze s...
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August 26th Marathon Day

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Yet more rain overnight! Having walked the obstacles about a million times yesterday and doing an England Team course walk my legs are pretty tired. Jasper however wasn't and flew round the marathon to score reasonable times in the obstacles, we even had the fastest time in our class in one of them. He isn't yet a 'marathon machine' but he is improving and thats whats important. The best bit about today though is that we came 2nd making us Reserve Junior National Champion! We also won the Bes...
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August 25th Dressage and Cones

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : Outdoors 
After torrential rain (we really haven't been lucky with the weather this season!) overnight the arenas were very heavy going today. The trot up was fine this morning and we were first to go, Jasper looked wonderful and did his best to drag me off somewhere while I ran him up. He then did a fantastic test to score his best ever; 52! Very proud of him! This was immeadiatly followed by the cones where we got a brilliant double clear! The course was tight and technical and we had the best score ...
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August 24th Off to Henbury

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Today we are setting off to the Junior National Champtionships at Henbury Hall, Macclesfield. As it is the bank holiday weekend we were keen to avoid the ridiculous traffic that we encountered last year that made what should have been a 4 hour journey take 9 hours. We set off bright and early this morning having spent a week preparing for this event. Jasper loaded like a star and off we went. All was fine until we hit the M6 when a worrying red light appeared on the dash board of our Land Rov...
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July 18th Calais to Goring, almost home!

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Todays crossing was far rougher than on the way out there. However we are now pros at being 'commercial drivers' and knew exactly what we were doing in the Route Masters lounge. We also got through Border patrol which was hilarious as the window was level with the roof of the lorry. 90 min later we were back on English soil and on the right (I mean left!) side of the road. After dumping Jasper (who is galloping round the field with Kiwi) at Julie and Anns and flinging some stuff in the back ...
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July 17th Frankfurt to Calais

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Another 10 hours driving today and we are now at Calais parked up for the night ready to get a ferry home tomorrow morning. Ann and I went for our final ride around the farm scaring all their horses (you would think they had never seen another horse before!). We've also been playing with the kittens and cuddling their very friendly foal. Everyone else is leaving in the middle of the night but we are going to get a few hours shut eye before we leave.
 
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July 16th Back to Frankfurt

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
We were all up at the crack of dawn (again) this morning to collapse the tents (again) and we were all loaded up to go in less than 40 minutes. Jasper and Kiwi went straight in because they're pros at the whole travelling thing now ;)
After 12 hours we were back at Frankfurt where Ann and I decided to go out for a ride to stretch the ponies legs and got lost in the village we were riding through. Jasper took no notice of the freight trains that passed us as he saw plenty at Anns house. Tomorro...
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July 15th Cones

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
If I though we had had our fair share of the bad weather I was sadly wrong as todays weather has been every bit as bad as yesterdays. Having walked the course the organisers have decided the ground was being ruined after the first two classes and gave us just 15 min to relearn it. This didn't bother me and Jasper stormed round to almost make the advanced time but unfortunetly we had a few balls down due to the back end of the carriage sliding out on a few corners. It was very frustrating but ...
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July 14th Marathon Day

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Today is the Cones event of the ICKD competition and I am very proud to say they won Team Gold! Big congratulations as well to Ann who drove a fabulous double clear to take Individual Silver as well! The sun shone all morning but dark clouds were gathering ready for the FEI Marathon. I was almost last to go at about 4pm and it was chucking it down. Soaked to the skin and freezing cold we got round, navigating the complicated Section E (which had 17 compulsory flags!) to drive a neat, clean ro...
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July 13th Dressage Day!

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
This morning the heavens have opened for our Dressage Day. Jasper was a star today and did a lovely test to score 58 which is a result I was hoping for. Unfortunetly hi didn't rein back in the test, I'm not sure why as he tried to go backwards but the carriage wouldn't move. I can only assume it was stuck in a rut or something because he was really trying but we got rubbish scores for that movement which has cost us some penalties. We are currently in 11th place which I am really pleased with...
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July 12th ICKD Dressage

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, August 30, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Today was the ICKD dressage where Team GB has enjoyed enormous sucess with every member up on the podium! Big congratulations to Ann who drove a fabulous test with Kiwi and is currently lying in 2nd place.
Its all a bit nerve wracking for the FEI as we haven't even started yet but it will be all systems go tomorrow and hopefully the lovely weather will continue!

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July 11th Trot up and Opening Ceremony

Posted by A O'Neill on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Last night we had yet another huge thunderstorm  and it was boiling here again today. The trot up was this afternoon which had everyone feeling a little tense. I am pleased to say that all of Team GB ponies passed without incident and we all looked really smart. We also had another team photo shoot and got all dressed up for the opening ceremony this evening. It was a very proud moment for all of us. Hopefully it will stay dry for the ICKD dressage tomorrow!
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July 10th Nations Night

Posted by A O'Neill on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Today it has been boiling with temperatures above 35 degrees. We had a practise trot up this morning and had a great training session in the afternoon. Now we have been here 24 hours and are a little more settled we all ventured into Wiener Neustadt to buy ice cream at one of their adorable shops. Julie and mum went very early this morning as we has run out of everything. Emily and crew are also doing a blog on the BHDTA website so check it out. As yet we haven't tried the pool which I am det...
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July 9th Magna Racino to Wiener Neustadt, Finally here!

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, July 9, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Well after three long days of traveling we are finally here! We had the most enormous thunderstorm last night and it was about a million degrees in our tent. I got up and unzipped the tent in pants and t-shirt which made absolutely no difference. Ann and I went exploring round the beautiful racecourse. I rode Jasper bareback as there was no room for a saddle on the lorry. Today has been swelteringly hot so we bathed both ponies and let them graze in the sun to dry. By 2.30 we were all off on ...
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July 8th Frankfurt to Magna Racino, nearly there!

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, July 9, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Today we were up at an eye watering 5am which is 4am England time! The picture is the sun rising over their outdoor arenas. We loaded all our tents and ponies and were on the road by 6am. After 12 hours driving we finally reached our overnight stop  in Vienna. Having upset quite a few German people on the way (they are not very good at waiting patiently) and attracted crowds of people wanting to look at the ponies at every stop. It's been a long day and Kiera, Ann and I have spent our time pl...
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July 7th Calais to Frankfurt!

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, July 8, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
After a smooth ferry crossing we finally arrived at our over night stop in Calais at around 3am! Luckily we are used to arriving in the middle of the night so are well practised at it.  Both ponies are travelling fine and after about 4 hours sleep we were up for the ten hour drive to Frankfurt in convoy with Emily who kindly dragged herself out of bed to help us get sorted so thank you  to Emily and Sue. The drive was uneventful with both ponies drinking their Horse Quencher and we arrived at...
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July 6th OFF TO AUSTRIA, Goring to Calais!

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, July 6, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
We have finally left! Jasper not impressed about loading but he is now on the lorry with kiwi! Kiera, Ann and I are crammed in the lorry living on our way to Dover to get our ferry before our first overnight stop over in Calais. We are praying for a smooth crossing as everyone apart from me gets seasick! 
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July 5th Back to Anns!

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, July 5, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Had a great evening yesterday going to the cinema with my friends to see the Amazing Spiderman. It wasn't a film I would have picked but it was amazing and I loved it! This morning we drove back up to Anns house to deliver Jasper so he could be checked that he was fit to travel by her vet and did some more packing. We are now almost ready! Picture taken by Emily of her pony, Jack who is also crashing at Anns house with Jasper.
Isobel is coming tomorrow as she is kindly taking my carriage and a...
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July 2nd Jaspers had a makeover!

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, July 5, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Yes Jasper has finally had a make over so he doesn't look such a scruff! Big thank you to Vicky for coming and pulling his mane for me yesterday and to Sam of Hooves-n-Woofers for coming and clipping him today at such short notice! Yesterday Kiera helped me clean the carriage and today with the help of my three sisters we made a start on repainting it. I still have loads of it to finish tomorrow but I think we are actually starting to get somewhere. The picture is Jasper with his present; an ...
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June 30th Trip to Anns house

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, July 5, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Today is the morning after my leavers ball and after a late night curled up on my friends sofa I was up early so I could get home in time to do the ponies. After about 4 hours sleep (and a hangover) I was up driving Jasper for the last time before we leave for Austria. The picture is the view from behind Jasper out on Salisbury Plain when for once it wasnt raining! We then drove up to Anns house with the car piled high with stuff to make a start on packing for Austria so its nice that we have...
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June 29th Jaspers back :)

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, July 1, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Jaspers home from Judes today, who tells me he has been a very good boy. I went to see him yesterday when our farrier Jerry came to shoe him for Austria and kindly gave me a spare set of shoes for him. Tonight was my Leavers Ball so I was busy getting ready for that so thank you to Jude for having Jasper and to my Mum and Dad who went and picked him up for me. I had a fabulous night and my feet are absolutely killing me! It was great to see all my friends and get all dressed up for once.

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June 22nd Jaspers off to Boot camp

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, June 23, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Today has been crazily busy with more preparation for Austria. Despite having about 6 hours sleep out of the last 72 hours I was up at the crack of dawn to take my sister to school (yup my family enjoys a luxurious chauffeur service provided by moi). I am not a morning person anyway so dragging myself out of bed was tough.

My mum and I were then off to see our friend who is printing the GB teams lorry stickers for Austria to okay the trial one she has done. It looks brilliant and it was so wei...
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June 21st Union Flag is here!

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, June 21, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 

For someone who never gets interesting post I had a very exciting letter from the BHDTA today containing my official union jack flag to wear in Austria!
I am so happy as I was worried I might not get to wear it and its fantastic to have our hard work officially recognised.
In terms of progress for Austria most of my team kit has arrived, our team lorry stickers are in progress, the paperwork is being sorted as is our route.
Its really close now and I seriously can't wait.
Our local paper the Sali...


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June 20th Training with James

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, June 21, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 

Had another great days training today with James Rooney but a driven one this time. We loaded the trailer back up and drove down to Anns yard. I had my lesson first working on the dressage test I will be doing in Austria. Jasper went brilliantly today, really pleased with him, going in a lovely rounded outline and really trying his best with his medium trot.
The picture is of us warming up so his outline is not as nice there but mum forgot to take any more pictures!
After behaving so well all w...


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June 19th Training at Carolines

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, June 21, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
Spent a fabulous day in Hampshire today training with Caroline Douglas in preparation for Austria.
Jasper was great and showed huge improvement throughout the day so I was really pleased with him. I got loads out of my lesson and I am glad we did as I feel so much more postive about Austria now. Big thanks to Caroline for a great lesson and for her generous hospitality. The icing on the cake is that today the weather has been brilliant, sunshine never fails to lift my mood.
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June 18th Blue Chip Delivery

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, June 21, 2012, In : Sponsorship 
Had a fabulous delivery of my Blue Chip Feed today and I am very pleased to announce that they are now going to include Fortune Teller again.
We have decided to switch the ponies to Pro Balancer so big thanks to Blue Chip for getting my feed to me in time for Austria.
I also love, love, love the new bottles for the Joint RLF which are much cleaner and easier to use which is brilliant.
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June 14th Horse Quencher delivery

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, June 15, 2012, In : Sponsorship 
Had a huge parcel arrive this morning! I never get any post normally, and if I do its only boring things like bank statements. I was quite ridiculously excited when I opened it and realised it was all my Horse Quencher!
Big thanks to Lucinda for also sending me a window sticker and a HUGE banner as well as generously providing some Horse Quencher for the team travelling to Austria. Now I don't have to worry about running out of that before we leave either!

You can like their Facebook page here...
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June 10th WPEC 2DE

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, June 15, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Spent a great weekend at Windsor Park Equestrian Clubs two day club event. As my exams (and Austria!!) are getting pretty close I'm not competing this weekend but instead backstepping for my friend Jo Basset and her pony Flash.
I had such fun, and it was really nice to be out and about without the added stress of actually competing myself for a change. Its been a while since I have done any backstepping and I really enjoyed myself.
Driving up to Windsor was also my first solo long distance driv...
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June 7th Blue Chip Update May

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, June 15, 2012, In : Sponsorship 
Blue Chip have just posted my latest update on their website, check it out! We're even on the front page!

http://www.bluechipfeed.com/2012/06/07/may-2012-%E2%80%93-amber-o%E2%80%99neill-update/

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June 2nd BYD Training

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, June 4, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
Today has been a great days training at Fenix Carriages in Devon, with two different groups running alongside each other. One group was trained by Wilf Bowman-Ripley who is a team trainer as this group is headed to Austria and the other group consisting of BYD South West members was trained by Mark Broadbent.
My best friend Ann, who I am traveling out to Austria with as she is on the JWT team stayed round mine Friday night and we were up all night messing about painting our nails with Union J...
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May 30th WE'RE GOING TO AUSTRIA!

Posted by A O'Neill on Thursday, May 31, 2012, In : FEI Junior European Champs 2012 
So excited to announce that Jasper and I have been selected to compete in the FEI Junior European Championships hosted by Austria this July. This is the best piece of news I have ever had and I can't say how proud I am that I will be representing Great Britain for the fourth time. This is going to be Jaspers first international competition and there is so much to organise and plan! There is no greater honour than to represent your country in the sport you live and breathe and words cannot des...
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May 20th Marathon Day

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, May 28, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Watching all that polo yesterday has turned Jasper into a marathon star! We won the marathon and had one of the best scores out of the whole event! We have done a lot of fittening work with him recently which meant the marathon seemed easy to him. We had some of the fastest times and he finished feeling like he would go round again. At the halt he had his Horse Quencher and has a heart rate of just 52 which was great. After that fabulous result we finished 2nd overall, with enough people in t...
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May 19th Dressage and Cones day

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, May 28, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Dressage went well today after the ever scary standing presentation. The going was far heavier than I had anticipated and I was pleased with another score of 57 and 48/50 in both phases respecitvely. However the best part of today is our fantastic double clear in the cones. I was really annoyed with the time penalties I had last time at Ashfields and was determined not to have any today. I also kept trying to remind myself I had driven far more technical courses than this one and we didn't to...
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May 18th Off to Windsor Park regional

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, May 28, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Had a bit of a suprise when I got home from school yesterday as Jasper had changed colour! Mum had finally got round to clipping him and much as I hate to admit it I am very impressed with how neat a job she has done.
Having spent the past week removing all the mud from Ashfields from all our kit and loading everything back up we actually did leave as soon as I got home from school. Hurray! The journey was stressful as trying to find the right gate to enter the Great Park and towing a trailer...
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May 6th Cones day

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, May 28, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Today was the final day of Ashfields National and we were the first driver in the arena this morning; an experience I always find nerve wracking. Jasper was fab today and we had a great clear with just a smidgen of time penalties. That is the annoying thing about going first is you have no idea how tight you are going to be on time, but oh well, nothing I can do about it. I was really chuffed with this until the judges told me I was eliminated! My heart just sank. They told me I had not drive...
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May 5th Marathon Day

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, May 28, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Mud mud glorious mud! Todays marathon was shortened drastically to try and make it fairer for the horses, with extra time and slower speeds to make. This was a good decision as it saved the horses for the obstacles which included a real tank in honour of this years charity, Help4Heroes. Luckily a tank is nothing unusual for us, living where we do. Infact I walked past it about 5 times yesterday and didn't even see it! Jasper was on FIRE today storming round, so proud of him and really pleased...
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May 4th Dressage day

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, May 28, 2012, In : Outdoors 
As we are at a National event we are here for three days which means I am missing school today. Oh well, will worry about that later! Our Dressage went brilliantly today with a score of 57, which is well under the 65 target (again!) and the best in the class! As predicted all my cleaning was pointless as just walking from the lorry park ruined all my hard work. Luckily the presentation judge was very understanding. Spent the rest of today walking incredibly muddy obstacles, which the organise...
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May 3rd Off to Ashfields National

Posted by A O'Neill on Monday, May 28, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Today we left for Ashfields as soon as I got home from school and being better organised then last time only left an hour later than planned so we actually arrived in the daylight to set up. Our friend Kate texted us on the way to warn us how muddy it is here. As we were only here 2 weeks ago and it was fairly muddy then, I thought she was probably making a fuss about nothing, until we actually got here and saw the true extent of the mud. It looks more like I've accidently stumbled into Glast...
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April 22nd Marathon Day

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, April 29, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Today is marathon day and the course is so muddy! It has hardly stopped raining here and the ground is greasy at the best of times so today it is a mudbath! The marathon was shortened slightly to reflect this. Jasper was so keen this morning it was like a different pony. We were coming in on minimum times and made the walk easily. Although we werent the fastest in the obstacles, he is still young and I was pleased with his willingness. We came 6th overall which I was thrilled about, with plac...
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April 21st Dressage and Cones

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, April 29, 2012, In : Outdoors 
Day one of the compeition is an early start for me as we are the second competitor in the arena. I was up at 6am early enough to take a picture of the sun rising as I walked the cones course which suited me much better then the one at the Indoor Championships. This event is not just a start of season warm up for us (as its very far away from home) as it is a selection event for Austria. We have been told we have to get a dressage score of less then 65. Our test went well and I am pleased to s...
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April 2oth Off to Ashfields

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, April 29, 2012, In : Outdoors 
After an seriously boring week at school, as soon as I got home today we loaded Jasper and set off to the EACDGs 2DE at Ashfields. We have spent all week getting ready so everything was packed, clean and ready. Jasper loaded without too much of a fuss and we were off down the A303 yet again. However being Friday night at rush hour we hit traffic and ended up arriving at 9 o'clock at night in the pitch black. We have a trailer, not a lorry and everything has to be completely dismantled so that...
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April 15th Carriage Fair

Posted by A O'Neill on Sunday, April 15, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
We have had a fabulous day out at the South of England Carriage Driving Fair at Merristwood Arena. This brilliant event is organised by the Brockham Harness Club and is generally seen as being the start of season get together. Theres great displays, trade stands and food so Carriage Driving enthusiasts, old and new from all diciplines can meet up together and have a good day out. This year Sarah and I were part of the BYD Jump and Drive Display as part of the Blue Team with my best friend Ann...
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April 11th Day 2

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
Its my last day up in Stow today and its also my friends birthday so Happy Birthday to her :)
Weather is a bit better today as yesterday I had to be hosed down as I was so muddy from standing on a friends backstep as it chucked it down during her lesson. Huge fun today eating lots of birthday cake and helping out. So sad to be going home but I have to try and schedule in some 'normal teenanger time' and see my non horsey friends, one of which is having a house party tonight. Heart wrenching to...
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April 10th BYD Camp Day 1

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
Today is the first proper day of the main British Young Drivers camp. There are lots of new faces, so loads of names to learn. This is even more of a challenge as the final part of the NYD clinic WE are doing the teaching! In groups of three we gave 8 20min sessions on a variety of subjects to all of the BYD camp. Each group of three had a different subject area to discuss during the 20min slot, ours being the Pony and Stable management. We talked about the use of massage, warm up, cooling do...
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April 9th NYD Camp Day 3

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
This morning I was on at 8.30am as I asked to swap with someone else my mum is going home with Jasper today so we wanted lots of time to get packed up. I was up hideously early, hiked up to Jaspers stable to tack up and helped build the cones course for this morning lesson. As you can imagine it threw me a bit when I got to my lesson and the course had changed significantly! After walking it again we had a great lesson driving the (incredibly tricky) course clear several times and playing aro...
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April 8th NYD Camp Day 2

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
Day two has followed in a similar fashion to yesterday with individual lessons. I am enjoying backstepping for my friend and learning a lot in the process. We spent today working on Jaspers lateral work and responsiveness. We were praised for how straight he is which I was thrilled about. Tonight we have a meeting to discuss the future of the British Young Drivers and tomorrow is our last day of lessons :(

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April 7th NYD Camp Day One

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
It is day one of Easter camp and its been a tough day of lessons! My trainer is Sarah Garnett (aka Granny) who is lovely but very strict! Our lessons were individual and very intense, so I am confident we will make a great improvement over the next few days. My sister Kiera has kindly videoed the lessons for me so I can watch them when I get home. We spent today mostly working on transitions and trying to get more expression into Jaspers trot and I was very pleased with him. Our stable is as ...
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April 6th Off to Unicorn Trust

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, April 14, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
Today we are leaving for the British Young Drivers Easter Clinic held at the Unicorn Trust, Stow-on-the-wold in Gloucestershire. This year for the first time the camp is being split into the National Young Drivers and those competing at Club level and below. The NYD's are arriving today and we finish Tuesday morning. Everyone else arrives Monday lunchtime and finishes Thursday afternoon. I am going to stay on and help at the rest of the camp until Wednesday afternoon.
It seems like we have on...
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February 5th Indoors Sparsholt

Posted by A O'Neill on Saturday, February 18, 2012, In : Indoor Driving 
We woke up this morning to find that we had had four inches of snow overnight! However as Sparsholt College had not cancelled the WHHC had to go ahead with the event planned. We loaded up and braved the icy roads to compete Jasper in the snow! Despite being freezing cold we had our best ever dressage test of 22.5. This was the joint best score and we had the best paces mark of the whole event! The judge also commented on how much he had improved. I just couldnt believe it. Obviously Jasper th...
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January 29th BYD On Foot Meeting

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, February 10, 2012, In : British Young Drivers 
On January 29th I went to another BYD on foot meeting at Unicorn Trust, Stow-on-the-Wold, for another excellent sports psychology talk with Nicola Kentzer on Team Building, where we learnt several techniques that we will be putting into practice in our upcoming outdoor season. This is particularly relevant as the British Young Drivers are starting the selection process for the Junior World Trophy and for the first time, the FEI Junior Championships will be run alongside it in Austria, July 20...
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January 21st Indoor Event Sparsholt

Posted by A O'Neill on Friday, February 10, 2012, In : Indoor Driving 

January 21st was our first Indoor event of 2012 and we were back to being the first competitor in the arena and scored a respectable 36.0 in the dressage, followed by a clear round in a very tricky cones course. Despite picking up on some time penalties we were lying in third place after the first two phases. We then did our obstacles, which were great fun and had much faster times than we have had previously to hold onto our third place and Best Junior.



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Carriage Driver Blog Hi my name is Amber, welcome to my blog! This is where I will record what it is like being a Junior Carriage Driver and what I get up to day to day.

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