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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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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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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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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We came 5th!!! After 4 nail biting obstacles we held our position to come 5th!!! This is brilliant as I wanted to come in the top 10 but I never thought we would be placed! Jasper really stepped up the pace today and although we weren't the fastest we still had good times. A video of obstacle 2 can be seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2psHfsKscrg huge thanks to Fiona Powell of Inharness magazine for that!
I am so proud of him and how he coped with the event this time. Last year he had only ...
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Today we were up at the crack of dawn as we were the fast class on for our paces and precision (dressage) and cones. Our wonderful friend Elanor plaited Jasper up for me as she is a pro so big thanks to her :)
I am so proud of how Jasper went today to score 21.0 in P&P which is a personal best for both of us! So many people complemented me on his test and I don't think he could have tried any harder. He coped with the crowd much better this year although we did have a slight moment when every...
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Today we are off to The College EC, Keysoe Bedfordshire for the IHDT National Championships. After a whole winter of Indoor Driving from I was the higest placed junior in the Wessex points league we are finally off to the championships which is so exciting! We are travelling up there today as its a three hour drive and settling Jasper in as we are the first class on tomorrow morning. As usual we left about 2 hours after we were supposed to and met up with our brilliant friends Julie and Ann B...
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Eeeek so excited! My letter telling me I have qualified for the IDHT National Championships arrived this morning, after being the highest placed Senior Junior in the Wesses Region. Stabling is now booked so we will be heading off at the end of March for an exciting long weekend of Indoor driving at The College EC in Keysoe, Bedfordshire. This is one of my favourite events of the year so I am really looking forward to it. Now all that remains is to convince my school to let me go as I will hav...

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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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