In a bid to ride in the daylight and not get drenched, frozen or blown clean out of the saddle by gale force winds my friend and I decided it was time to hire a local indoor arena for an hour of uninterrupted schooling. We both felt very smug as we entered the indoor and the heavens opened, and 1 hour later still dry and having had a productive session we agreed it was an ingenious plan of ours, so we booked in for another session! Soap did some lovely flatwork he's really got the hang of working more over his back now, and to finish as a reward I popped him over a few fences which he did very nicely, leaving them all standing, which always makes me smile! Whilst my friend finished riding I 'parked' Soap in the middle of the arena, tidied away the fences and picked up droppings. He stood like a rock doing a very good impression of one of those life size plastic display model horses you see in tack shops! See if you can spot the difference! click images to enlarge

Over the winter I try to do as much dressage as possible in preparation for next seasons BE tests, and Sparsholt Agricultural College is one of my favourite venues. The arenas are fab, and even though it has a relaxed atmosphere the organisation is always very slick. I entered Soap for 2 long arena tests Prelim 15, and Novice 38 and today was his first attempt at a Novice test in competition. Unfortunately due to crazy 40+mph winds and rain all week I didn't manage to get much practise in before the day (nothing like being well prepared!) so was not quite sure how he would take to being asked for medium trot and counter canter after so little prep, and I was getting very baffled by all the extra letters to remember! He warmed up well for his first test but a little sluggish, and my nerves were not exactly helped by realising I was warming up next to Louisa Lockwood! Eeeke! I did my best 'I know what I'm doing I'm a pro don't you know?' impression when I entered the arena and despite an initial gawp to the right up the centre line from Soap, because he could see out of the side door he did a sweet test, but there is potential for so much more from him... click images to enlarge

When the scores went up we had managed 68.7% (knocking on the door of that illusive 70%!) and equal 6th place, and best of all because our score was over 63% we gained a qualification for the Sparsholt Dressage Championships in June 2010! Very chuffed with our results and hoping for a good first time Novice performance we entered our 2nd test. It all went pretty smoothly but Soap threw in a flying change in his first counter canter (I haven't taught him flying changes yet so he's taking the rap for that one!) and on his 2nd counter canter he tried to change leg but I corrected him and got the nice comment 'well recovered and maintained' for that movement. Both judges commented that he needs more 'jump' in his right lead canter so that is something to try and improve on from today. We finished Novice 38 with a very respectable 62.58% just 0.5% off qualification score, and a really pleasing Novice debut score. Polos, and pats administered we managed to whizz off home just as the heavens opened, all in all a pretty mega day!

Christmas has come early in the GHE household because I have just received a parcel from my sponsor Mountain Horse full of fantastic winter clothes to keep me warm and dry in the coming months. I am testing out the goodies one by one starting with a base layer set - thermal long johns cut to be worn under full seat breeches, and a thermal top. I wear these under tracky bums and a hoody in the mornings when I get up early to muck out before work, and they keep me toasty warm. Yesterday I put on the Arctica breeches, Angela fleece, and Ranger chaps to do some gridwork with Soap, he was a very good boy, keen and enthusiastic to be back jumping after his little holiday. The breeches are waterproof and thermal and have a nice thick waist band which makes them very comfortable, and the fleece looks very smart with them. I am a total Mountain Horse 'super fan' when it comes to footwear I love the long boots, and brown short boots they sent me earlier in the year and the Ranger chaps to go with the short boots are fab. Like the long boots they have a strip of elastic next to the zip so they fit snugly, and the profiile is cut high so they never look too short. When the weather gets really bad (fingers crossed no snow like last year, otherwise I think I might hibernate!) I also have a pair of padded full chaps, andsome fleece gloves, so come on winter do your worst! click images to enlarge

If you are a 'winter woose' like me then I really recommend investing in some Mountain Horse products, the company is Swedish so they really know how to make great fitting warm gear for 'proper weather'. Click here to see more Mountain Horse products.

Soap has come back in after his end of season 3 week holiday with Jack soon to follow suit, and Dustry is now turned out 24/7. Both seem to have adjusted to the change in regime well, but Soap had to have a serious buzz cut before I could begin any proper work with him as he had turned into some sort of furry yeti! This is him at 'maximum fluff' and then'après clip' which he has accesorised with lots of mud! click images to enlarge

After his clip I had a lesson with my dressage instructor Elizabeth Peerless and we worked on getting Soap to work more over his back, work forwards to the contact instead of keeping his neck in one position and just 'looking pretty' sitting behind the contact. Liz was really pleased with him and said he was 'very nice to work with' which made me smile. The clocks have changed so daylight is no longer an option and as a result Soap's work load is less than during the season so I have been running to keep my fitness up, and recently completed my first 10k in just over an hour. It was a real challenge but very satifying, however still not a patch on going XC!