This month, I have been attending training weekends, Addington High profile show and planning goals for 2014.
BEF Excel Training Weekend
I started this month of by taking Neukey to the second BEF Excel Talent Squad training weekend. We had sessions with physios, nutritionists, psychologists and vets as well as having 2 lessons with Emile Faurie.
Every session was very positive with each person saying that either Neukey or I had improved since the last sessions we had at the end of 2013 and Neukey was even awarded a perfect 3 for all sections on his fat score. I have been encouraged to apply for World Class this year which is the level up from Excel Talent.
Addington High Profile
We took Neukey to the first high profile show of 2013. We entered him for the young rider team test on the Saturday. Naturally, he was very excited to be out competing again and we had lots of impulsion in the test – perhaps a bit too much! By the end of the trot work we were on 73% but the canter work let us down this time. Neukey got very excited resulting in a couple of very low marks! However, I was still extremely pleased with my final score of 65% on only our second attempt at the level. There is still a lot to work on particularly with the canter pirouettes and then we can gain lots more marks once we are established and we can start making the test much more accurate so I am very excited for the future.
Coming up
Next month Caramba is off for his first outing to a lesson only 15 minutes up the road which will hopefully be a perfect venue for a first timer and Neukey and I will be working on perfecting our test for the Junior Squad training in February.
Goals for 2014
As 2014 began with excel training I had a chance to come up with a set of goals I hope to achieve in the upcoming year:
• European Selection
• Continue campaigning at Young Rider level
• Qualify for the nationals at Advanced Medium and PSG
• Continue training Neukey up to Grand Prix
• Continue Caramba’s training and giving him lots of experience
To keep up with Jessica’s dressage journey visit her website http://www.jessicagaledressage.co.uk/
