Excluding my inability to count 10, 11 and then 12 in the correct order the boys were both double clear in their classes this weekend.

Things kicked off with Corky on Friday night. We headed over to Luffness for a jumping lesson with Aimee. We were practicing in advance of the arena eventing at SNEC on Sunday. We covered skinnys, corners, bounces, water tray and jumps on the angle. Corky was amazing, locking onto everything but unfortunately also going at the speed to light! He was so happy to be back jumping there literally was no stopping him at times. He did do everything I asked though, even when I wasn't confident about the line, he took over and got us through. I was very pleased with him but felt I was either over ridding, or not doing enough. I am definitely struggling jumping two such difference horses!

Lucas was jumping in the baby BS class on Saturday morning at Rockrose. He was extremely well behaved. Lots of horses were struggling with the sun streaming into the arena and getting distracted but he was happy to jump round. I did almost go straight from jump 10 to 12 only realising just in time to circle back to number 11! No prizes due to my sat nav issue but a nice round from Lucas - time to move him up to 80s now.

On Sunday Corky went to SNEC for our first arena event of the season. There were 10 show jumps and then 10 XC style jumps. I was worried as some of the jumps were much higher than we had jumped in a while and some were very small. This is not a good combination for Corky and I thought it would have been a demolition derby - I should have had more faith really! Corky settled after jump two and gave me a lovely double clear!! We were too slow to be placed but he behaved so well I didn't care at all. Videos and photos to follow.

Over the coming weeks I have a few more cat 1 BS shows with Lucas and will be concentrating on dressage and arena eventing with Corky. I'm starting to get excited about the start of the eventing season after catching up with lots of eventing friends I haven seen in ages on Sunday. Hopefully if I can continue to work hard on Corky's flatwork we should see our placings improve on last season.

To finish off a big thanks for my lovely Mum who is not horsey at all but has decided to start reading my blog so she can spell check it for me :-) Unfortunately my spelling isn't great and I usually write on my phone when I'm traveling (currently on a flight to Belfast!). I might start spot prizes for anyone who can pick up any typos before my Mum!!

Like most of Scotland my weekend was hampered by snow - I know it's January and it's to be expected but it's still a pain when you own horses!

​Our outdoor school is out of action so we headed over to a local indoor school on Saturday evening for a quick run-through of our dressage tests in the hope the competition wasn't cancelled on Sunday. As you can see from the pics the weather was horrible but it was well worth it to ride indoors!

James at Rockrose was kind enough to keep us updated on the weather and surface of the outdoor school with videos on facebook at 11pm on Sat, and then again at 6pm this morning. We were also sent a text and email to confirm the show was still running. Although heading up to the yard at 6.30am to plait wasn't a particularly appealing thought, James had made such an effort it motivated me to go! I'm very glad I did as the roads were fine, there was no snow or ice at all at Rockrose and Corky behaved!! I unfortunately didn't do as well as he did with a nat nav issue in each of our tests - oops!

​We ended up riding P15 in the long arena first, excluding my momentary memory lose I was really pleased with the test as we haven't competed in two months while Corky recovered from straining his shoulder. We scored 64.58% and were 5th - very respectable! Unfortunately P12 didn't go as well. After a bit of a delay ending up in too long a warm-up Corky was bored and not interested in accepting the contact! 61% but we did get an 8 for our free-walk!! First one at a BD show so all in all a good morning.

We headed over to Tower to use the indoor school again tonight, it was Lucas' turn and he was on good form! Very excited, some fun bucks in his canter but feeling good. We finished with a few jumps which was all going well until Lucas decided he wasn't keen on the pink jump, stopped and smashed his head into my raw ending with me on his neck rather than in the saddle - ouch! Fortunately I managed to stay on-board and after that the pink jump was no longer frightening! Never a dull moment with horses!

​Next week sees Lucas at BS @ Rockrose and Corky arena eventing at SNEC.

As everyone knows I was shortlisted in the Blue Chip sponsorship competition through Horse and Rider Magazine. Initially I had to compete an application form and sponsorship CV which were used to come up with a shortlist of six riders. The riders were from all over the UK (though I was the only Scottish rider) and from a mix of dressage, show jumping and eventing. Each rider was then given two months to collect an many votes as possible via a Survey Monkey.

I shared the link on my own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and also contacted local clubs and venues to seek their help. British Eventing Scotland, Rockrose Equestrian, Blueridge Equestrian and South East Scotland Dressage Group all shared my link on their own social media - Rockrose even sent out a mailshot to their own members asking them to vote for me. I sent my own mailshot to lots of lovely colleague within Standard Life and Vebnet asking for their support.

​The voting closed on the 31st of Dec and then there was what felt like a very long week and a half to wait to find out the results. When I got the email from Georgia at Horse and Rider I was sitting at my desk and couldn't believe it. My boss had to come round and read the email - he was worried it was a client complaint as I looked so shocked!!

​I'm now in touch with Liz from Blue Chip arranging a supply of their fabulous balancers and supplements for Corky and Lucas. Liz has been really helpful recommending what combination will be best for each horse. They are supporting one horse and I will also be moving the other onto Blue Chip feeds too.

​It will be great to work with Blue Chip over the year keeping the boys in tip top condition.

 

Highs
Being shortlisted in the Blue Chip sponsorship competition and having our photo in Horse and Rider magazine
Being placed with Corky in the BE90 at Hutton in the Forrest - our first placing at a BE90
Riding a 66.73% with Corky in a prelim in the long arena at SNEC
Winning the 60cm at Blueridge with Lucas
Riding DC at Lucas' first BS show since his injury
Getting my lovely new lorry Bluebell

Lows
Almost falling off and racking up 16 faults in the SJ phase at Belsay Horse Trial
Almost driving my old lorry off a bridge - also at Belsay
Falling off Lucas 2 weeks in a row schooling at Luffness
Horrific dressage at Floors with Corky
Lucas falling off the lorry ramp and getting trapped (fortunately he was not injured)
Being tanking out of my school at home by Corky when I left the gate open

Aims for 2016

Two happy and healthy horses
Sub 30 DR score in a BE90 with Corky
DC in a BE90 with Corky
4 BN DCs with Lucas

I have spent a truly wonderful 2 weeks off work riding every day - bliss! We have been schooling to Blueridge on Hogmanay, beautiful early morning New Year's day, a hack at Threipmuir Reservoir, jumping lesson at Rockrose and dressage lesson at home. Both horses are feeling good (little fresh for this time of the year!) and I'm starting to get my entries and events planed for 2016. Here is a selection of photos and videos from our fabulous holidays.