Hilary and her best friend Foxy

Hello everyone,

I have now reached my four week anniversary with Foxy. We have packed so much in that it is hard to believe that it has only been four weeks. We've had a rally with Stephen Hadley (the famous showjumper), we've taken part in the Grasshoppers Final and have done two One Day Events already!!

The first one day event was almost a Level 3 course (that is 2'9"). We had a super day - our dressage was very interesting - we were going brilliantly until Foxy decided to have a buck and a squeal!!! Showjumping was ace and so was the cross country although I did have a stop due to technical difficulties (I took a dodgy line).

Our second ODE was just last week, over a BE Intro course although it was a Pony Club event. I had never jumped so big cross country before. To say I was nervous when I walked the course was an understatement. Foxy was magnificent! In the showjumping she listened to me and gave me so much confidence for the cross country, we flew round with only one stop (again a technical difficulty!!). I have to mention the dressage too (oh dear). The first half was appalling - Foxy was more interested in what was going on around her than listening to my aids - but still, she only squealed once and managed not to buck! We improved our dressage score by 0.3 penalties on the competition before - well, an improvement is still an improvement.

I have school exams coming up so I am easing off the competitions (Mum's orders). But we still have a lot of training and rallies to fit in. Rallies are great because I see my friends and ride Foxy at the same time. Of course I think Cross Country rallies are the best, but not everyone would agree with me. Some actually prefer Dressage rallies - can you believe that?

Signing off for this week,

Keep riding!

Hilary x