Spanish one take's on BD with a surprising result...

So we've moved on a bit since my last blog, unfortunately my Ankle hasn't. It is still very swollen current thinking is i have partially torn the Tendon as well as Ligaments.

But I'm not giving in with the help of painkillers & a dressage whip to aid poorly left leg & my brand new very posh blingy PROtector hat off we went for Galante's first big boy show (aka British Dressage comp ).


It was only Prelim & due to my rider group i have to be in the open section of Prelim & Novice, so we where never going for a win we where just going to allow Galante to get some ring time. (I have to say i found this very refreshing & I'm actually really enjoying competing with the pressure off i do like to wind myself up & taking Galante out has really helped the competition nerves to go away).
To say Galante was a little taken back by it all is a bit of an understatement, the venue we picked was the Field House.
When picking the venue i did slightly forget that he has only been in one indoor school twice!


The Field house is a lovely venue & has two indoor schools that adjoin each other so you get to warm up indoors. This was the first time i had been back to the field house since Jan 2010 & i was pleased to see it's lovely outdoor arena finished, it really is going to be somewhere i frequent a lot this year.


So back to Galante, we walked into the Indoor to find another horse warming up. Galante was very excited at proceeded to Piaffe every time we halted & passage round the arena. I only allowed 30 mins w-up for him as he isn't quite 5yo yet & i knew that the day would mentally drain him. But he warmed up like a Pro, i kept an eye on my Mum who kept giving me pointer to work on & i felt completely prepared for the test.
So the time came for our turn!!


The doors open & Galante gets to see the competition arena for the first time, white boards a glory, quickly followed by "what the hells that at the end of the arena mum".
Hmmm i had also forgot that he has never seen a judge in a car!!

So after some tense toing & froing we where allowed to enter the arena, then the horn goes & off we go.
We start down the centre line get to x & it turns into the wobbliest c - line i have ever rode & then STOP. Galante was transfixed by the car & the people inside. With A LOT of coaxing i managed to somehow get him close enough to the car to make the first turn.
He was very tense throughout the test & there is a lot to look at in the arena with a viewing gallery & cafe right next to it.


But he did let me ride him & we didn't miss a marker or transition, by the time we got to the end i could feel Galante really settling. I couldn't help but beam when we had finished i was so proud of him.
The biggest problem actually came when we tried to leave the w-up arena & go back to the lorry, he was most perplexed by the transition of dark arena to light outside but eventually we made it out & back to the lorry. Where we commenced treat time for Galante.


There wasn't long in between tests so i was back on before i knew it, again i kept the w-up very short & did mostly walk as by now he felt drained.
We entered the arena for the test & he did feel behind the leg, i then made the decision not to push him & just have a quiet round. This is exactly what we got & he felt like a little grown up going passed all the things the frightened him in the first test without a blink of an eye.


The trot work in the 2nd test did feel behind the leg but both of the canters where super & he really got the marks for them & comments.

So to my joy we had somehow managed a 1st & 2nd place for our section of which i was competing against 3 other, score's where on the low side but the judges comments where most encouraging & very positive.
It was a wonderful day out, it's been a long time since i competed & i had forgot how much i enjoy it & Galante really made the day.


We have a lot of competitions coming up as the plan is to keep getting Galante out now & then make the Jump to Novice with hopes of qualifying for Petplans at Open Novice.


Troy is still ticking along nicely I'm pleased to report that we have finally got some weight shifted off him. I cant believe how long it's taken to get any weight off him, we still have a way to go but not as far as we did.
He will also be out competing soon.

Eavie our almost 2yo is doing fabulous & im hoping that somewhere in between all the BD comps she will get to go out in hand to some local shows.

Thanks for reading & pop back soon to see how things progress with Team Turner at CT Dressage :)