It's been a while since my last update but things have been pretty quiet here with the end of the season and the winter hitting us. We had a change of grazing which meant saying goodbye to Linda and Dawn who have been amazing support for us since we bought Tech, taking care of him and training him for me over the first few months we owned him. It was sad to leave them but I had an opportunity to move Tech closer to home which makes it easier for me to get out there more often which is great. Tech and I continued our lessons and training with my coach, Betty Blundell, as and when the weather and ground conditions allowed. We've been working towards our first competition at the beginning of November (or so I thought!) - the 38th Mistubishi Paralympic NZ National Championships in Waikato. It's the first time para-equestrian has been included so it's exciting to be working towards such a great event!

Then I found out last week that the North Island Para-Equestrian Championships are being held on the 16th - 18th September at Showfields Equestrian Centre (a fab venue might I add!) so our training schedule has been ramped up so we are ready for this important first competition.

I've got an awesome riding/horse training crew on board at my new location - Alex and Lia - who are working hard to get Tech into shape after the winter, and working on the comments from the judges in our HOY tests. Thanks heaps guys!

A few weeks ago Tech became quite sore through his back and wasn't a happy chap, so Liz Thompson from Blue Mist Equine spent an afternoon with Tech and Mum working through some postural exercises and giving him a thorough check over, checking his saddle fit and giving us some feed tips too. Thanks Liz! Then a couple of weeks later, Steve Cleary from Savvy Touch met Tech and worked his Savvy Magic on him which was amazing to watch - Thanks Steve! He responded really well to all his treatments and he's feeling pretty loose, relaxed and good about himself now so bring on the bend and flexion! :o)

So we're looking forward to our first full season together, and will be working hard to improve our scores from HOY and have some fun together!

I want to take this opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to all my helpers, riders, coach, my family and sponsors for all your support. I've said it before but I'll say it again - I couldn't do it without you!