We were lucky enough to be part of the Para Equestrian demonstrations on all three days of Equidays, under the guidance of the brilliant Julie Malcolm and Jody Hartstone, my amazing coaching team!
We were staying in "luxury" this time, with Chelsea towing our caravan over while I towed Tech! We arrived on Thursday lunchtime, set up camp Thorne and the Becky had a ride on Tech. He was rather excited by all the goings-on and Becky had to work hard to get his focus and get him working nicely! Then it was bathtime for Techy and Bex and Chelsea worked hard to get him gleaming white with the not-so-great hoses that stopped running if you held them up too high hehe!
We were scheduled to take part in all three demos, so after a spot of shopping and catching up with some of my amazing sponsors who had stands at the show on Friday morning, it was time to tack up and Bex jumped on for a quick warm up before we headed down to the demo arena.
Well, after 10 mins riding around the arena, Bex decided it was in everyone's best interest to get off and do some groundwork... Tech was totally overwhelmed by everything going on around him - the flags, the "scary speakers", the cutting demo in the arena nextdoor... so much to look at and be wary of! So the plan for me to get on today was scrapped and Jody demonstrated some really good Equitation Science groundwork to get Tech calmer and more focused instead of being scared of all the cow pony eating dragons that he could quite clearly see!
Day two - we decided Bex would do a much longer warm up before heading down to the arena, and as I was last on of the 5 riders in the demo, Bex could spent 45 minutes working Tech in the arena so he was calm enough for me to get on by the time it was my turn.
It was the first time using my new mounting block built by the awesome GFab Engineering here in Tauranga, and made possible by a grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association of NZ. It made mounting SO much easier! Me and my team absolutely love it! Here's a video of me getting on using my new mounting block at our Equidays demo:
I had a great time riding in the demo - even if Tech felt like a rocket ship underneath me with his very active walk not-so-great brakes! I decided to stay clipped onto the leadrope just in case my brakes totally failed - at least I had a backup!
We worked through how I give my aids and what we've been working on with Julie about my position in the saddle. I was pretty tired when I got off - it was definitely a good workout!!
We all finished with smiles on our faces and had lots of good feedback from the people watching which was great. All the para riders taking part rode really well, and it was lovely and sunny for our demo too so that's always a bonus!
Saturday night we all went to the night show and enjoyed watching Jody and Ali Baba in action as always, as well as some fun entertainment from the other riders taking part. When we got back to our camp we found buckets, stools and poo-picker forks all fallen over outside Tech and Laghie's yards - they'd obviously had their own party while we were out!
Sunday dawned and Tech was very sleepy - I wasn't sure if this was a good or bad sign for our ride later that morning! We did the same timings as the previous day, and Tech was more settled again in the arena than Saturday which was great. I got on again and demonstrated my aids, my adapted reins and other gear, and had a really forward ride again concentrating on keeping my core locked and controlling Tech's speed with my core/seat and my breathing. It was another good workout but I loved every minute of it!
Thanks so much to everyone involved in organising the weekend, to the other paras for making it so much fun and to Julie and Jody for such great demos. It was a really fun weekend and a good kick start to our season.
Next weekend is North Island Championships - bring it on!