After our awesome Equitana experience, we had a quiet few weeks to recoup and catch our breath before the silly season aka Christmas hit us! Ira and I kept plugging away at our training, and I decided to start riding with a whip to get that next gear forward... which was going great guns until we accidentally trotted one day oops! Supercrew to the rescue, and Ira only did a few steps before I was able to bring him to a halt but I think we gave everyone on the ground a heart attack! Ira hasn't quite learned that it's walk-only with me yet so will take the "forward" gear back a tad until he gets it!

Christmas drinks for my amazing crew to say thank you for all their help was fun. Lucky Ira got a Christmas delivery of Big Red's Stable Snacks, as well as a visit from Savvy Touch's Steve Cleary for a bodywork session and a top of of our favourite Savvy Touch products. We also had a top up of our Top Stock Detox & Calmer minerals, which along with our NRM Low GI Sport feeds, keeps Ira in tip top, super shiny condition. Thank you so much for your awesome support guys.

We had a little trip to the beach one weekend in January, which was super fun for Ira! He LOVES the water but was a bit spooky and reactive to the busy environment, so I didn't get on. We'll get him down there a few times so he can relax and feel comfortable, then I'll be keen to get in the saddle for a play!

Then we had an awesome lesson with Jody Hartstone in preparation for Waikato Championships - we even managed to show her our accidental trot again oops! I managed to get Ira back on my own and keep going this time though so that was a win! Just need to stamp out that trotting completely but we'll get there - he's such a willing boy!

Now we're back in packing mode ready to head down to Taupo tomorrow for the WIde Span Shed's Waikato Dressage Championships - eek! Bring it on!!