Tech and I have been working hard and I've been trying to master carrying a whip in my left hand so I'm riding with two whips. This is because Tech has started to drift out to the left on my right circles (because of something I'm unconsciously doing with my body because he doesn't do it with anyone else!), but I find it hard to catch him with my weak left side. So I thought I would try riding with a small jump whip in my left hand so I can give him a little tap on the left shoulder when he starts doing it to pop him back on course. Well... the first time I tried it was a tad eventful! For a start, carrying and controlling the whip in my left hand is a challenge in itself due to the poor coordination and lack of strength in my left wrist and fingers. But I persevered and after a bit of a chicken dance where my two whips were flinging around all over the place, I managed to regain something resembling control of my new left aid. It seems to be working quite well and Tech's face was a picture when I first tapped him on the shoulder! (Well, after I'd managed to smack myself on the thigh two or three times before actually getting the right angle for his shoulder!) He was so surprised at the fact I had given him a tap that he jumped into a couple of strides of trot before he remembered he doesn't trot with me and quickly brought himself back to a walk! I managed to stay upright so I was fine, but I think I gave Becky and Mum a heart attack! They came running over to check I was ok, only to find I was having a little de-brief with Tech to make sure he understood that type of behaviour wasn't allowed any more :o)

We headed down to Taupo for the Rotorua Dressage competition early September where I was entered into the TOC class to ride my Championship test. We arrived on Saturday and Becky gave Tech a good look around the place, and gave him some arena familiarisation work ready for my test Sunday afternoon. BUT - the weather turned on us Saturday night and the rain was absolutely torrential on the Sunday, so I joined the scratchings list and we left early to give us good time to head home in the awful weather. I totally admire those riders who carried on despite the disgusting weather - well done you guys! But at least we've been down there now, know the setup, Tech has had a look around and it's the longest journey I've done as the driver with the float on so despite the fact I didn't get to ride, we still took a lot of positives from the weekend. Huge thanks to Rotorua Dressage for accommodating us, and to Becky and Konni who were my fab crew for the weekend and got wet and cold to the bone with me. You're awesome!

We went to the practice day at Tauranga Dressage the following weekend which was a more successful outing. Becky was working so Lisa took up the reins as my warm up rider and did an awesome job! Tech was pretty responsive when I got on, even if he was rather "forward", and we rode a nice test once we both relaxed in the arena. We got some good feedback from the judge and some great tips to take forward into our training and competitions, so it was a really useful day. Huge thanks to my crew for the day - Lisa, Konni, Raewyn and Becky (who just made it from work in time for my test!). I couldn't do it without you guys! Huge thanks to Tauranga Dressage Group too who made everything easy for me to come along and compete. You guys rock!

So now we're fine-tuning our tests and working towards our first competition of the season, the North Island Para Championships on labour weekend. Tech had his teeth done yesterday and is having his Savvy Touch body treatment on Thursday, so he will be in tip top condition so we can go hard at the champs. Bring it on! :o)