Horse of the Year is my favourite show - full of excitement and nerves about competing at the biggest show of the year alongside the best riders in the country. Tech and I have been working hard and I wanted to end our season with a bang - and that we did! We won the Grade 1 Para Equestrian Championship and I'm really proud of my gorgeous boy.

Tech and his girls (aka me and my super-groom crew of Becky and Sarita) set off on Tuesday morning for the 5-hour drive ahead. That was a daunting start for me because it's the first time I've towed the float that far - usually I have my superstar hubby as my tow driver but he couldn't leave work until Wednesday night this year. I was very sore by the time we arrived at the show grounds, but we arrived safely and Tech seemed happy enough after his trip. We'd only had the shavings down in his pen for 20 minutes and he was led down snoozing already! He's such a dude.

We set up our camp (which consists of our two EquipOutdoors tents and my JC Trailers float which forms "Camp Thorne" while we're away) and headed out for some take aways. The trip back to our camp was entertaining... We'd arrived through gate 13 earlier in the afternoon, which was now locked and after a drive around the grounds in the dark trying to find another way back to our camp, we ended up back at the main entrance much to the amusement of the security guard who had to let us back through for the second time in 10 minutes! We eventually found our way back to Camp Thorne and bedded down for the night.

The next two days were spent settling Tech in, Becky showing him around our riding areas and my back recovering from the drive down. The last two links in my support chain arrived Wednesday night (Darren and James) and then we were at the business end of the week - our first test on Friday yahoo!

We competed at the polo grounds this year which was a first for us. Unfortunately the route to the polo grounds went right past one of the showjumping arenas which Tech thought were incredibly exciting! He gave Becky a nice little sideways trot past the arenas and was a bit worked up when she arrived at the para-equestrian warm up area. Needless to say she had to give him a good warm in to settle him down enough for me which resulted in him not being as active as I would have liked in our test. It's a really fine line between having him calm enough for me to ride, yet active enough for us to get the good walk marks and we're still fine-tuning that side of our system! But despite his slight lack of energy, we still scored 64% which I was pleased with for our first test.

On Saturday we rode our Championship test and Becky left a lot more fuel in Tech's tank for me which was great. It helped that he wasn't as excited as the previous day because they let us into the polo grounds via a different gate which didn't involve passing the jumping arenas! We rode a 65% test which I was pleased with. Tech felt more active and responsive than the day before so I was pleased our score reflected that.

I talk a lot about my awesome support crew on here, and they came into their own during Sunday's musical freestyle test, which started with a little bit of drama. Just as I was finishing my warm-up ready to start my test, a helicopter appeared from nowhere and was hovering right above our heads taking photos. It felt like they could reach out and touch my head they were so low! Well that just blew poor Tech's brain... We all know what we feel like with the beats of the rotor blades pounding through our body when it's so close. Poor Tech had no idea what was going on and I could feel him shaking – he was genuinely scared (and I was rather worried too if I'm honest!). At the same time, the carriage drivers started warming up nearby which added lots of scary sights and sounds to the mix which Tech found overwhelming. He started jig-jogging and flung his head up in the air which threw me forward onto his neck. Poor Becky was trying to hold onto a dancing Tech with one hand, while stopping me from sliding off with the other while Sarita, Lucy and Chontelle ran in to catch me. It was really bad timing as I was just about to leave the warm up area to go around the arena to start my test. Thankfully the judges made the call it wasn't safe for us to start our test at that point, so we rode half an hour later. I was so relieved! There was no way I would have been able to ride safely under those conditions. Tech was still quite tense when we rode at the later time, but I managed to keep him together and we rode a good test despite everything, to post a 66% score which was enough to win us the Championship. I was so proud of my boy and my fab crew who sprang into action when I needed them most!

You can watch our freestyle test here:

The highlight of the weekend for me was prize-giving in the main dressage oval, where the para-equestrian champions and reserve champions went on parade. The atmosphere in there was amazing. It was such an honour to be riding in the hoof-prints of the top dressage riders in the country. We rode around the oval twice, with crowds around the outside cheering us on. It was just such a fantastic feeling - I had the biggest smile on my face the entire time we were in there! Tech was such a pro in the oval too - he loved the attention and he behaved brilliantly, redeeming himself completely after the helicopter/carriage drivers incident earlier in the day.

So another year of competing draws to a close for Tech and I. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing team around me who make everything we do possible, as well as keeping me out of trouble when things go awry! I would like to say a big thank you to Becky and Sarita who are my right-hand-girls, my awesome coach Anna McIntyre, and my sponsors - Farmlands Te Puna, Savvy Touch, JLT Insurance, JC Trailers, Saddlery Warehouse Cambridge and EquipOutdoors. You have all played a major part in getting Tech and I to where we are today. We couldn't do it without you!

We have a lot of feedback from the judges to work through and work into our training plan so we can continue improving our scores. Tech and I are both having a (well deserved!) few days off before getting back into training, but I can't wait to get back in the saddle and crack on with it!

See more photos from Horse of the Year 2013 in my Photo Gallery >