Yes that's right, I'm incredibly lucky to be having a custom show jacket made for me by the brilliant Ridir Clothing! I already have a few pairs of their jodhpurs, both for show and home use, and they are the comfiest jods ever and very hard-wearing too. I also have one of their show shirts and a stock so with the addition of my new jacket, I'll be kitted out head-to-toe in Ridir Clothing gear come show day. I'll be super comfy and looking super smart to boot! I've never had anything custom made for me before, so going to get measured up and choose the fabric and trims for my jacket was very exciting! You'll have to wait to see the final decisions we made but trust me - it's going to be fabulous! Thanks so much to Ridir Clothing for your support and belief in my riding goals. I hope Tech and I can do you proud while we're proudly flying the Ridir flag :)
So the silly season was very relaxed for me - we went camping for a week near Opotiki with the family and while I missed my cow pony (he was being taken very good care of by Lucy and Becky while I was away and kept in work for me - thanks heaps girls!), I really enjoyed the break. It's the first time in ages that I've done nothing for a week other than relax in the sun, read (Carl Hester's autobiography and Kelly Wilson's For the Love of Horses book - both great reads!), sit on the beach and eat way too much ice cream!
Needless to say getting back into the swing of work when we got home was a bit tricky, but it was great to get back in the saddle once I clocked off work time, and see my favourite view again - through Tech's ears :) Although the view over the beach and out to sea while we were away comes a very close second...
One of my dreams (since I was about 12 years old!) is to ride my horse along the beach, but after Tech's panicked behaviour the first two times we took him to a beach (over a year ago), I thought this dream would be a long way off. The weather was amazing last weekend so we packed Tech into the float and went to a different beach hoping to start getting him over his fear. Well he was brilliant! I think the work we've done with him over the last year has paid dividends, and his confidence in "his girls" has grown to the point that within 5 minutes of getting off the float, he had his feet in the water pawing at it and sticking his nose in! We were all completely shocked, but let him carry on with the new found 'braveness' he was obviously feeling, and soon he was in the water up to his belly with "his girls" (aka Lucy, Taya, Becky and Sarita) swimming around with him. It was so awesome to see him so happy and them all in there having fun together on the gorgeous day it was!
There was quite a lot going on around him - dogs running around on the beach, kids playing in the park next to the boat ramp, and a jet ski coming in and out ferrying kids out for rides but Tech was so relaxed and taking it all in his stride - such a huge improvement from last time! He was so relaxed in fact that Lucy and Taya jumped on him bareback (separately!) and were led in and out of the water on him - amazing progress! We still have a way to go before he's ready for me to ride down there, but I'm so pleased that he's come so far and was just so brilliantly behaved the whole day - he certainly won lots of fans there on the beach watching him, including kids asking to come and pat him, bless! So fingers crossed, a few more trips and hopefully I'll be posting a photo of me on his back fulfilling my beach riding dream... watch this space!
I've been planning out our competition and training schedule for the next couple of months and have a busy time ahead of us. To start we've got a lesson with Jody Hartstone next week, then a Savvy Touch session for Tech to make sure he's in tip top condition and work out some sore spots, then we're off to Rotorua on the 26th January for our first show of the year - the Rotorua Anniversary Day Show. Two weeks later we'll be competing at Tauranga Dressage Summer Show, then a lesson with Manu when she's back at the end of February before our final prep towards our biggest and favourite show of the year in March - Horse of the Year.
Bring it on!