First up was a day trip out to my friend's sand arena to get some good training in and also utilise their power supply so Tech could get his first haircut of the winter! (Neither of which we have at our paddock so very lucky to have friends nearby who let us ride and use their awesome facilities!) Becky set to work with the clippers and soon there was more hair on the ground than on Tech's body - always a good sign ;) Once Tech had been de-fluffed, we had a good ride working on the feedback from the judges throughout our season. I'm not planning too much down time over winter this year (apart from when the ground gets too wet and we'll be forced to stop for a bit!) as we had so much time off over Tech's surgery and recovery over the summer and we have lots to work on. It all felt good and like we're making progress so I was happy!
The following week we had a lesson with Manu which was AMAZING as always! We were working on unlocking Tech's neck as he's quite stiff and rigid through the bottom part. I love the way Manu teaches - focusing on one thing at a time and that "thing" having really clear aids that once I apply them properly and Tech gets the right response, he's pretty quick to pick up. Everything makes so much sense and before long we were "unlocking" all over the arena, even starting to do it at a free walk too. It felt fantastic when we got it right! Thanks so much Manu for taking us forward another step, and huge thanks to my fab crew for the day - Mum and Lisa. Couldn't do it without you guys! xx
After a week of practicing our new training technique, we went to the Tauranga Dressage Ribbon Day where we rode our Championships Test. I can honestly say it's the best test I've ever ridden! I felt confident, Tech was listening and responding well the entire test, and we kept up a really good walk (with me sneaking in some 'unlocking' around the way too). Yep, I made a few technical mistakes in my circles and halts which brought our score down to a 66% but our walk felt so good I wasn't too worried about that! (I know I can fix those problems!) Big smiles all around as we came out of the arena. If you want to watch my test it's on my YouTube channel here. Thanks heaps to my fab crew on the day and huge thanks to Tauranga Dressage Group for looking after us so well and hosting a great day!
Throw in a few lunging sessions (with me sat in the middle of the circle on a mounting block and Tech learning not to stop or come in for a snuggle when he's behind me - cheeky boy!), some more work on Manu's stuff, testing out a potential power wheelchair option so I can be independent instead of having to have people push me around, plus some hard work getting the final stages of my wheelchair hoist application for my car assessed and completed (including a trip to Auckland to the installers), and we've had a pretty busy May considering!
As I'm writing this I can hear the rain hammering down on the roof and we've got heavy rain warnings all over the place, so this week might be the first week of enforced rest for both me and Tech. But considering the great month we've just had, I think we probably both deserve a week off to come back refreshed and ready for action again next week.
Stay dry everyone!