So after the crazy HOY after effects had died down, the rest of March was quite a quiet month for team tech, with some training and hacking at home and then the realisation of a childhood dream... riding my horse on the beach!

Since the age of 10 I've had a dream of riding my own horse on the beach (who happened to be a pinto in my dream too - always been my favourite!). We've taken Tech to the beach a couple of times over the last few years and he's slowly but surely become more relaxed both on the ground and being ridden, so this trip we decided he was ready for me to get on!

Our favourite show of the year was next up - Horse of the Year yay! My awesome crew this year was made up of Bex, Lucy and Rebekah and it's fair to say - they were AMAZING!! The week went so smoothly with both Tech and I were looked after like royalty. Thanks so much you guys!

Our first test was on Friday so after arriving and settling in on Sunday night, we had a few days to shop (yay!), watch, Tech had a Savvy Touch session with Steve to loosen him up, andwe had a couple of tune-ups from Jody Hartstone and Julie Malcolm too. Wow - my two amazing coaches together are a force to be reckoned with!! Tech felt amazing (apart from suffering quite badly with his allergies so was snorting rather a lot poor boy), and I felt like I was riding well too with all of the work Julie has done on my position over the previous few months. I couldn't wait to get our competition underway!

Nationals 2016 is here!! It was our first trip to Nationals and I was quietly rather nervous with it being a big, major show and not having been there before. We had two international Para judges for our classes and I was very excited but very nervous about riding in front of them and getting their feedback. I wasn't looking forward to the long drive down either but hey ho - off we went!

When we arrived I was absolutely shattered and my back and legs were aching after driving the whole trip. We stopped in Taupo for a 45min break and Lucy took Tech off for a wander around and a bit of grass at the NEC, but it was such a LONG drive. We won't be doing it all in one day again!

We set up camp and had an early night, and the next day brought sunshine and more paras arriving so there was lots of catching up! :) Jody rode Tech in our arena familiarisation and said he felt rather tense in there, so to get him in there as much as we could over the next few days. Our first test was the next afternoon, so Lucy and I took Tech in for a walk around the indoor in-hand at 7.30am the next day to give him as much exposure in there as we could before my first test. Luckily we weren't riding until about 5pm the first day so the worst of the heat was over and done with which was nice! Tech felt amazing! Yes he was a little more tense than usual, but a lot of that was probably down to my nerves coming through to him. I've never been so nervous going into a test before! I tried my hardest to stay calm and channel calming energy to Tech, but inside my stomach was doing somersalts! I'm very pleased to say though that Tech stayed focused on me the whole time and we rode a good test - we scored 67% which I was stoked with! Great start to our Nationals!

Rather late I know, but I'm not quite sure where the last 6 months have gone!

After BOP Champs we had another lesson with Julie Malcolm and worked on the foundations we started on last lesson. Rider biomechanics is so interesting and makes a huge difference in the way the horse goes. Julie has had to think outside the box a bit with me because I'm not "normal" (hehe!) and my body won't do some of the 'correct' things a rider should be doing, but luckily Tech is very obliging and is responding well to the aids and positioning I can manage. I've had a lot of positive comments about how much my position has changed since our lessons with Julie which is awesome. Thanks so much to you Julie!!

Next up I swapped roles with one of my super-grooms Becky, and played ground crew and chauffeur to her and her gorgeous boy Matt so they could compete at the local Dressage day. Bex has put such a lot of hard work into her boy over the last few years, and it was so fantastic to see them out there competing at their first show, and being able to give them even just a tiny bit of the support Bex gives me and Tech. Well done guys - super proud of you both!

It's been another busy couple of months at Team Tech! Tech had a couple of weeks at bootcamp with Jody at the beginning of October while I was away with the family, and I couldn't wait to get back in the saddle once I was back. Mum, Lucy and I headed over to Raglan to Jody's place and I had the best ride ever! Tech felt amazing and thanks to Jody's hard work with my boy over the two weeks, I rode my first ever shoulder in and travers! Tech felt really forward and much more supple, and I just didn't want to get off hehe! But Mum was being strict with me, knowing that I had another lesson with Jody the next day and also had to drive back to Tauranga after, so I succombed to being sensible for once, and got off after about 20 mins hehe! After a fun night in a cabin at the Raglan campground, we went for coffee in the morning then headed back to Jody's for my next lesson which was another huge success. Thanks so much for all your hard work with my boy while I was away Jody! xx

It's been another busy month or so for us in Tauranga! First up - another lesson with Jody to brush up on what we worked on last time. We've been working hard on our homework and pleased to see it's making a difference. Mel and I had a great lesson and took away another lot of homework for the next month to keep progressing. It's feeling really good - thanks so much for all your help and guidance Jody - our SuperCoach! :)

We had the Tauranga Dressage Ribbon Day on the 23rd August which was a really successful day for us. All the hard work is paying off and he felt awesome - I actually think it felt like the best Champs test we've ever ridden and the judge agreed with a 73% score yahoo!! Techy was listening, responsive, active and we had some good halts sprinkled through. Love my cow pony!! :) Thanks heaps to my fab crew for the day for getting Tech clean, warmed up and me on and off - you guys are awesome!!!! It was a great early start to our season - now to keep it going!

We've been pretty lucky with the weather here this winter with only a few riding days cancelled due to wet ground or crazy wind, and I think I managed to ride 4-5 times a week throughout the whole of June which is great considering we're mid-winter! My amazing crew have been doing a fantastic job with Tech's training, and he's working really well on the lunge now and also getting some really nice work with them under saddle too. It's all rather exciting watching and feeling his progress!

I had another lunging session at the beginning of June with just me and my hubby at the paddock. Darren isn't particularly horsey bless him, but he caught Tech for me (still need to find a way for me to do that part myself!) and unrugged him, then handed him over to me. :) Tech was a superstar again - being very patient with me and standing still while I sorted out my hands, and then he was really responsive and did very well on the lunge for me. It feels like such an achievement to be able to lunge him myself and keep his training going when my crew are busy. I love it!

Unfortunately our last show of the year, Rotorua Dressage Championships, was a non-starter for us after I got struck with a totally evil stomach/gastro bug on the Wednesday before the show. I was completely out of action for 4 days, not being able to eat or drink anything, so nowhere near the right circumstances to be travelling to Rotorua, camping and competing for the weekend. I was so disappointed - I've never had to scratch from an entire show before so I was totally gutted. But it was the right decision. It took a good couple of weeks for me to get back to normality and eat properly again, and my jods were a bit looser the next time I put them back on hehe!!

So despite that disappointment, I am so proud of the season we've had. Tech has gone from strength to strength, and I feel like my riding is improving too, as is my confidence which is a huge thing for any rider :) We'll just have to come back with a bang next season to make up for this show!

I'm so incredibly proud of my cow pony for giving his all and stepping up to the mark this year - he felt the best he ever has! Although it all started out a bit differently than planned, with Cyclone Pam bearing down on NZ and due to hit Hawkes Bay hard on Monday, the day HOY started! Becky, Lucy and I loaded Tech up on Sunday morning in bright blue skies and not a breath of wind here in Tauranga. We decided to stick to our plan and get down there and hole up if we needed to if the weather did get as bad as predicted, and that we did. Tech spent the first two nights tucked up snug in the Hawkes Bay Racecourse stables, while we booked a cabin at the local campground. In actual fact, the wind wasn't as bad as forecast in Hastings luckily, but it did rain for 24 hours solid so we were pretty glad we were snug and dry in our cabin the first two days!

We picked Tech up on Tuesday morning and headed to the showgrounds. Although the rain had stopped, the ground was a bit of a mess and we slipped and slid sideways through the entrance way! There were trucks getting towed around by tractors and it was all looking a bit crazy. But we made it over to our yard and camping area and set up our home for the week thanks to EquipOutdoors.co.nz.

Lucy took Tech for a bit of a walk up and down the track (we weren't allowed to ride anywhere else due to the organisers trying to preserve the ground for competition) but I decided I didn't want to risk riding there with bicycles, cars and people coming from all angles, so I didn't get on.

That's what we've managed to squeeze in since our last catch up!

Our second lesson with Jody Hartstone was just as fantastic as the first one last month! We worked on getting Tech lighter for me and lifting up through the shoulder more, and activating that often-lazy-behind of his, and wow... I had some amazing walk steps in there that felt absolutely brilliant! We also worked on our free walk and our halts too so we covered quite a lot in our 20 minute session. Then Taya hopped up and worked on the same thing at trot but Tech, being the stubborn little toad he can be sometimes, wasn't making life easy for her. There were glimpses of very nice work but he was pulling quite hard, so Jody got on and showed him exactly how he was supposed to do it. I don't think he expected that haha!! After some fine tuning with Jody, Taya hopped back on and took advantage of Tech's new 'Ok I'll do it!' attitude and got some good work out of him, which I'm pleased to say is now continuing at home with a much more obliging attitude! Awesome work team!

The next day we had a visit from Savvy Steve who gave Tech a fab Savvy Touch session. It's fair to say Tech loved it as always! :) It's really great to watch Steve at work and see Tech react, and how much his eye softens and his whole body relaxes by the end of the session. He's always totally chilled out and at ease after his Savvy Touch session and I know he's all ready for work again with no sore spots. Thanks so much Steve! :) We also stocked up on our Mango Butter Sunshade, Cooling gel, and 2 in 1 Shampoo while the "Savvy Truck" was here, so we're all savvied up and ready to go hard again!