Draught’s Can Dance

06/11/2023

Winderen - Innovative Equestrian Equipment.

The best of the best delivered today 😮‍💨💓

06/11/2023

‼️‼️

And what a way to end a great weekend. Having read and seen this on British Dressage news.

Cannot believe the boy has set the highest percentage by a Draught yet! 🥰🥵

Bury Farm British Dressage Associated Championships, Fri 13th-Sun 15th Oct 2023

Cavago

We will be back next year to better it 💓💓

06/11/2023

NOT anything or anyone can make me smile the way you do!

I love you my boy. 💓

Saracen Horse Feeds
ARENA UK SHOW Centre
A.T.G Photography 📸

06/11/2023

Unpacked, cleaned and tanks drained for winter 🥲🚛

Whittaker coachbuilders 😍💓

06/11/2023

🤗🤗🤗

06/11/2023

exhausting weekend being awesome 🥰💓

06/11/2023

He’s a lap dog really 💓🙈

06/11/2023

Off to prize giving 😍💓

06/11/2023

06/11/2023

06/11/2023

The joys of grey 🤣😍

06/11/2023

Well what a weekend.

Just over 4 hours journey to ARENA UK SHOW Centre for the Saracen Horse Feeds British Dressage - Quest Club National Final. Again as predicted, Cruz settled super well into his temporary accommodation 🤣🙈 - despite the horrendous weather upon arrival 🥲.

Warm up came and we made sure to keep ourselves to ourselves and respect other competitors to avoid touching Cruz’s emotions 🤭 if he was human he wouldn’t be a people person either 🤣. Warmed up as usual and went in to ride a lovely test in the Prelim 14 for a slightly harsh marked sheet with an overall of 67.5% resulting in a 15th place. Slightly disappointed with the overall placing but I guess Cruz just wasn’t the judges cup of tea. However, some lovely comments as usual! 💓

Quick break to go and fat shame him on the weigh bridge with the best of the best Saracens feed reps😍 Although despite being on the chubbier side, and not having been weighed since March time, I was impressed to seem him weigh in at 657kg still enough to loose but definitely could’ve been worse 🤣🙈.

Onto the novice, changed my warm up routine a little and got a much better tune out of him. Again the judging was on the harsher side but still managed to earn ourselves a 68.15% even with a slight rider hiccup 🤣 costing us the win but still remaining in the mounted prize giving with a 2nd 🤩🥳.

Quick tidy up which proved impossible with a grey and the ground conditions post storm Ciaran 🥹😭. Into the prize giving which with the heated atmosphere brought Cruz even more alive ….. showing off his medium trot around the lap of honour and out of the main arena 🤯🤩.

A very long 4 hour journey home ahead of us but again the boy didn’t disappoint and I am so proud of how far he’s come - to think we started our dressage career in February 2023.

So lovely to see some dressage friends and their GG’s. You guys did amazingly and I cannot wait to follow your progress and of course more dressage meets 🤩🥳. and Alana McGirr

Not the way I’d like to have ended the Prelim era but the boy didn’t disappoint so it’s a win in my eyes. Here’s to getting qualified this winter for Pet Plan , Regionals , Inter-county and The Midways 🤞🏻🤩💓

Thankyou so much to -

Tessa Thorne for the support and superb tuition!
Ralph Walker and George Walker for the unconditional support!
Moylough Horses
Cappa Stud
Right Ride Horses




Big thanks to Arena Uk and Saracens for holding such a great competition with a lovely friendly atmosphere!

💓💓💓

04/11/2023

27/10/2023

Great write up in the British Dressage news section 🥰💓

https://www.britishdressage.co.uk/news/saracen-horse-feeds-quest-semi-finals-2023/

26/10/2023

3 years difference 😮‍💨🤭😱

Almost unbelievable how much he’s changed and developed 🥵

26/10/2023

💓

26/10/2023

18/10/2023

💓💓

15/10/2023

Prize giving and lap of honour 🎊💓

15/10/2023

15/10/2023

15/10/2023

15/10/2023

15/10/2023

15/10/2023

15/10/2023

Well what a weekend it’s been 🙈🎊.

First time I’ve driven the lorry further than the fuel station and with my precious cargo on board 😳 Leaving ours on Friday afternoon and arriving at Bury Farm Equestrian Village after a very lengthy 3.5 hour drive in treacherous weather conditions we arrived in one piece with a very happy boy after the journey.

Settled him into his stable for the weekend - as always first thing he was interested in was his haynet and dinner 🤣. It however was a mission getting him from the lorry to his stable clean 🙈 - bandages and bin bags just about did the job thankfully 🫣.

Saturday didn’t go to plan as much as I’d liked it to have - but it was a huge reminder that these horses aren’t machines and do actually have days off 🥹. Bit fresh for the arena walk but coped well unlike a few poor riders 🥴. Unfortunately the rain didn’t stop until early hours of the morning, so despite the drainage systems being in full swing they just couldn’t move the water quick enough resulting in a rather wet test arena and a 3/4 flooded warm up arena 🥲. Two minutes after being in the warm up, Cruz had decided he had hated the going and would much rather do his own thing - this included his first ever buck and bronc after 3.5 years of owning him🤣🤪 Alongside testing my stickability, he unfortunately took a dislike to another horse being warmed up and this resulted in him having an even larger bee in his bonnet 😵‍💫. Having not warmed in to how we usually do, I called it a day in the warm up as he was just becoming more and more tense. Hoping that this would settle down once he was in the boards. Unfortunately the wind, going conditions and the unplanned warm up events had become to much for him, however he did perform a test, too which I would’ve liked to have had A LOT less tension and more forwardness from him but the princess really wasn’t happy by this point 😫😥. Think his worse score yet coming in at 63.8% 😔 leaving us in Section 2nd and Overall 4th. After dwelling on the warm up and test after food, I decided to just warm him in again to get some sort of tune from him. He redeemed himself slightly by being much better and doing what was asked of him with little to no disagreements 😁.

Today was even colder than it was yesterday so we made sure he was warmed in and taken straight into his test. And well…. A completely different horse to yesterday, evidently liked the arena for the warm up as it was indoors so not flooded, minimal horses actually warming up with riders giving plenty of respect to each-other. Into the test, not battling an eye lid at the indoor seating, windowed cafe and numerous flower pots. To say he redeemed himself would be an understatement!! He rode a beautiful test, bagging ourselves a score of 71.8% to take the initial lead. After waiting around it was announced that he had in-fact WON the class and his section. Meaning he gained himself the title of ‘Prelim Champion Draught’ at Bury Farm British Dressage Associated Championships, Fri 13th-Sun 15th Oct 2023. 😍😍😍

Prize giving came and well he knew where the camera was 🤪😍. Absolute gent during the prize giving and enjoyed the lap of honour 🎊.

Of course there was no chance of leaving without photos 🤣.

Another long journey home, however this time with 3.5 hours of sunshine 😅. Ralph Walker you have now been resigned from your chauffeur position 😉😉x

Definitely a weekend that has opened my eyes to face reality that not everyday will go as planned but to keep going and things will progress.

So lovely to see some familiar faces. And of course make so new friends on the British Dressage circuit.

A massive well done and Thankyou to all involved with running this fantastic weekend at Bury Farm - the weather was 100% against you guys on Friday but you all went above and beyond for all competitors and their horses! Hats off too you especially with over 500 combinations 🥴.

Massive Thankyou to Tessa Thorne, Nikki Hand, my parents and everyone involved with me and Cruz. We really couldn’t do it without you guys!

A short sweet rest until British Dressage - Quest Club’s nationals at ARENA UK SHOW Centre in a couple of weeks!

💓💓💓

10/10/2023

Wanted -

FLYDE Samantha OR Poppy

14inch , 15inch

WIDE

Please share x

24/09/2023

U21 Semi-final Novice Prize giving 🏆💓

24/09/2023

U21 Semi-final Prelim Prize giving 🏆

24/09/2023

Very early start yesterday for our MyQuest Semi-finals at Moreton Equestrian Centre kindly sponsored by Saracen Horse Feeds.

Having qualified for the Under 21’s Prelim and Novice way back in February thought it would be nice to see out my Under 21’s section. And we’ll Cruz just didn’t disappoint 🙈.

Starting with the Prelim test, he warmed up super as always using our new warm up session. Into the test where he gave me a great ride from start to finish! Quick trip back to the stable for 10 minute nap prior to the Novice.

Soon after re-tacked and warming up for the Novice test. Again was an absolute angel to warm up and gave me a super ride throughout the test. Cooled down and back to the stable to wait for the results!

After riding so many tests now in the long arenas, I think it’s safe to say, we both very much prefer the longer arenas - to think there was a day that long arenas daunted me 🥴🙈.

Results came in and well….

Cruz WON the Prelim and took U21’s Semi-final Champion - finishing on a great score of 73.56%

And he also WON the Novice and took U21’s Semi-final Champion - finishing again on a great score of 73.21%

Meaning that he has now QUALIFIED for the National Championships held at ARENA UK SHOW Centre in November! 🎊🥳

So so so proud of this horse having only started dressage in February 2023, and already having numerous wins and championships under his belt!🥇🏆. Very promising and exciting future ahead for him! 💓.

Cannot thank Tessa Thorne enough for all of our training at home and Nikki Hand for the tips to chill myself out during the test 🥰.

Ralph Walker and George Walker for the continuous support, early mornings, long days and late evenings 🤣😳.

Now to crack on with our practice for our ICC test next weekend to kick start getting qualified for regionals 🤞🏻. Alongside prep for the Associated Championships at Bury Farm Equestrian Village in a few weeks prior to heading to the MyQuest Finals in November 🙈. From November onwards he will be focusing on his Elementary and hoping for the continuous progression 🤞🏻🫣.

This horse is unbelievable, performs to whatever I ask of him - even if it means we’re both in the deep end 🥴🥲.

Thankyou to :

British Dressage - Quest Club for holding such a great Semi-final
for being such a great host and lovely venue
for keeping the boy looking fab and well rehydrated post work and travel
DorsetPhotoEvent for great pictures 😍
TruckNav for getting us there and back in the best possible route! 🗺️

17/09/2023

For those thinking of getting a grey…..

Take my advice…..

DON’T 🤣🤣

17/09/2023

17/09/2023

🥰💓

17/09/2023

17/09/2023

🌅

17/09/2023

16/09/2023

Pamper day 💓🫧🧼🛁