Stag | Annie ~ CCR ~ 27/07/24 ~ Find My Way ~ Chance Pena, Vanyo

Stag and Annie at BS at CCR on Saturday!
So proud of baby of the team, Stag, who was an absolute star doing his first British Novice! Not pushing him to soon has really started to pay off! When he was first starting BS, he would just sometimes feel a little anxious at new venues, and hesitate before jumping. Even though he has so much scope, I didn’t ever want him to feel like it was too much, so Lauren found me places who did club classes before amateur qualifiers so that I could get him confident. CCR is the place where this lad did his first course of 40cm in December, so I can’t put into words how proud I am of him stepping up to a British Novice and not balking at a single fence, not even the 95-1m oxers in the jump off!
Annie has won or placed for me every time out and I’m incredibly proud of the horse she has turned into in such a short time. On Saturday, she was uncharacteristically flat and just felt a bit tired, but she had a very busy week and it was really hot so that was all understandable! I’m actually more proud of her for coming out and jumping for me when she wasn’t feeling 100% up for it than I am for all of the red rosettes. When she first came to us, she definitely had a stop in her and I had to re-teach her to jump. Now it doesn’t feel like she’d ever stop, and even when she was lacking her usual scope, she didn’t even think about it.
But gaining a horse’s trust is something we never take for granted, and she proved more to me yesterday than she did when everything felt as easy as breathing. I pulled her up after she jumped 6 and 7 beautifully because she’s my special girl and she owes me nothing. Was pretty funny though because I was busy patting her and she was trying to take me to the next fence!
Had such a lush surprise in the form of Em, who was supposed to be at work (at her other job because she’s a badass) and got out because she works with great people! Honestly made my day having her with us. It’s all about the team you have and how amazing is it to have people who are as proud of your horses as you are and see their every accomplishment!