Well I find myself packing and the problem I now face is the ultimate girlie question of ‘what to wear?’

But in all seriousness it it a bit of a dilemma, I’ve been watching the weather reports and as always its been changing every day from sunshine highs of 24C predicted to chilly wet conditions and even thunderstorms. I’ve been warned conditions can change very quickly too so I find myself packing everything from rain jackets, tweed and base layers to shorts and polo shirts!

And to make matters worse I received this lovely package from Equifeast

(Pink and Turquoise… they know me so well!!!) so they obviously have to packed along with my Horsey Hoodies hoodie, my Equibright base layer and my Horse Wardrobe jacket and EHOA gilet plus all my lush
Holland and Cooper Tweed although that might have to just be donned in NY or the windy city!

Katy Perry achieved 12 changes I must be getting close with all these potential outfits, whats worse is that my back pack that I’ll be using still has a bit of spare room & the suitcase defiantly does!

I’ve also nearly had a big mishap as I was doing all this packing I nearly forgot the one thing that’s the reason I’m going there…. The bridesmaid dress - oopps although I’m sure Dubarry’s would look great in the wedding photos!

Yesterday saw us travel across the country to Eden Valley in Cumbria. This is the second year this event has run and the second time we’ve visited. Unfortunately due to my work commitments I was unable to be moved from the BE80T (which we originally entered in case we had issues from our first two runs) to the BE90, but we decided a confidence round would do Mr H no harm.

We used the Flexineb device on Harley on the Friday and I had to plait him on Saturday night, so I was super happy to have his HorseyHoddies sponsored hood as it saved me picking out his Equibright bedding from his mane on Sunday morning!

Our dressage this season so far hasn’t been ideal but the scores have been showing promise. Today was no exception the trend but we did manage to stay within the arena this time unlike at Beckwithshaw! But with two cheeky bucks in two separate movements I wasn’t particularly pleased especially as it was a test which I feel doesn‘t suit Harley due to lots of walk movements. However, it must have looked very different to how it felt and we were awarded 35.5 in a section where the judge must be commended for using a wide range of scores (lowest 22 highest 54!), but again still room for improvement.

Show jumping was again on the surface and actually rode much better than I thought. Harley being Harley hit an upright to deny us once again of a clear round so the Pole Basher lives up to his reputation!

The cross country appeared to be causing carnage despite not really appearing any different from the previous year. Having gone clear last year but with lots of time faults, I was feeling confident but a reminder from Charlotte Ridley and Louise Smales who were the BE80T trainers for the day reminded me to not take things for granted and ride the course. I needn’t have worried though Harley jumped round extremely confidently in a great rhythm with no issues and appeared super focused and listening thanks I‘m sure to his EquiFeast Winning Edge and Optimax (How many people can say they go XC with their full TB in a snaffle!)! Although we did nearly have an issue thanks to a spectator stood in front of the final fence but luckily she heard my yells to move and apologised for being in my way after we had finished which was nice of her.
In the video excuse the language of my camera man.

We ended up being only one of four inside the time in the section, yet we were 20 seconds inside the time without really pushing so not sure why the time appeared to be so difficult to achieve? But I’m not complaining as our good round ensured our first BE rosette of the season and we finished in 9th place. So that deserved a picture of Mr H.... Think we'll have to win more blue rosettes as they match his KM Elite Headcollar which we got from The Horse Wardrobe.

Unfortunately my section had the majority of clears out of the 3 BE80 sections and if in one of the other sections my score could have ensured a 3rd but again that’s a “If only…” moment and other factors could have been different.

I must say I also learnt a lesson in if you decide to clean something please remember to re-pack it! This relates to me forgetting my studs luckily though Coltsfoot were there selling SupaStuds so no harm done and at least now we have a few extras!

Harley returned home and had an Apple Likit Bar and once again told everyone how amazing he was and sure enough everyone ignored him!

Also got to meet up with lots of friends, some old, some new and even some from Europe! I must also commend the Eden Valley team on lots of improvements from last years event. There’s still a few areas that could be improved on but over all it was a lovely friendly event.

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