I got up early to wash her legs, mane and tail, as she is a mud monster and was pretty filthy. Her legs aren't clipped yet to keep mud fever away, so they took some cleaning - especially with frozen taps meaning I had to lug warm water across the yard to use!
I then plaited her mane, which was quite a mammoth task since she hasn't had her mane pulled for a year. She hates it, so I tend to just cut/thin/solocomb or do whatever to try and make it manageable. The white part of her mane is super thick and it was a nightmare!
I left plenty of time to spare as I was going on my own - I've been to lessons alone but this was my first time competing by myself, which was a bit of a scary prospect. Not to fear though, all went well and there were lots of nice people at the venue to have a quick chat to.
I think it's safe to say that our first outing of 2016 is probably not one we'll remember, but I did get a good laugh at the judge at the end of my second test - where she threw her hands up in what I think might have been a mixture of frustration and amazement. After an entire winter of going beautifully on the flat, she decided that monsters were clearly lurking around the edge of the dressage boards and was coiled like a spring should the need for a quick exit arise. I was pretty amazed we even scored over 60% for the first test, as she broke into canter 3 times (among other things!)
I think we nearly scored acceptably well on the second test, until the very end where we did a beautiful sideways-bounce for the last two movement.
She was also pretty tense throughout, which is an ongoing battle away from home. I think we will get there though - pure dressage surroundings are very different to eventing dressage. She's got time to get used to it though - I've signed up for a trial (6 month) BD membership so we've got a lot more dressage in the near future. Watch this space!
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