Rose Hugh Smith: Future Star Part 5

At Vale View squad I had the opportunity to train with the new Team Trainer David Hunt. As David is described as the king of changes I thought I would take the opportunity to improve his expression and jump into and after the changes.

Squad was incredibly insightful and a very enjoyable day although I did regret eating a cheeseburger when we went to see the fitness trainer!

I also had the opportunity to talk through my goals with Jill Day not only that but we spoke about my weaknesses in the junior test and how to improve them.

After squad it was straight back to school for my mock examinations. I am taking Politics, Psychology and Philosophy, why I chose three essay based subjects I have no idea but they do keep me very busy!

Next up was Addington, the first High Profile of the year and one of my favourite venues. I decided to just take Flo so I could concentrate solely on him. I made a few rider errors in the Team test but I was thrilled to come 4th in an incredibly hot class.

On Sunday after overnight snow we rode the Individual test, we hadn’t ridden it since last year and unfortunately for Flo I rode to the wrong marker meaning we gained an error of course! Despite this however we managed 68.68% finishing in second place!

DJ has continued to progress every day with the amazing help and expertise of David Trott. l have been working on his canter pirouettes, changes and small steps of passage. DJ try’s tremendously hard for me so l thought l would give him a change by taking him over some poles. Initially he was very timid but soon got the hang of it and was happily jumping over them with a smile on his face.

It is important that horses have a frequent change of scenery to allow them to relax and chill, at least once a week. I hack out in the woods and go for a canter around the fields (if the weather is willing).

I took both my boys to the Addington winter Regionals. DJ was on first in the International arena and despite setting up a practise judges table in the arena he found the horse eating flowers below the judges slightly overwhelming. This meant we did an unrequired movement of halting and then quickly disappearing across the arena.

Even so I was so proud of how he managed to take a breath and claw back some 8’s nearing the end of the test! We scored over 67% giving us a top ten placing. Flo was second to go in a large class; he was a little tense in the walk (deciding to call out to DJ during the extended).

However he was such a superstar for the remainder of the test and I am proud to announce we are Regional Advanced medium champion… with one judge scoring us over 71%!!

We have such a busy time coming up in April so Flo has been having some down time stretching and hacking and a full MOT from our vet to ensure he is in full fitness for the season ahead. To ensure our horses are in good condition inside as well as out we do a “Healthy Horse” blood check on both every six months to ensure they are at their best.

I am also bursting at the seams to announce a very exciting new Sponsor! Sew Equestrian has giving me the privilege of brand ambassador for Scarpati. They do absolutely beautiful Italian horse and stable wear that they customise to suit each and every individual. I am slowly building up my collection of this beautiful brand having matching stable curtains and bandage bags.

My next outing is EXCEL at the end of March then a squad day at Talland followed by the Nationals (So a very busy Easter ahead). April is showing up to be a very hectic month with several big events bunched together.”

Until next time,

Rose xx