What a month it’s been and so many wonderful things have happened.
The sun was shining, and the water was flat, perfect weather for rowing. I’m really starting to get the boat moving which is super exciting.
I had another great session at Performance Hertfordshire, working on my unassisted pull ups as well as other exercises. I was wearing my Anders t-shirt which is a wonderful charity who support me.
I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee, we had my granny over so we watched most things on the tv. We all went out for a lovely Jubilee afternoon tea which was delicious.
It was Sports Massage time for Damo and I ahead of the Wellington Gold Semi Finals. It was great to hear from Lee how good Damo felt and as ever Damo enjoyed it. I also had a good sports massage; we were already to go!
We arrived at a sunny Wellington, the traffic wasn’t great but we arrived just in time for the arena walk, straight from the lorry park to the arena! Damo was super relaxed and didn’t look at anything, he just strode around quite happily with dad. We had ages before my test so we settled him into his stable, sorted our hook up, relaxed and went to watch some Dressage. Rob arrived and we got Damo ready, he warmed up beautifully for Rob and then it was my turn, he felt really good and relaxed. We went down to the arena for our music test and Damo was an absolute superstar. The music fitted and I couldn’t be prouder of Damo, I was beaming and so was my coach and all the team. Only Damo’s 3rd Freestyle and outside with speakers on the floor. 72.445% was the score with one judge giving us over 74% 2nd place.
The next day we were riding our Team Test. Damo was super relaxed but unfortunately we had a few minor mistake’s which were very costly as they affected double coefficients. So just under 70% was the final result and another 2nd.
The final day we were riding the Individual test and Damo went the best he has done all week. Two judges had us on over 71%, the final score was 70+% and this was enough to take the win; we were the Grade 1 Gold Semi Final winners. The prize giving was fantastic, and we have won another sash. We also have direct qualification to the Gold Nationals in September, which is super exciting.
I got home to some more exciting news that I have been accepted onto the Sporting Champions Scheme. This is amazing and means that I get free access to my local gym and swimming pool plus many other exciting things. Thank you so much to the EA scheme for supporting me.
We have been selected to represent GB at Hartpury CPEDI3* next month. My new GB helmet from my wonderful sponsors KASK will be making its first appearance. Training has been going really well and we are excited to see what the judges think. Fingers crossed we have the same level of relaxation as we did at Wellington.
It was fantastic to be invited to the Bucks and MK Sports Awards again. It was an honour to be invited as a guest alongside dad; the food was super yummy. It was fantastic to be back at an awards evening in person and to see everyone. Already looking forward to next year. A huge well done to all the nominees and winners. Goldie's speech was so inspirational about her phenomenal supporting carer. It was wonderful to see Adrian Moorhouse MBE get inducted into the Bucks and MK Hall of Fame. It was great to bump into Mimi Harker OBE and to have an interview.