May
This month I feature the wonderful Waterford Blue Diamond (Murphy). I was so lucky to have Murphy on loan from Ria early on in my career. He started me on the International ladder to stardom and importantly helped me to go from a nervous young lady to a confident young lady. Murphy took me to my first International at the age of 14 years and we finished 2nd together at the Winter Championships. Murphy is no longer with us but is a star in the sky shining brightly. He taught me so much and looking back at a photo of him and me; I never dreamed I would be where I am now!
Hickstead update coming soon but it was a fantastic week with three personal bests and four wins: plus getting the highest score of the show on all three days. Thank you to British Dressage for a fantastic article about our wins at Hickstead. See the article here: https://www.britishdressage.co.uk/news/hickstead-cpedi-heats-up-spring-selection-race/
With the weather improving it’s been great to get back in the boat and do some rowing. I love the freedom that being out of my wheelchair and in a boat on the river gives me.
Chloe one of my mentees competed at the RDA Regionals and I am delighted to say has qualified for the RDA Nationals. A huge well done to Chloe, Cody and their whole team.
It’s been great to be able to shop in Aldi recently, a huge thank you to Aldi UK for supporting team GB and Paralympics GB.
I headed off to the University of Hertfordshire to join them as a guest speak at their first Festival of Ideas. I was honoured to be part of a panel discussing smashing the barriers for women in sport. The panel was Dame Liz Nicholls DBE, Ella Cohen- Team GB Lacrosse, myself with Fiona Scott and Mel Mansfield.
This month marked 100 days to go until the Paralympics: it’s getting closer!
Damo had his monthly massage from Lee which he loved, and the pilot appreciates her sports massage too.
Going the extra mile!! After trying yoga thanks to World Class I have decided to incorporate it into my daily routine and the benefits have been huge. My posture has massively improved and I cannot wait to see what improves next.
We headed off to squad training at Wellington and we had a fantastic time, it was great to hear all the positive feedback about the changes we have made.
Time flies and it was time to head off to Wellington CPEDI3*.
June
Wellington CPEDI3*
Another amazing few days in the white boards. Athene was incredible and we were able to show off our hard work with her being so much more on the hind leg and stiller in the contact. The pilot still needs to work on her accuracy but that’s work in progress; having no spatial awareness makes it challenging but we will get there!
Each day our score went up, 3 more PB’s in the bag and three firsts! We broke the 80% barrier in the music which was amazing!! Time to work even harder and have a good few weeks of training ready for the next competition which happens to be final selection trials for the Paralympics!
I cannot believe I am writing this; the FEI World Rankings came out this month and I am absolutely delighted to say I am now World Number ONE!!
This month celebrated Rare Chromosome Disorder awareness day. Mine has taken so much away from me but also has allowed me to compete at the highest level in sport. I will continue to share my story in the hope that in years to come everyone will know about them; there will be treatment and maybe even a cure!
Incredibly excited to say that me and Athene have made the nominated list of entries for the Paris Paralympics. I cannot thank Di enough, Romilly and everyone at South Bucks RDA. My awesome trainer Rob and my incredible parents and all my brilliant sponsors and supporters.
I have been training hard off the horse; a variety of activities but they are all doing their bit to help me in the saddle.
This month also celebrated Father’s Day. Dad is my hero; he is always going above and beyond.
Hartpury final selection trials: Athene flew through the trot up and was amazing in a very busy arena familiarisation.
Unfortunately, some of the judges didn’t like our contact and even though we have worked really hard on this it was an area they decided to focus on! So, our scores were much lower than they have been all year, and we were all very disappointed. On the second day we had a spook which was costly. Freestyle day Athene was mega and I couldn’t stop smiling.
We have done all we can; final selection trials are over and now we just must wait and cross everything.
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