My Super Star!

It's a soggy wet morning, the day of the dressage competition, I’ve trained intensively for this (see previous blog), so Sunny and I are ready and raring to go. Sort of. It's now pretty vile outside, and I’m no longer sure this is actually true. I text my friend asking her if she is getting ready - and am hoping she will come back to say she isn't going as it's too wet.

Due to Sunny's summer allergy he has nearly zero mane, so beautiful plaits are out of the question. I contemplate taking some mane from Ras and putting extensions on Sunny, but think that in this weather lacking smart plaits will be the least of my problems – staying on board in the gale force wind might be more important!

A text arrives from my friend and she’s already 'en route', so without much enthusiasm I put Sunny’s head collar on. Perhaps the car won't start, perhaps he won't go in the trailer – but no such luck! Despite the wind and rain, the trip is happily uneventful. The competition is extremely well signposted and I find myself winding up and up a hill, the downpour now horizontal.

Deciding there is no point trying to stay clean or dry, I get Sunny ready. His white saddle cloth and my white jodhpurs quickly get mud splattered, and wandering down to the arena, we look like a pair of drowned rats – there to be greeted by a smiling Isabelle and her endless joie de vivre. Sunny, being the star he is, gets into dressage mode and trots round like he is warming up for the Olympics. It’s such a pleasure having a horse like him, he knows his job and just gets on with it.

Then it's our turn. The start of the test is 'enter at trot, up the centre line' - so when I squeeze Sunny into trot and ask him to go into the arena (a layer of water over extremely soggy sand), I feel him hesitating and asking "are you sure, really?" One discrete kick from me and off he goes. Cantering was ‘interesting’, with a spray of sandy water flying up, rain in our eyes and anything that wasn’t properly attached flying around in the wind.

He does a fantastic test, and we finish with quite a dramatic splashing trot towards the judge, halt, and salute, Sunny then unceremoniously snatches the reins from my soggy hands and says "come on, let’s go home!". Normally, we would stay and watch the others and enjoy being part of it all - but today we feel too damp to be social. It’s time to get home for lunch and a much needed siesta in front of the fire. And a big hay net for my super star Sunny!