After Winter Qualifiers at Wellington and Hartpury in November it was back to Sparsholt for a PYO in December, and our first visit there since August.  Then, Aslan was not overly impressed with the venue but to be fair it was one of those occasions when the traffic was against us, time was tight, there was lots going on in the warm up, it was a new location and it was all a bit full on… one of those ‘learning experiences’ you hear about which was in reality a fairly ordinary day out!  Aslan took a particular dislike to the full size horse skeleton in a glass display cabinet down the long side on that occasion, which is kind of understandable, and it was still there!But this time we were much better prepared and much better able to take it all in our stride, despite warming up in the dusk and the skeleton!  We warmed up with 63.25% in the Team before a break between tests and a chance to be back in the warm up arena with riders preparing for Inter tests, which was a great experience in itself.  Under the new rules I can gain up to four qualifying points from PYO competitions,  so while it wasn’t a proper qualifier, it still counted for me as I hadn’t used my PYO allocation.  Aslan went well after showing off to the Inter horses in warm up and we ended up with 63.08% and 2 points towards the Winter Gold qualification, which out us on six in total.  Not quite what we were looking for, but no excuses we both dealt with the venue so much better than last time which was positive.  Back in August we were competing  two Novice tests and here we were in December riding the Team and the Individual Championship Tests.  You can check out the video below…

Even through that was the last competition of the year, we trained pretty much as normal, including the dark and cold mid-week evening sessions, but we did factor a lighter week in the lead up to Christmas to give Aslan and me a bit of a break, and also so we could maximise our training time together over the holidays.  The lead up to Christmas also had the excitement of going to the London International Horse Show at Olympia for the first time.

Having never before and I very excited, giving my Dad a hard time as we battled through the traffic to get into town in time.  But it was worth it and absolutely lived up to my expectations and more.  We got there just in time to see the Metropolitan Police Activity Ride  which was amazing (how do they do that?) I We were also treated to a master class by Carl Hester with Charlotte Dujardin riding a demonstration on Carl’s new horse Hawtins Delacato, while he explained what he was looking for.  It was just amazing to watch, let alone listen and learn.  I found this great video of it someone posted on youtube and while I haven’t included it here there is a second part you can find too.

Me Aslan and Grandpa

The main event was the FEI World Cup^TM Dressage Freestyle to Music competition which was incredible to see at this level and resulted in a really exciting finish with the Swede Patrik Kittel just beating GBs Emile Faurie, who actually teaches my coach Sacha Hamilton.   My Dad even liked Patrik’s music and insisted on playing Gun ‘n’ Roses in the car all the way home, to be honest it was a bit more rock ‘n’ roll than usual, Dad was made up and we agreed we should make it an annual event!

Olympia was a great start to the Christmas holidays and I had a fantastic Christmas with my family.  My Grandpa came to stay and he came to see us school on Christmas eve which was a training day for us.  We had Christmas and Boxing Day off, though we visited Aslan on both days at the yard, and were back schooling on the 27th in the driving sleet (and learning the lesson that if the sun is shining on Boxing Day, you should take the opportunity to ride because you don’t know what weather’s coming at you next!)

That was it for December really, but I do want to reflect on our achievements for 2017, which has been an incredible year and has gone so so quickly when I look back.

In January we launched this website (with a bit of help from my Mum and Dad but it’s all done by Team IlseDressage with no professional help!)  I received the support of Charles Owen (who provided me with my first dressage helmet which they have done again this year) and gained the sponsorship of Fitness4Less who provided me with a personal trainer all year as they continue to do.  In February I owned my own saddle for the first time, helped by funding from The Royal Bank of Canada through a grant provided by SportsAid who sponsored me after being recommended by the British Equestrian Federation.  Aslan and I also competed in our first Winter Nationals this year, competed our first Team Test and by April had competed in our first Home International too for the Central Region.  In May Aslan and I celebrated our first anniversary, and by July we had represented GBR for the first time and in our first CPEDI 2* International at Bishop Burton where we also competed our first Freestyle to Music.  By September we competed our first Summer Nationals, and in November I became 16 and a brand ambassador for Equilibrium Products.  I met Olympic and Paralympic medalists, competed at the same event as Sophie Christiansen (my inspiration to start competing) and I even met Eddie the Eagle!  We started competing the Individual Championship Test in the Autumn, and we finished the year with half the points we need to compete at next year’s Winters at Gold rather than Silver which we did this year.    All this and I completed my first BEF Excel Talent Programme and was reselected for the next, still the youngest para in the squad.

What a year!  I am very proud of our progress this year and I am looking forward to an exciting 2018.  We have worked hard as a team and I am very grateful for all the support we get, so to finish the year I want to say thank you.

Thank you of course to my Mum and Dad who make all of this possible.  Thank you to whole family especially my brother Dylan and sister Grace who have to put up with an equestrian sister.  Thank you to my Coach Sacha and Personal Trainer Iain Duncan.  Thank you to everyone at the yard and the liveries too, including Emma who has loaned me her lorry to get to competitions and Sarah for her music and compiling my first Freestyle.  Thank you to all the BEF coaches and professionals at the Excel Talent Programme.  Thank you to all the judges and stewards and competition organisers.  Thank you to all the other athletes and competitors who inspire me to be the best I can be.   Thank you to my sponsors and supporters Charles Owen, Fitness4Less and Equilibrium Products, and The Royal Bank of Canada and SportsAid.  Thank you to my friends for listening to my horsey stories even though they don’t like horses.  And thank you to everyone who follow me and like my posts on Facebook and and everyone who read this blog and everyone else I have forgotten to mention.

Thank you all and Happy New Year everyone.

Ilse x

November started with the celebration of my SIXTEENTH birthday!!!   Whoop Whoop!!!  The excitement kicked off the weekend before with a short break into London, including afternoon tea at Jamie Oliver’s place in Piccadilly on the Saturday (but not before I’d finished training that morning). I also couldn’t resist some equestrian fun with my brother and sister in the evening on Southbank, though I’m not sure my hands and posture were that great and in general I don’t think Aslan needs to worry as my collected marks were much lower than usual!

Carousel Test (excuse my brother’s dab)

There were some horsey presents of course, including some new things for Aslan, but more importantly tickets for the Grand Prix Freestyle at Olympia in December!  I’ve never been to Olympia before so I am super excited and can’t wait for it.

I also had the most amazing surprise that I had been selected as a Brand Ambassador by Equilibrium Products.  Equilibrium has already supported me by providing some fantastic kit and I was even featured in their Winter Catalogue last month. To be selected as their Brand Ambassador is really special, not just for the help I will get with brilliant products for Aslan, but also to be trusted as an Ambassador for such a great brand at my age and stage of development is something I genuinely appreciate.  It was also an absolute surprise as I didn’t know it was happening and found out while checking Facebook for birthday messages before going to school. It was a massive surprise,  so thank you to everyone at Equilibrium and my mum and dad for planning in secrecy!

November has been a busy month in more ways than one and I have had to pace myself a bit.  It was also my mock GCSEs this month with fifteen exams to revise and sit for.  I am really committed to doing well at school, which is helped by my competitive nature!  It’s a tricky balance at times as I also have to take time off for competitions and squad training, but this time it’s actually working out a bit better as the last squad training was during my school half term.

Even while focusing on my exams, I managed to fine the time to start riding my Individual  Championship Test.  It has similar school movements to the Team Test that I started riding earlier in the year, but the combinations are a little trickier.

Having already qualified for the Silver Novice test at the Winter Championships, I had an opportunity to ride the Individual test for the first time at Hartpury on November 18th.  It’s a couple of hours away from us, but a venue I and Aslan like. It has great facilities and you even get to warm up inside, which is a bonus in the winter!   But it was a really really wet miserable day and we were riding late in the afternoon,  so we were tacking up in the dark and the rain which poured down as we arrived.  This competition was with my Dad driving and my sister Grace along to help out. We competed the Team first as a warm up for our first ever Individual Test and it was an interesting experience.  I lost my right stirrup in our first medium which is a bit tricky in rising trot!  I had to ride a 10m volte, a shoulder-in, a three loop serpentine, another medium, another volte and another shoulder-in before I had the chance to fix it during rein back!  Straight sixes for all that then, but we still ended up with a 63.25% and second place which in the circumstances I was very happy with.  Our first Individual Test an hour later wasn’t as good, with just 60.0% after hanging around in the damp and cold.  To be honest I was a little bit surprised, as at least I had both stirrups all the way through!  Here are the tests, you can make up your own minds!

Just one training session during the week with my coach Sacha, and a quick run though of our test on the Saturday and then the following Sunday we were off to Wellington Riding School for another Winter qualifier and a second crack at the Individual test.  I hadn’t competed in a BD Para class at Wellington before and hadn’t actually been there since I qualified for the RDA Nationals before winning back 2013.  That’s a while ago now, and a lot has happened in between, and I really hope Wellington put on more Para competitions next year as its a great venue and not very far away for us.  They also have a new outdoor school which is really fantastic, and in some ways it felt like the biggest show I have competed at as there was able bodied classes running in parallel with the paras, so the lorry park was full and the warm up arena busy with combinations of different grades and abilities.  There was lots going on and it was also a beautiful sunny day so the whole place looked spectacular and it was a great day out altogether.

Warm Up at Wellington

We had a decent warm up in a pretty busy school as you can see of both able and para combinations.  I think Aslan enjoyed the company and took it all in his stride!  We competed inside and gained 66.63% and a first place red rosette in the Team Test, and followed it up with 65.73% and third place in the Individual Championship Test, earning 3 gold qualifying points in the process! Only our second time out for the Individual so we are very satisfied with a pretty decent score and a decent PB that might just stand for a while. So a definite improvement on our expedition to Hartpury but plenty to continue working on over the winter at home.

To round off the month I had the good news that I had been nominated again by the British Equestrian Federation for SportsAid sponsorship.  I was fortunate to be supported by SportsAid and corporate Sponsor Royal Bank of Canada for 2016/2017 and I really appreciate the opportunities they gave me, as well as the funding they provided.  So I submitted my application and have my fingers crossed that I will be supported again in 2017/18.

That’s it for this month, one more Winter Qualifier to come in December in a Pick Your Own Test at Sparsholt College in Winchester then a bit of a wind down for both Aslan and me towards Christmas, and time to take stock on what we have achieved this year.

Thats it and thanks for reading this month, and please do sign up if you enjoyed catching up and find myFacebook page and Twitter stream @ILSEDRESSAGE.

Ilse x

It was a quiet start to October after the excitement of September, but a bit of a crazy November so this is a bit late going out!

You get a little reminder that winter is on its way when the lights go on in the school for the first time during evening training and the thicker stable rugs get set out for Aslan.  On October 6th it was World Cerebral Palsy Day.  I don’t often blog about my disability but in some ways I probably picked the sport least compatible with my disability!  Dressage is about balance and symmetry, two things that my body is sometimes not the best at.  I have Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy which means that it’s a bit difficult to control the right side of my body and also have no feeling on that side either, but then I don’t like things being too easy!

After being selected last month for my second BEF Excel Talent Programme this month was Induction day quickly followed by our first squad training.  This time around, both induction and our first squad session was at Solihull Riding School rather than Vale View where we did our training last time around.

Solihull is a bit closer to us than Vale View so it works pretty well and the facilities are great there too, as they are at Vale View for that matter… my Dad prefers the breakfasts at Solihull so he is definitely happy!

It was good to see the other squad members from the previous programme including Hope, Molly and Caitlyn and it was also nice to welcome the new riders to the squad.  It feels like a long time since my last induction and this time at fifteen it was a little less daunting than last time around when I was only thirteen, but I am still the youngest on the para squad so somethings still haven’t changed!

Our first squad training was in the 23rd and 24th and was a great experience as ever.  In fact this time around it was better than ever.  The para squad has reduced from 13 last time around to just 8, but we have the same level of resources available, which means we get more time with more of the equine professionals together.  You can see below the attention we get, with Ben the Farrier, Mark the Saddler, Angie my coach, Russell our Bio-Mechanic all working together to improve my position andd posture.  I even had Sophie Wells the Grave V Paralympic gold medalist looking on and evaluating my analysis.  It’s a genuine privilege and one I really appreciate.

For my first Excel squad training last time around I didn’t actually have a ride so I had to go on foot, which was not the best of experiences, so to be there this time on Aslan, having competed for GBR for the first time this year was a very very different experience and a measure of the difference two years of dedication, training and development can make.

It was also #MondayMotivation for the This Girl Can campaign and I couldn’t resist using their app to post this picture on my social media, but it really is true!

Squad training was followed up with a couple of Winter Qualifiers.  The first was at our local competition venue Windmill Farm Dressage & Livery, which was very blustery thanks to the tail end of Storm Brian. Despite the conditions Aslan was on best behaviour and our 66.2% in the Novice was followed up by a very satisfying 67.12% in the Team,  and so a very successful day out collecting Silver qualifying points for the Winter Nationals.  You can see us riding both tests in this video.

Next up was another local venue at Widmer , but before then I had a bit of a surprise when I realised we had been featured in the Equilibrium Products catalogue, that happened to have been distributed with every copy of the British Dressage magazine!  Here we are showing iff the benefits of Equilibrium’s Symmetry Straps which I have as ab FEI approve compensation aid to assist with my right side.

That was a nice kick off to half term which was rounded off nicely with a surprise weekend in London which my mum and Dad had organised as an early celebration of my birthday, but not before we completed Saturday training which for the first time was with a double bridle as an experiment which actually went very well, so more of that to come.

The WQ at Widmer Equestrian Centre was another successful day out on my last day of being fifteen on October 31st.  We picked up our final qualifying scores for the Silver category for Winter Nationals with a score of 67.24% in the Novice followed up by 67.5% in the Team which included my first 8 for my Canter Trot down the centre line to finish, and a personal best for collected marks with 42!   So we finished up with couple of red rosettes in the lorry to celebrate… even if I was the only one in my class the pb’s deserve it!

That’s it for October, next month we’ll be competing the Championship Individual Test for the first time to collect Gold qualifying points.  Thank you for reading my blog and following my progress, I really do appreciate all the support and encouragement I get.

Happy Halloween everyone .

Ilse x

At Stoneleigh with the British Dressage Supporters Club

It was back to school at the beginning of the month to start year 11 and to begin preparing for my GCSEs next summer.  There were no competitions in the first half of the month so my first trip out was without Aslan, just me and Dad, and the opportunity to visit the Le Mileux Dressage National Championships at Stonleigh Park.  It’s also the venue and occasion of the KBIS Para Gold Championships which I hope to be riding at next year.  This time though my visit was by invitation of the British Dressage Supporters Club to receive my certificate as recognition of representing Great Britain in July.

This was an absolute honour for me and something I am really really proud of.  The experience at Bishop Burton was amazing and one I hope to repeat many times, but also receiving my certificate from British Dressage CEO Jason Brautigam in front of everybody in the Supports Club Marque really confirmed that I actually had represented Great Britain.  I met Anne Dunham for the first time (she was lovely) and while I was there I also got to see Charlotte DuJardin and Sophie Wells compete in the same class which was pretty special.

That was amazing, but the really special news of the month was that I received confirmation of my place on the 2017/2019 British Equestrian Federation Excel Talent Development Programme.  

After being the youngest rider on the last squad I was desperate to get back on as I learned so much in the two years of the programme.  I started those two years without my own horse and I finished it this year riding in my first CPEDI 2* International, which is a measure of the progress Aslan and I have made together. It’s also the pathway to World Class selection which opens next year, so it was hugely important to get selected.  I had submitted my application in August and received an invitation to ride in a selection trial with Aslan on the 18th September, which we didn’t have to do last time.

I was so delighted to get the letter confirming my place a week or so later.  Again I was the youngest up for selection and also there were only half as many positions available on the squad this time around, so its even more special to be selected.  I can’t wait for the induction and first squad session next month!

The next weekend was very exciting as I was invited to a sponsors event at the British Film Institute near Waterloo on the Friday night. The event organised by SportsAid and the Royal Bank of Canada  and was to kick off the countdown to the Winter Olympics.   There was a question and answer session with Olympic atheletes Lizzy Yarnold and Annabel Chaffey, followed by popcorn and a screening of the movie Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, and Eddie was the third person on the panel!  It was a great movie and we (my sister Grace and Dad came too) had an amazing evening and I had a long chat with Eddie himself afterwards.    He was really nice and very encouraging and genuinely interested in my development.  Thank you again SportsAid! And thank you Eddie!

Me and my sister Grace with Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards

So after a late night in London it was up early the next morning to compete at Windmill Farm.  I had my first Novice qualifying points already from the warm up test for the Summer Festival of Para Dressage last month, but this time we had opportunity to add in the Team Test too.  Our warm up was a bit stressed as my body was a bit stiff and tired after the late night, which I could tell Aslan could feel, but we both settled down as we entered the arena and we started ok and built some rhythm, but then I had a bit of a twitch as we transitioned to trot after our walk on a long rein which Aslan read as canter, not good!  We took a bit of a moment to get back into a decent trot which messed up our next transition to canter.  By this time Aslan was truly confused and I don’t blame him!  We corrected ourselves and got through the rest of the test without incident, but the Novice scoring is pretty unforgiving out of just 290 points so one big glitch like that and its pretty much damage limitation afterwards.  We did still manage 62.7% and gained a couple of qualifying points but I was frustrated and had really wanted much more out of the test, so off we went back to prepare for the Team Test.

Me and Aslan during our Winter Qualifier tests at Windmill Farm

We only had a few minutes before heading back into the arena, but that was enough to reconnect and refocus.  Solihull last month had taught me that if the first test is not great the second can be much better, and it was.  We hit a much better rhythm and maintained it.  I was still a bit tight but Aslan was working that out and while it wasn’t our best it was an improvement which gave us a score of 65.37% and 4 points towards qualification for the Team, and included our first 8 for Rein Back which was at least something to be satisfied with!

It might not have been our finest scores, but this did turn out to be a pretty special occasion, as it was the very first time that I competed in the same event as Sophie Christiansen.  Sophie was my inspiration to get started in para dressage when I was ten and having lessons alongside her as she trained for the London 2012 Paralympics.  It was amazing at the time to see her prepare to represent Equestrian Team GBR in London and come home with three gold medals to add to her collection.  It was equally lovely and as inspirational as ever to catch up with her, I just wish I could have recorded some better scores for the occasion.

Me and Sophie Christiansen MBE

To finish off the month I spent a week collecting my training miles for one week to count towards the SportsAid #MyMiles Challenge.  SportsAid is a fantastic charity which supports me financially and through numerous opportunities through the year. During the  week of 21st September they were asking athletes and supporters to submit their exercise miles and make a donation.  I was a bit surprised to find out that Aslan and I cover about 6 miles in each training session, which is pretty impressive given Aslan is doing the whole distance in dressage paces and school movements.  Even though I only had two ridden training sessions during the week we still clocked up 22 miles in total, add in at least one other session normally and a competition too and we’d be up around at least 30 in a pretty normal week.  SportsAid CEO Tim Lawler put us to shame though clocking up over a hundred training miles in the week.  Well done Tim!  Here’s some of me and Aslan training during SportsAid Week with Sacha.

Finally I just wanted to share a picture of me supporting my other passion and ambition,  which is to become a vet.  For the last six months or so I have been volunteering at Wendover Heights Veterinary Centre on Fridays, which I really enjoy though its a bit of a rush to get there after my personal training sessions at Fitness4Less which are the same afternoon after school in Chesham.  It’s a bit of a run around but worth it as I get to see all sorts of animals and get loads of experience. Like I said at the start it’s GCSE year this year as well so I’m going to be working hard to and finding the right balance between everything!

Volunteering at Wendover Heights Veterinary Centre

Thats it for this month, I hope enjoyed my blog and you’ll come back next month and catch up with what we’ve been up to in October, and in the meantime please do Like @IlseDressage on Facebook to keep in touch with updates during the month.

Thanks for reading.

Ilse x

August started with a break and a family holiday in France and a reminder for me to thank Mum and Dad and my sister Grace and brother Dylan for supporting my development and training. Mum takes care of all the organisation and administration, Dad helps me at most training sessions and competitions and my brother and sister both make sacrifices in terms of time and priorities.   I don’t thank them all enough for supporting my passion and development but without them I simply would not be able to to what I do, so here we all are on holidays together this summer.  I missed Aslan and I missed training but I did get some exercise in the pool and the girls on the yard sent me photos of Aslan while I was away which I was very grateful of.  I think I missed him more than he missed me! We had a great holiday and made some great new friends too.

Once we were back home we were straight back into it, in preparation for the Para Festival of Dressage at Solihull.  Both Aslan and I were used to Solihull as along with Vale View it is one of the preferred venues for the BEF Excel Programme squad camps.  It has the benefit of being quite a bit closer to home for us than Vale View and the added advantage (according to my Dad) is that it has the best cooked breakfasts!

We had a good plan in place for preparation with my coach Sacha Hamilton but had the the added challenge that the event coincided with her summer holiday, so this was the first time we were to compete a major competition without Sacha to guide us through – it was going to be just Aslan, me, Mum and Dad travelling.  Mum and Dad don’t have equestrian backgrounds so its a measure of our collective development that we could even contemplate doing it on our own given that we have only had Aslan for a little over a year.

If that wasn’t enough, disaster struck on the Friday as we got ready to go to the yard.  Mum tripped taking out the recycling and cut her hand badly.  After a bit first aid from me and a trip to hospital for Mum, it was obvious we had to reassess plans and priorities.

Within twenty four hours, it was just Dad and I heading to Solihull with Aslan for the Summer Nationals. Meanwhile Mum was admitted to Stoke Mandeville for what turned out to be five hours of micro surgery to repair tendons, nerves and arteries in her damaged fingers.  Mum being Mum insisted that this was no big deal and over hell and high water I was going to compete at Solihull.  So while both Dad and I wanted to stay with her, we were packed off and on our way with Aslan.

It was a bit odd trying to concentrate on our preparation while Mum was admitted to hospital and under a general anaesthetic, but she didn’t really give us a choice in the matter, so we just got on with it.  So we got Aslan and our kit ready as planned, travelled to Solihull, settled in and got ready for a light schooling session to settle Aslan in as planned.  He was a star, and did a great job of relaxing me too under the circumstances which was made all the better when I got to speak to Mum who was still a bit groggy but out of surgery and back on her ward. She was ok, and we were on track.

The Summer Festival of Para Dressage is a Bronze / Silver event, so I was only able to ride the Novice Test.  Sunday started with amazing sunshine and blue skies. We had opportunity for a  warm up test in the morning in preparation for the main competition in he afternoon. The warm up doubled as a Winter Qualifier for the the National Winters at Vale View and a remainder that the summer was all but over and that autumn and then winter was upon us.  Our preparation and the warm up went well, even with just Dad to help me get ready and get us ready in a busy warm up arena.

I probably heaped a lot of pressure on myself as more than anything I wanted to do well for Mum to cheer her up.  She was still in hospital, but getting over the surgery and I was able to talk to her before the test.  The test itself was in the outside school, and while we had trained at Solihull before with Excel we had never competed there, either indoor or out so yet another first just us.  We were all set and after checks with the steward we were set to go. Aslan calmly trotted past the judges parked in their cars, the bell went and we were off.

We had a good start, with Aslan finding his rhythm, but approaching the half 10M circle back to the track Aslan saw something scary off to the right and spooked left in a fairly major way.  He immediately got on with it but it I could tell he was still a bit nervous which showed on our canter circle in the same part of the school, I could feel him tightening and getting on his toes even in the walk.  By the right right rein canter down the same spookey side he was very tense showed it by breaking into canter on our final medium and by the time we were down the centre line I think we were both ready to finish.  After a salute and a pat for him to calming down I had a “well ridden and staying on” from the judge as I passed her to head out, but a 63.79% was not what we really wanted in the circumstances.

So as sometimes happens it can feel like a warm up test puts you backwards rather than forwards, but at least we’d been in there and Aslan knew what to expect.  In the afternoon it was the real deal and we were back into the warm up arena in preparation for the Summer Nationals test. Aslan was brave and much more settled this time around which resulted in a far smoother and far netter test when it mattered which resulted in a championship competition personal best score of 66.03% and third place at in the Silver Championship.  If we hadn’t been quite so enthusiastic into our second canter transition it might have been a bit better and while it wasn’t a first place and red rosette it was pretty good in the circumstances with just me and Dad there.

And that pretty much rounded off the 2017 season.  Right at the end of the month we submitted our application for the next new British Equestrian Federation Excel Talent Development Programme cohort 2017/19 which I will have to ride a selection trial for this time around if I get asked next month, so we’re not quite done for the year, then hopefully selection, squad training and Winter Qualifiers and the beginning of our Individual Test development over the winter.

Thanks for reading and I hope you come back next month to find out how we did!

Ilse x

July was the biggest month of the year so far for us, perhaps it will be all year, and so my biggest blog post too!  It started with the excitement that I had qualified to ride in my first International Competition representing Great Britain!  I knew we had achieved the qualifying scores, but it was still amazing to receive confirmation at last, particularly as I had originally been left off the email list by British Dressage and so got it a few days after everyone else knew!  It was a very big deal for me as it was the first time I got to ride an FEI CPEDI 2* competition and the very first time representing Great Britain in an International competition!  Just receiving the Union Flag badges to sew onto my riding jacket and saddlecloths was exciting enough!

Competing at 2* means I ride the FEI Novice A and Team Tests and a Freestyle test too (if we qualify), so practicing my Novice and Team tests and preparing my Freestyle was the focus of training this month.

I hadn’t ridden Freestyle before in a British Dressage competition so it was pretty exciting to have the chance and I was lucky to have some great help from Sarah and Angie on the yard who have plenty of experience preparing and riding freestyle tests all the way to National level.  I borrowed some awesome music from Sarah, who also adjusted one of her floor patterns for me to try out and even rode Aslan through it for me.  After just a few sessions Aslan and I were getting the knack of it and the timing right with Sacha helping us iron out some of the wrinkles in our compulsory movements.  We got to include changes in a test for the first time and also added in leg yield for the first time, which is a bit tricky on my right side but we got there!  Not perfect perhaps, and plenty to work on over the winter for next season, but a good start to riding to music and really really great fun.  I think Aslan likes it too! Here is one of our first practices ever of a freestyle test.

To be able to ride at Bishop Burton at all, I first had to attend the Festival of Dressage at Hartpury College, not to ride this time but to get formally classified as a para-dressage athlete under FEI rules.  The classification system changed this year and went from having grades 1a, 1b, 2, 3 and 4 to a simpler system of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.  Well it seems simpler, but it still has seemed to cause some confusion, but I’m sure everyone will be used to it

Watching Charlotte Dujardin at Hartpury Festival of Dressage

by next year.  I was originally classified for the Riding for the Disabled National Championships as a grade 3 rider, which is now grade 4, but had to be classified under the FEI system to ride in International competitions.  I am glad to say that the FEI classifiers agreed with my original classification and there was no change and I stay as a grade 4.  This means that the I will continue to ride the same tests I have been riding this year, though some of my competitors have been down graded so there will be new riders in my classes going forward. Although I was at Hartpury for classification I also managed to to a bit of spectating and the absolute highlight was watching Carl Hester coach Charlotte Dujardin during her warm up and see her trot right by me.

Classification was only the half of it as I also have to apply for compensation aids to be approved.  I ride with velcro slippers which attach to my stirrups and I also use Equilibrium Products Symmetry Straps between girth and stirrup.  My hemiplegia means I have limited control and not much feeling on my right side and these compensation aids are essential to prevent my foot coming out of the stirrup without me realising it, which would not be safe, or from going to far back and really confusing Aslan.  We didn’t realise it until afterwards, but the compensation aids get approved by a different committee to classification and so we had to send the application off via British Dressage. It was pretty stressful waiting to hear if my aids were to be approved as the compensation panel stated they needed 2 weeks to decide on the aids.  I have to thank Rachel Smith from BD who chased the FEI panel on our behalf every day leading up to the start of the competition and we literally received confirmation a couple of hours ahead of my first test at Bishop Burton which was a huge relief, as I wasn’t sure that I would be able to ride without them.  Getting ready for Bishop Burton was a lesson in itself as there we lots of new things to consider including getting our music registered to ride the Freestyle which I hadn’t had to do before.

Me with Olivia Carnegie-Brown and her Silver Medal from Rio

A week after Hartpury I was invited to a reception organised by SportsAid at the Royal Bank of Canada in the City of London.  I am one of fifty athletes sponsored by RBC in 2017 and they were raising sponsorship funds by entering a team into the RideLondon cycling challenge.  I was there to explain how important their sponsorship and support is to me and their other athletes.  As usual with SportsAid events, it was a bit daunting as I new I would be participating in a live question and answer session in front of everyone along with para-cyclist Drew Walker and cyclist Louis Billyard.  As daunting as it is, it’s really great experience for me and one of the definite benefits of being a SportsAid and RBC Athlete.   Tim Lawler was asking the questions and he is really good at putting you at ease and so I think I did ok.  As well as meeting the RBC riders I also got to meet Olivia Carnagie-Brown which was very very cool.  Olivia was sponsored by SportsAid and was part of the Women’s 8 rowing team at the Rio Olympics where she won a silver medal, which she had with her and I got to hold!  RideLondon is on the 31st of July I will be on holidays, but I wish all the RBC and SportsAid riders well and I hope they won’t be too sore after 100 miles in the saddle!

I was also fortunate to go to the World Para Athletics Championships this month at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in London with my Dad and Grace my sister.  I hadn’t been inside the stadium before but did go to the park to see some of the sports during the London 2012 Paralympic games five years ago, and I couldn’t resist recreating a

Grace and me at the World Para Athletic Championships in London

picture of me back then with my union flag which I still have.  I’m a fan of most sports, and it was inspiring to see world class para-athletes from around the world competing at this level.  It was an amazing night as Jonnie Peacock was running in the finals of the T44 100M so the stadium was packed and the atmosphere was amazing.  We were sat at the front behind the start line, and when Jonnie won gold he came all the way around the track to us on a victory lap, high fived Grace and I got to shake his hand which was so cool.  It was an inspiring and brilliant night, we spotted ourselves on TV later and when we posted a picture of it on Facebook the Channel 4 Paralympic team even commented on it!

And then of course there was my first ever International representing Great Britain at the CPEDI 2* Competition in Bishop Burton!

It was my first experience of being away for a whole five days at competition.  Mum helped me get Aslan ready and we set off with Sacha and Emma helping and supporting us too.   Bishop Burton is about four and a half hours away by lorry but the traffic was terrible and it tool us over seven hours to get there.  Aslan travelled well as usual and we had time for a short session and a bit of a stretch for both of us after the journey before settling in on the Monday evening.  The facilities at Bishop Burton are really good and there is plenty of warm up space with two outdoor schools and two indoor as well as the competition arena itself.  We rode again on Tuesday before the trot up which Aslan passed with flying colours.

Me and Aslan riding our first International Test – the CPEDI 2* Novice A at Bishop Burton 26th August 2017

Wednesday was our Novice A test and our first test representing Great Britain.  Mum and Dad arrived with Grace and my little brother Dylan too, and Aslan’s previous owner Rebecca and her daughters even made the journey to see us compete in an International together for the first time which was really nice.  After a good warm up with Sacha we entered the arena for the first time, the bell went and we headed down the centre line to our first halt and salute in an International and it was square! Aslan nailed his first ever mark at International.  It was our first experience of riding in front of 5 international judges (yes five!) and the way the Novice tests are scored there is nowhere to hide.  Aslan was a star and we rode a good test but one slip and a trip into canter on my left reign (the stronger one grrrrr) lost us crucial points and so we ended up with 62.586% and a fifth place, with a 3* rider taking first place with 65.138% so pretty close stuff.  The Novice test is the easiest one we ride, but one slip and it’s pretty much over!  Not a personal best but I was glad to get my first test completed with one of the judges giving me 65.517%.

Thursday was our Team Test and a bit of a reality check on just how tough the judging is at CPEDI 2*!  The five International Judges for this test were from Sweden  Nederland  South Africa  and two from GBR , and no one from USA  who gave us our best score yesterday!  We went pretty well but had a slight stumble on our second 10m volte and again on the left shoulder in that follows it (again what should be our better one grrr) so 60.270% overall with one judge giving me 63.5% and another fifth place,  only 0.4% being the fourth placed rider and less than 2% behind the third, but quite a bit off the 67% first place, again with the more experienced 3* riders taking the first, second and third.  I must admit I was hoping for a better score today but everything went to plan other than the couple of slips, and another test under our belt with feedback to work on and we had qualified for the Freestyle!

Friday was the end of a long week of competition, but I was feeling fine and Aslan certainly had plenty of energy.  He was stabled under FEI conditions which are tightly controlled but I’m pretty sure he got hold of an extra Weetabix from somewhere!  He was raring to go and definitely on a mission, maybe he was inspired by our rousing music or maybe we cantered a bit too much before the bell but either way if Mum had been there she’d have been holding on to her seat in the gallery!  It was a bit too energetic for the judges, but we still managed a 61.8% which was an improvement on our Team Test and we had made it through our first FEI International competition representing GBR.  It was another fifth place giving me a matching set of rosettes for week and while it was not quire the result I wanted (I prefer winning) I’m not really complaining as it was the most incredible learning experience.

Receiving my Jane Goldsmith Training Bursary

We finished with a nice surprise as right at the end of the prize ceremony I received a training bursary from the Jane Goldsmith Foundation for being one of only two riders under 16 competing at Bishop Burton, and the only under 16 riding in the CPEDI 2* classes.  I am very grateful of the award which will allow me and Aslan to have some additional training clinics.  This was a timely reminder that I was the youngest here, so fifth in class at my first International was perhaps not too bad after all!  I really must say thank you to everyone who supported us and got us to our first International.  It was so amazing to ride in the arena to music and a great way to finish the week, so a big thanks to Sarah Morris for providing the music and helping plan the routine (which was awesome if I say so myself).  You can see my tests back to back in this video.

Finally, while I was away at Bishop Burton I received confirmation that I was had qualified to ride in the Para Summer Festival of Dressage at Solihull Riding Club next month, which is the main Summer National competition at Silver and Bronze levels.  It’ll be my first time riding at the competition but I’ll be riding in the Silver category, another new experience as last year I missed out as I had not been riding Aslan long enough to get out to the qualifying competitions, so I am really looking forward to it.  My coach Sacha will be away on vacation, so it will be mum and dad as my support team for the first time at a major competition!  That will also be the end of the summer season for me, and before the end of August I will already be riding Winter Qualifiers!

And that was the end of a very exciting month for me.  I’m now off on holidays to France for a couple of weeks, and I will be using some of the time to prepare my application for the 2017-19 British Equestrian Federation Excel Talent Development Squad.  When I applied for the last programme I did not have my own horse, and I had not even competed in a British Dressage competition, but here we are two years later having just competed a 2* International.

When I get back we’ll be straight into the build up for the Summer Festival of Para Dressage and our first winter qualifier!

Ilse x

We were straight into April with a visit to Vale View competing for the first time for the Central Region in the Para Home International.  We travelled up on the Friday afternoon to settle Aslan into his temporary accommodation for the weekend and had a good warm up session in beautiful conditions.  It was nice to catch up with old friends and competitors and to meet my Central team mates Julie Payne and Sara Bates.  Then it was the opening ceremony and the emotion of hearing the National Anthem at a competition for the first time, followed by opportunity to relax over a fish and chip supper with all the teams to round the day off.

Warming up with Aslan in the brilliant sunshine before the SQ at Vale View

After an early arena walk on the Saturday Morning was an opportunity to ride a Summer Qualifier in the Home Arena before the Home International kicked off.  Aslan warmed up beautifully in the beautiful sunshine and took everything into the arena for me.  We held our focus and rhythm, kept going forward and gained a personal best with a score for the 2017 Grade IV Novice of 71.03%. Great start to the weekend, and six points of the 12 needed towards the Summers from one ride!

Saturday afternoon was the first round of the Para Home International which meant I got to wear the National Flag for the very first time.  I am half Dutch, half Scottish and part Welsh but riding under the cross of St George of England was no less of a thrill.  This time we were riding in the International Arena riding in front of two judges, and Aslan was on form again in the warm up.

Riding for England for the the first time

The International Arena is not Aslan’s favourite and with a bit of a spook at the judges before the bell he was clearly on edge.  He settled a bit and while he was still a bit edgy he went better and better as the test progressed, with only the odd trip or so  giving us away.   The judge at C gave us 70.34% but H was not so convinced giving us a pretty ordinary 60.0%, so a big split in opinions which resulted in us getting 65.17% over all, and an OK if not spectacular contribution to the team score.

The odds were against us with only three members to our team rather than the usual four, and not being able to drop a score like all the other teams.  Never mind, we all like a challenge and Sara and Julie put in great rides putting us in third position overnight, out of the nine regional teams competing. Saturday night was time relax with the whole family and Sacha all part of the Central team on with everyone sleeping on the lorry for the first time and even Molly and Pucker behaving and getting on together. The fantastic warm sunny weather held through to the Sunday for the final day of competition.

We started better with Aslan more comfortable in front of the judges and gallery than on day one. But something unsettled him into our first medium at F which clearly played on his mind, as once we were back at that end of the school we had another spooky transition to canter too.  There is not much room for error in the Novice tests as they are scored out of just 220 so, with a couple of bad transitions, it was never going to be a great score and we ended up with a disappointing 62.84%.  It was a reminder to me that it’s my job to settle Aslan and be one step ahead of him and reassure him by reacting to distractions before he does to keep him settled.

Two more brilliant rides from Sara and Julie kept us in it right to the end, but inevitably we dropped a place to fourth and just missed out on a podium position.  Incredibly only 1% separated the top four teams and a tough reminder of what might have been.  We didn’t win but I did gain two fantastic team mates in Sarah and Julie and I survived my first Para Home International.

With Central team mates Sara and Julie at the 2017 Para Home International

After the excitement of Vale View, it was back to business at home, a local competition at Windmill Farm and an opportunity to ride the 2017 Team Test for the first time.  It’s a big step up form Novice with the addition of lots of new and more complicated school movements such as rein back, 10m canter loops, 20m circles in medium canter, shoulder in, turn on the haunches and canter-trot-canter transitions to change the rein so it’s pretty challenging and exiting to ride.

At Windmill warming up for my first ever Team Test

First though the Novice test, and with a solid 67.76% another six points and confirmation of the 12 I needed for qualification for the Summer Para Festival at Solihull.  With the pressure off, we could relax and enjoy our very first Team Test and as I came down the centre line for the first time it felt quite special that this was my very first gold test, and the same one I will ride at International competitions at the highest level.  The relaxation clearly helped, Aslan went brilliantly and helped me through the emotion of it and I surprised myself with an amazing 68.38% and a qualifying score for the 2* competition at Bishop Burton.  Aslan I owe you one!

We had one more competition lined up at Hartpury in what was a very busy month, but before heading there we took the opportunity of a training day organised by the Central Region at Fairoak Grange Equestrian Centre with International Para Judge Jayne Peberdy.  Jayne was really fantastic and very very easy to work with.  First of all we worked on our general way of going to improve our straightness and impulsion and over all quality before concentrating on shoulder in, which is one of the more tricky bits of the 2017 Grade IV Team Test.  It was an excellent session and a reminder to focus on improving the basics before worrying about the fancy bits.  I am very gratefully to Jayne as it really was a lovely session and great preparation for Hartpury the very next day.

At the Central Region Clinic with Jayne Perbery

Another good warm up in the barns at Hartpury, followed by a 67.24% riding the Novice in the International Arena, and we were well prepared for our second team test and first at a major venue.  The International Arena at Hartpury College is a fantastic place to compete, and one Aslan seems to like a lot.  Aslan took it all in his stride and again I was really pleased with our score of 65.38% resulting in another couple of red rosettes to return home with and the second qualifying school we needed for Bishop Burton.  So a great day out and a long one too as this was our first late start time too competing well after four o’clock, so after a proper warm down and a quick de-biref with Sacha (and Aslan) we were loaded and back on the road for the long drive home from Gloucestershire to Buckinghamshire.

I finished with the month with a very special opportunity to visit the Old Vic thanks to SportsAid and my sponsors the Royal Bank of Canada who organised a communciations workshop at  at the Old Vic.  It was a great opportunity to work on our communications skills on the Old Vic stage and where Daniel Radcliffe was performing that evening.  If the venue wasn’t inspiring enough, I also got to meet three time Olympian and World Champion open water swimmer Keri-Anne Payne.  Keri is an amazing athlete who swims 10K in open water in her event.  It’s a tough sport and Keri really inspired us and gave us really good practical advice on managing our development and sporting careers too.  The whole event was such a great opportunity and one I am very grateful to everyone at SportsAid and the Royal Bank of Canada for arranging.

On stage at the Old Vic during the RBC SportsAid communications workshop

All this and training as normal, gym conditioning on Fridays as well as volunteering at Wendover Heights Vets once a week too.  So a very very busy month, and before you know it its well into May which means mock GCSEs for me which is why I’m sending this out later than usual.  More of May to come next time, in the meantime thank you to everyone who has supported me through April and I hope you enjoy my blog.

Ilse x

March was a pretty big month which started with a bang as we were straight into it with my final squad training session of the BEF Excel 2015 cohort at Vale View Equestrian Centre.  I had the opportunity of both a test ride and training sessions with Maria Eilberg and Angela Weiss in Vale View, under the watchful eye of the programme director David Hamer.  This was my first opportunity to get some feedback on the the 2017 Novice A test and at 69% I was pretty happy with how it went, we then spent the training sessions focusing on improving bits of the test, particularly exercises to improve our medium trot.

I also had final debriefs with my sports psychologist, physiotherapist and programme director David Hamer.  I had some really positive feedback from David which I was really pleased about.  I can’t believe I have completed the programme already.  Its gone really quickly and been such fantastic experience, and so much has happened.  I started the programme in 2015 without a ride and finished it on my own horse and having qualified for the Winter Nationals, so its been a bit of a journey.  I’ve still got plenty to learn but I have gained so much knowledge and experience from the programme, and I am truly grateful for the opportunity.  I have learned alongside some fantastic riders, including Amanda Shirtcliff, Anna Mae Cole, Suzanna Hext and Charlotte Cundall who all moved up to the World Class Programme from Excel last year, and I am determined to follow their path.   I will be reapplying for the 2017 programme this year, so watch out for this later in the autumn.

Aslan settled in and chilled out at Swallowfields

Once back from squad training we were off the very next day to a British Dressage training day organised by the Central Region Swallowfields Equestrian Centre in Warwickshire.  The staff at Swallowfields made us feel very welcome.  Aslan had a very nice stable for the day and settled in quickly.  I had a great training session with Jo Swaine who helped me work on getting Aslan straighter, more responsive to my aids  and more connected, before test riding in front of judge John Robertson.  Aslan was brilliant throughout, with plenty of energy left in the tank after two days of squad training before this session, but a bit of a spook during our test brought the mark down to 62%.   From experience, John is a tough but fair judge, having last judged me in Hartpury in January.  On days like this its really useful to understand what a judge is looking for outside of competitions.  The whole day was valuable experience with great tips and feedback from Jo and John who both have great experience.  I hadn’t worked with Jo before but she was fabulous and

Training under the watchful eye of Jo Swaine

it was a really fun session as well as being beneficial.  If you are in the Central Region and haven’t attended one of these training days I’d recommend it whether you are an able bodied rider or para. Thank you Emma Douglas for the loan of your lorry to get us to both Vale View and Swallowfields this month.  The day out to Swallowfields had an extra bonus as it allowed me to qualify to ride for Central Region at this years Home International at Vale View in April.  I haven’t ridden at this event before so it will be another new thing to look forward to next month, and I am looking forward to seeing some of my friends and competitors from the Excel and World Class Programmes there.

Then it was the big one, my first Winter Championships, a very new and very exciting experience for me and Aslan.  Back to Vale View which is becoming a familiar road trip for us but this time travelling in style in Sacha Hamilton’s new lorry and my very first experience of sleeping on a lorry overnight.  I was riding in the Silver Class this year and it was my first experience of riding in front of two judges.  Aslan settled in nicely and went well in the short session we had on Friday night.   We rode a warm up test in the National Arena on Saturday morning in front of Sarah Rodger scoring 63.25%.  Timing of my Novice Class in the afternoon was not great as the heavens opened during our warm up and we were called ten minutes late which didn’t help, and then there was no writer for one of the judges so a further delay.  All in all not ideal.  Aslan went ok for me but I think we were both getting tired by this point.  Our test which you can just about see (sorry its a bit blurry as we did live on Facebook Live and my Dad was a bit shaky!) went pretty well up to a trip on the final medium which had a big impact on our score of 63.52% which put us in third place over all.  Boo…

I was pretty unhappy, as I had my sight on a personal best score and winning the class, but more experience and some valuable lessons learned for next time…

As well as all this I have been training hard, prepping for the Home Internationals next month when I’ll be riding for the Central Region, and also learning the 2017 Team Test which I will be competing soon too. I’ve also been keeping up my gym work with Ian at Fitness4Less, including learning the valuable lesson that if I keep on banging my right leg during spinning classes (even if I have no feeling in it), I will bruise really badly later!   I was also scheduled to ride a competition this month locally at Windmill Farm but it was canceled due to a lack of registered competitors.  This was a shame as it was to be my the first Summer Qualifier competition, but it was also Mother’s Day and it meant that after a good training session in the morning we had a nice family dinner out instead of a competition.  Happy Mother’ Day Mum!

My month ended with a visit to my new SportAid sponsor The Royal Bank of Canada in the City of London, and break from riding for a few days and a geography field trip Dorset – a little reminder of the balance of being a year 10 para dressage rider!  The trip into London for the SportsAid event was a bit weird as I had to go in my sport’s kit.  For most of the other athletes it meant tracksuits, but for me the only option was competition dress, an interesting choice on the tube.  But it was worth it as is was a great event, which included a photoshoot, interview to camera (which I wasn’t quite expecting) and inspiring talks from some of the other athletes and their RBC ‘buddies’.  I am really privileged to be one of 50 athletes representing 31 sports that Royal Bank of Canada are sponsoring this year.  I was awarded with my sponsorship cheque and a nice RBC sponsors hoodie, my picture is on their Athlete Wall and I’m in their SportsAid booklet, all pretty  cool!  SportsAid is also organising a workshop in London next month at the Old Vic to help sponsored athletes develop personal and media skills which I am really looking forward to.

And that’s it for this month, I hope you enjoyed my mad March,  April is already well underway as its been another crazy start of the month, but I’ll update you on that next time!  Thank you for reading my blog and for continuing to support my journey.

Ilse x