February began with the news of the equine flu outbreak, meaning that some competitions were cancelled or ran with tighter regulations.
Prince was booked in for his booster vaccination and was rewarded with some apple treat bar for being brave. We then were not allowed to compete at British Dressage for the following seven days after his injection.
After his week of taking it easy, we went along to some British Dressage, in which Prince and I produced 65.62% test in a spooky indoor arena, that backed on to some stables and had music playing. Even with these distractions we came 7th!
Prince loved eating the mint and eucalyptus Likit Snaks after we have finished for the day.
The following week went to some unaffiliated dressage for Prince to try his hoof at a novice test. He showed some lovely medium canter, although our medium trot still requires more work. I was really happy with him as we came away with a yellow frilly!
In the last week of February, we hired a local arena that have a fabulous set of show jumps. With Prince being only 14.1hh and quite short striding, he has always found the distances in combinations quite difficult to make and prefers to chip in an extra stride. This makes it tough for him to make the bigger spreads, so we were aiming to improve his canter and confidence. I find I need to keep his canter really forward without it becoming too flat.
Prince has been loving his supply of Likits and can be seen here having a mint lick.
Next month the eventing season begins!
Until next month, Sophie and Prince
You can keep up to date with our journey on: https://www.instagram.com/sz_eventing/