Against advice I decided to return to the scene of the crime with Frank for a XC schooling session at Ynys Y Mond with the lovely Louise Harwood.  We avoided the water complex and any stony areas as Frank’s feet have only just recovered from a bruised sole and a pulled shoe. After warming up and jumping a couple of small practice fences Frank was very oingy boingy and put in a couple of bucks .  This is his way of telling me he’s OK, not in any pain and quite excited which is good and reassures me that I did the right thing in bringing him here.

 

It’s great having a photographer at a training event or competition as being able to reflect on these afterwards really consolidates the learning experience. I don’t get so nervous now but it can be really difficult to be aware of what’s going on and how your body is positioned when in a state of anxiety. You might think that you are sitting up tall, or sitting back going into a fence but when you look at the replays you can see that actually you look like a monkey up a pole. Oh blimey… look at that  – look at me tipping forward – no wonder the horse is finding it difficult to take off. Looking at the replays is like having the lesson all over again in slo mo.

 

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