Surviving a Medium....

As weekends go, this one has been pretty epic  
FB friends will already be aware of the Take That excitement...followed by Medium debut, which left me utterly overwhelmed and the most grateful/excited middle aged woman in Surrey yesterday  

I will be honest, I battled the 'Why am I doing it' demons on sunday morning...not competing until 5pm gives you a lottttttttttttttt of time to think too much  and even when I got there I looked around and had a squeak of fear  

The boy was very chilled having spent the day in the field...in fact he half thought about not being caught and then realised discretion might be the better part of valour after I bellowed 'Don't be an arse' across the field and all his pony friends stopped and stared open mouthed!!  

We have almost got enough mane to plait now, which is a bonus when relying on ectra marks for looking pretty!! Yard was busy and very luckily trainer was there doing her horses so could give me a pep talk before we set off. I had watched a few youtube uploads and decided we were going to try for a relaxed and sedate attempt...my mind works too fast when I am riding a test, quite often rushing ahead to the next movement in my head and therefore rushing the boy in real life too . Daniel always used to comment about the rate I would recite tests, and lo and behold he was completely right, it transfers to the way I ride too....so, focusing on the movement we are doing and enjoying the moment before preparing for the next seemed to work.

Plenty of time when we arrived to watch a few tests, was a PYO so a mix of Ele, medium and Advanced medium. A few combinations I knew, one definitely a pro, one horse ridden by a pro and a couple of very competent riding club members who do very well indeed...so a nice competitive mix.

We were last on, so bar a very hot, sharp, snorting Spanish stallion (we stayed away from that one) and a huggggggeeeeee Keystone horse we had it to ourselves, which suited the boy down to the ground. Lots of stretchy walk and trot, followed by lateral work in walk to get him listening and organise my position (SIT TO THE RIGHT!!) OH and little one came along, so had some nice pics from warm up, which I am always grateful for:
Being grown up

We did some of the canter work early, just on and back, loosening the frame as much as possible, giving inside and outside reins, feeling the self carriage. Some quick transitions to lift him up through the shoulder, a long rein walk and we were off....
Have to be honest there was a moment just before they called us in I thought I might be sick  
The first time in a very long time i have genuinely felt nerves...OH was great...little one dispatched upstairs with video camera and an audience had gathered  
I must remember not to canter round the outside before I go in  it did wind him up a little....note to self, stick to trot, change things when you have practised them at home first!!!  

Video is here: WARNING...it will make you sea sick....I love my child, but keeping a camera still is not one of her skills. You can see bits, but you will have to sit sideways and hold on tight in places!!!
First minute
Rest of test

Judge not our greatest fan, poor woman has seen us in our last 3 outings and never in our life ever given us above 63% (though to be fair I was realistically expecting 55% or thereabouts...)
The good bits were fine: 8 for entry, 7's for half circles and half pass in trot and walking bits  
6's for shoulder in and extended trot (that in itself is a miracle for which I am eternally grateful!!  )
Canter half passes got 5.5, which I totally accept, we know it is a work in progress, he was very hollow and to be honest he tried to exit the arena as I didn't have him on my seat at all and he was most surprised by the need to track left at the end of the centre line!!!
It is mainly very tense and lacking in polish and oomph, but it is where we are at  
Over the moon...no, somewhere in the stratosphere with 62.79%  Agree with everything she pointed out and 2 weeks to sort things out before our next attempt (I say sort things out, we will be mainly going everywhere in canter half pass  )
Never in my wildest dreams thought this boy could take me to Medium, Elementary was a bit of a surprise to be fair  Having only ridden 25 affiliated dressage tests in my life and probably not many more unaffiliated I feel truly lucky to be in this position
Thank you Wonderpony, just thank you