In June, Nonie and I were fortunate enough to be selected for sponsorship by online equestrian competition company EquiMind. The British based company cater for riders across a variety of disciplines including
I had only recently become aware of the concept of online competitions, but immediately saw the benefits that they offered:
- Decreased expense
- Decreased time cost
- Ability to compete from home
I saw that EquiMind were running photo competitions, which I thought looked like a bit of fun. I entered the ‘Best
– Really good posture and leg
– The horse is using his back very well
– Rider needs to straighten her wrist to allow more direct contact to the horse’s mouth.
Our first online competition:
Earlier this week we filmed and submitted our first test (BD Elementary 44) and I can’t wait for some feedback – as a sponsored rider I am fortunate enough to receive in depth feedback from a trainer. Results were released last night (Australian time), and I was chuffed to see that I had scored 67.6%. As an added bonus we won the elementary class!
For a long time I have been told that I should be riding tests on a regular basis. However it’s something I have really struggled to do. There are numerous reasons for this, the lack of a properly measured and marked arena, time – the list goes on. Having a competition structure will give me that extra push I need to get in there and practice more tests. I have no doubt that riding through more tests will have huge benefits for my riding (Check out this video from Danielle Pooles from
Watching the test back at home, I immediately picked up on a few things I can improve upon. For instance. keeping straight after the first halt and ensuring that I ride 2-3 strides straight over the centreline.
I really believe that participating in online
