09/08/2026
Belfast First Start ODE 🐴❤️
I had the pleasure of taking Cleo to her very first event today, which was extra special as I started her under saddle a couple of years ago. 🥰
Admittedly, Cleo was thrown in the deep end a little! She wasn’t feeling quite 💯 last week, so it was touch and go whether we would even make it. Because of that, I didn’t get to prepare her quite as well as I would have liked. Today was her first full show jumping course, she’s only jumped a few logs cross country, and she had never seen a piped dressage arena before. 😅💁🏼♀️
But days like today aren’t really about perfection — they’re about getting out, having a look and giving these horses the opportunity to experience a competitive atmosphere.
Cleo managed 3rd in the dressage, despite trying very hard to give those suspicious white pipes a wide berth. 😂 We had a couple of green rails in the show jumping and one refusal cross country when she decided she wasn’t particularly keen on the water sitting beside the smallest jump on course. Apparently the size of the jump was irrelevant when there was WATER involved. 😂
But what I was most pleased with was how calm she stayed throughout the entire day. There were horses and ponies absolutely everywhere, plenty going on, and she just took it all in her stride. And once we got out on cross country she was having an absolute ball — XC was very clearly Cleo’s favourite part of the day! 😂❤️
Sophie brought Rabbit along too, and he certainly didn’t make the dressage easy for her. Dressage is definitely not Rabbit’s favourite activity 😂, but Sophie is getting better and better at riding him through his moments rather than letting him take over, and they still managed 6th after dressage.
Then she absolutely nailed the jumping. They jumped their first double clear, with Sophie riding both show jumping and cross country beautifully and giving Rabbit no room to take advantage this time! Unfortunately, his back feet landed just outside the flags going into the halt box, earning them a refusal. 😭 That tiny little mistake cost her the win but she still finished 3rd overall — and I don’t think she’ll be making that mistake again anytime soon. 😜
Sophie’s friend Kayla had a great day too. After a slightly shaky dressage when her pony decided to be a little too expressive on two feet 🫣, she did an exceptional job putting it behind her and came back with a double clear to finish 2nd! 👏🏻
And of course Sophie and Kayla somehow managed to win the raffle for the GIANT COOKIE, which may have been the most important result of the entire day. 😂🍪
Not a perfect day, but honestly, those are often the best ones. So many little wins, a few very valuable lessons, lots of laughs and a whole lot of priceless memories made. ❤️
Very proud of all of them. 🥰🐴
