Wow where has May just gone?!?! It has flown by and the team at MJEventing have been so busy this is the first chance I have had of writing a blog.

First of all I must include the quick visit we made to Lingfield racing to watch my sister race one lovely Spring evening at the end of April on a horse called Dynamo. It turned out to be totally exhilarating as she WON!! So pleased for her to have ridden her second winner, this time for Richard Hughes.

Stephanie Joannides winning aboard Dynamo trained by Richard Hughes

As always, at the beginning of May we travel down to Chilham Castle in Kent. It has to be one of my favourite events as it is set in such a beautiful venue. On the first day I was riding Crystal and Joss in the BE80. This was Joss' debut event! First to go was Crystal and the day started off a little ropey when Crystal managed to to stand on Kate's foot with her studs in... it wasn't pretty! Luckily, Kate is a lot braver than I am with blood!!! However, she did manage to redeem herself by doing a very good dressage for a mark of 31.5. She was a little cheeky show jumping but went clear XC to finish 11th. We were delighted to have completed our second event! Joss was the star of the show. She was very cool, calm and collected and this was reflected in a 29.3 dressage and double clear to only go and WIN!!! I was so happy for my boyfriend, Edward, who owns Joss as this was his first time owning an event horse! Not bad going for a hunter!

Click here for Crystal and Joss's videos.

Day 2 we returned to Chilham with Myrtle in the Open Novice and Skip in the Novice. Unfortunately after my dressage on Skip I decided she was not quite herself so I withdrew her as I did not want to push her to make a mistake jumping as she is so talented. This meant Myrtle was left holding the flag for the team but she did not disappoint. We did a pleasing dressage of 30.5 and had a very unlucky pole show jumping as she was distracted by the next competitor who cantered past the jump. However, we picked up one of the fastest clear cross country times to finish 6th! She gave me a super round and I couldn't stop smiling!

Click here for Myrtle's video.

I am very proud to have been awarded a 'Technical Merit' by British Eventing for accurate riding sponsored by Airowear for my double clear on Joss.

Post - Chilham we spent the only day of the year watching TV all day. Badminton cross country day!! Full of thrills and spills it was so exciting and inspirational. I only hope one day I will be doing it! Michael Jung was pure class and deserved the win.

During this blog I am sad to write that last month we had to say goodbye to our lovely boy, Laddy who has moved on to his new home. I had a fantastic winter hunting with Laddy who was a good steed to me and always brought me home safely.

Mid- May eventing, this time at the riding club ODE at Coombelands with Symphony Sport Horses 'Danny' (Brendon). It was his second ever event and we were eager to see how he went after winning Munstead UA. Yet again he did the most super dressage to score 24. With no studs, he is unbelievably balanced for a young pony and produced a polished test. Unfortunately I was kicking myself for having a pole show jumping as it was totally my fault for seeing a dreadful stride as he jumped so beautifully! He went clear cross country so confidently, jumping straight into the water and over all the ditches. He never looks at anything! He finished a very respectable 4th- another top ten placing and in the prize money!! This really is a pony of the future as he has it all- looks and talent!

Click here for Danny's video.

Symphony Sport Horses 'Brendon' | FOR SALE

Last, but my no means least as we had the busiest weekend of all. Borde Hill horse trials on the May bank holiday! On Friday I rode 7 horses including the 4 to be competing and managed to walk 3 cross country courses. It was probably a good thing as it meant I got a great night's sleep! First of all I wish to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to help and support me last weekend as the help was invaluable. Saturday was the turn of Crystal (BE80) and Joss (BE90- stepping up a level). Joss did a lovely relaxed test but we had no time to debrief as I had a quick change on to Crystal. Sharp transitions and into the arena among the rumbles of thunder! Once again a very pleasing test and she responded well to all I asked of her. The day couldn't have gone much better with both horses gaining sub-30 dressage's (Crystal - 26.3 and Joss - 25) followed by TWO double clears! Crystal found her mojo and flew round the cross country to WIN! Kate, her owner, and the rest of the MJEventing team were so thrilled. She is a little tricky at times so this was a testament of patience and perseverance. Not forgetting Jossy, who finished 3rd in her first BE90. What a lovely and kind mare she is. She has really put to bed the myth of chesnut mares because she is so brilliant.

Click here for Crystal's video.

Sunday we hallowed as a 'day of rest', giving us time to re-load the lorry and prepare Skip and Myrtle for the competition on Monday. Unfortunately I became under-ther-weather but I was determined to compete. Once again Skip was in the Novice and Myrtle in the Open Novice. Typically, Bridget in the trailer was parked at the bottom of the hill, and we, in the lorry, were parked at the top of the hill. The problem you ask? They share tack! And with 45 minutes between dressage tests and a 'very' good 5 minute walk to the dressage, Lizzie our dear friend was assigned with babysitting Myrtle at the dressage whilst I rode Skip. I think by the end, Lizzie had most of her upper body licked to death by Myrtle who is ever so endearing. Skip is still new to this level and still struggles a little with the lengthening and shortening of the canter, however it is improving all the time. I was pleased to learn her score of 33 which I thought was very fair as we did some beautiful, unplanned flying changes down the final centre line but she was awarded 8's where she deserved them, including her leg yielding. Myrtle was extremely pleased to be out again and the canter in our warm up was edging on being 'over exuberant' with the hind quarters! I have been having some fantastic training with Myrtle and this helped us produce the second best dressage with a score of 28.5 in a hot section. Very chuffed to have broken the 30 barrier having been on 30 a few times!

Some time after allowed me to go back and re-walk a fence I was un-sure of the line I was going to take. It was a step up to a triple brush on an angle but it meant navigating ones way around a huge tree to the step. This was a tough question, for Skip especially who has never jumped a triple brush. By this point I was flagging on stamina as I was not feeling 100% and finding it more difficult than usual to breathe. Skip went on to jump yet another double clear which I was so pleased about as Guy Avis (who bred Skip) was there with Izzy Taylor and he watched our rounds. I was amazed how bold Skip was, as it was definitely the biggest and most challenging course she has done yet. Myrtle and I are really gaining confidence together and she jumped really well. Just one pole show jumping in a short double but a super easy clear cross country. Skip was 6th in her section and Myrtle was 5th!

Click here for Skip and Myrtle's videos.

3/4 sub- 30 dressage scores, 3/4 double clears and 4/4 top ten placings! To say I was chuffed would be an understatement. I feel incredibly lucky to ride these 4 gorgeous MARES! (Kate and I have nicknamed them the spice girls... guess who is who!). It was a great event and I couldn't walk round the corner without bumping into friends every 5 minutes which was really lovely. I had a huge group of friends that came along as the event is literally round the corner from us and we enjoyed tucking into my grandma's wonderful picnic at the end of the long day (anyone who know's, my grandma's picnics are the king of picnic's!).

I am really pleased with how my horses are all going at the moment. I owe a lot to my team around me, and of course my wonderful sponsors Arka Equipe who provide myself and my horses with the highest quality clothing and tack.