June has been a month of many 'firsts'. It was with HUGE excitement that Myrtle gave me my first experience of doing an Intermediate! It was the first Friday of the month and off Mum and I set at 6am along with Myrtle's owner, Brigitte, to Little Downham Horse Trials in Cambridgeshire. The weather was touch and go but we managed to stay mostly dry for the day but it was so cold- for June!! Luckily I had my Arka Equipe Dainese X-Mode Core jacket to keep me warm (FYI it's currently in the sale!!). After walking the course I thought there were some big fences, especially the ditch and brush which made me feel a little queasy! Lots of questions, including skinnies, drops and two water combinations. I felt confident that Myrtle and I could tackle the course well. Unfortunately we were parked in the middle of the XC course which meant Myrtle was highly excited which lead to a few mistakes in our dressage test but the movements which were good I was very pleased with. Myrtle jumped super show jumping after I got myself in gear after having a silly rail at fence 2. We are still a relatively new partnership in terms of 'ring experience' so I was happy with our result. Waiting for the XC was very nerve racking as so many riders were coming un-stuck at various fences throughout the course which was leading to long holds on the course. Waiting in the warm up is hard as you really have to keep yourself and the horse focused and ready to attack the course to start positively. We kept our cool and set off on the course well. We soon got into our rhythm and were flying. I was not worrying about the time as I just wanted to have a really confident clear round as you cannot afford to make mistakes at this level. All I can say is that Myrtle was totally and utterly AWESOME and we had the time of our lives out on the course! Coming through the finish clear was an overwhelming feeling and I was so pleased Brigitte could be there to watch. We finished 15th which was a commendable effort for our first go.

In Vogue II | Little Downham Horse Trials

Next event in June was Berkshire College with Skip on Saturday in the Novice and Crystal on the Sunday in her first BE90. We had a really lovely weekend with friends which is what makes eventing so enjoyable, when it can be a shared experience with friends and family. Skip did the most beautiful dressage test, I was so proud of her. She was so professional and just got on with her job. We were rewarded with 3rd best dressage on a score of 30.5. A 'very nearly' show jumping round which was slightly frustrating but as my trainer said to me, you either win or you learn. This time we learnt and I now know Skip has a mild dislike to 'very white' show jumps so this is what we have since been practicing over! She was forgiven as the rest of her round was fault free and the XC she breezed so easily we could have been doing a 90... Cruised inside the time to finish just outside the top ten in 13th.

Click here for Skip's video.

Back again on the Sunday and Crystal was in fine form. She ignored the slightly wild, bucking, charging horses in the dressage warm - up (I think down to miserable weather- again June!) and concentrated well. Kate, her owner, gave me some super last minute tips as she knows Crystal the best which was so helpful as we went on to get my best ever eventing dressage score of 18 (82%) which was best dressage! Second time in a row Crystal has got best dressage. Can't believe I got a 9 for my riding on my test sheet- definitely a keeper!! Unfortunately the tight arena of the show jumping was not best suited to her. She did a huge jump over fence 3 and I did not have time to 're-group' but we finished the course well after that. Once we finally let go of the brakes and got going on the XC we were away and Crystal took on the jumps very well for her first BE90. After her tremendous dressage score we still managed to finish 6th! So many positives to take away from the weekend.

Click here for Crystal's video.

Willow Crystal Maze | BCA Horse Trials

This month I was hugely delighted to welcome the newest member to the MJEventing Team. Silken Creme (aka Dunny) is a 6YO Connemara x Trakehner, dun mare owned by Carolyne Allen. Carolyne approached me to take on the ride of this lovely mare and I was more than pleased to do so. When I took her on she was already entered at Rackham Horse Trials so I didn't have long to get to know her! Carolyne gave me a brief summary of Dunny's way of going and her previous judge's comments. I only had the chance to ride Dunny 3 times before Rackham so I concentrated on the things I could improve and I also managed to go XC schooling on her. I wanted instantly to put her into the Lorenzini Titanium snaffle to help lighten her forehand and encourage her to take the contact forwards. The team at MJEventing organised a fabulous day out to our local horse trials, again, lots of family and friends and my grandma put on an amazing picnic! For once we had very sociable times and the weather was good. I was very pleased with Dunny's test, she was very forward thinking and active. She has good paces and did a neat, accurate test. We were all delighted to learn she had got best dressage with a score of 24.5! I was a little apprehensive going forward to show jump as I had not show jumped her before. She coped very well with the tricky course which saw very few clear rounds but she was one of the clear! We were in a strong position heading into the cross country so we set off determined and she gave me a very bold ride. I was delighted that she had put her trust in me to go on and win our first event together. She is a very exciting mare and I am so pleased how our partnership has started. We won very convincingly by over 6 marks which is big margin.

Click here for Dunny's video.

I was also lucky enough to win a video of my cross country round courtesy of 'An Eventful Life' which can be viewed by clicking here...

Silken Creme | Rackham Horse Trials

Kate P kindly pointed out that I now have the full compliment of 'Spice Girls' - Myrtle is Posh, Skip is Sporty, Joss is Ginger, Crystal is Scary and Dunny is Baby! And they all ROCK!!