Chloe Vell’s dressage blog: holidays, prepping for PSG and GCSEs

Since my last blog I was lucky enough to fit in a holiday with my family (below) in Gran Canaria for a week.

It was nice to just relax in the sun but I was very happy to get back off holiday and go straight to the yard and pick up where I left off with Kaja (pictured, above, with me on a photoshoot) and Peanut (show name Le Chiffre).

I am now practising the prix st georges (PSG) test on Kaja because in a couple of weeks I am going to ride my first ever advanced and PSG tests, which is a big step in my riding career.

Perfecting the pirouettes

Kaja has become quite established in her 4- and 3-time changes, so now I’m just working hard on correcting the canter pirouettes; sometimes she likes to try too hard and panics because she thinks she’s done something wrong. She is very trainable though, so they’re getting better by the day. I have to make sure that I get enough inside bend around the corner before I go onto the diagonal line before the pirouette so it makes it easier for her to turn on her hind legs.

It will be interesting to see whether the harder test will mean that she will focus more and be less tense. I’m very excited and I’ll let you know how it goes in my next blog.

The TESA scheme

I’m currently still training Peanut to get him more established at FEI level because soon he’ll be moving onto a younger rider. I am too old to compete at FEI pony level next year, and they will then compete him at the level.

He is part of a scheme called TESA, which stands for The Equine Sports Academy, which matches talented ponies with talented riders. This is a fabulous scheme and I’ve never heard of anything else like it so if you need a pony, but you can’t afford to buy one, check out their Facebook page! I’m very honoured that I was chosen to be part of Peanut’s pony career and that I competed him at his first international.

On 14 September I’m going to be involved in a music display evening at The Unicorn Trust with talented composer Gaynor Colbourn, so if you want an alternative to X-factor then come along as there are displays from elementary to grand prix.

This week also means back to school. A big year for me as I take my GCSEs.

Chloe

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