Well who says you need a horse with you to get a lot out of a training day.  There is no reason to stop learning just because it is wet outside.

Ten of us embarked upon the early start and long journey on that biggest car park in the UK otherwise known as the M25 to make our way down to Kent to Sara’s yard.  The weather was atrocious with torrential rain causing slow driving conditions, which were made even slower due to a four car pile-up!

Anyway the journey was worthwhile as we arrived at the wonderful RDA club house at Bradbourne Equestrian Centre which we were to spend the day in.  Hot refreshments and biscuits were waiting for us which was very welcome.

The first part of the day was spent with Sara’s mum Leonie Marshal giving us some good tips on what dressage judges are looking for.  She also gave feed back to the whips as she watched videos of them driving at the Sandringham Event last year.

After a fantastic lunch of a choice of various home-made soups and bread rolls lovingly prepared by Barry Marshall, we had to put our “Blue Peter” hats on and show off our dexterity (or not!!!)  Anna White, the local vet challenged us to make a working skeleton of a horses lower leg complete with tendons, out of card, tights, treasury tags and safety pins.   It was a very good way of trying to remember what we were taught all those years ago at Pony Club.  Then Anna dissected a real horses leg (from the hunt kennels) so we could see what it really does look like inside and understand how much we need to protect our animals.  I was given the task of bandaging a leg and I have to say it is a lot easier when the rest of the horse is missing!!!!

After a well-deserved coffee break Grandma (Sue Cox) challenged our brains even more with a quiz on the new rule changes for driving trials.  It was a very useful session as it brought up anomalies that none of us were sure of so those can now be followed up by Sara to ensure we all know exactly what is required of us.

A discussion was then had on ways to fundraise for the World Championships. 

It was a very long day but I can personally say I got a lot out of it.