But I Felt Guilty For The Rest Of The Day

I spent a lovely morning at the local dressage venue with some friends who were competing. They all did really well with a number of red rosettes. This is W riding Buddy. Buddy is only a baby, just 4 years old and this is his first time out at a competition. W has cerebral palsy but doesn’t let it stop him and he and the 17hh Buddy have an amazing relationship and you could see Buddy listening to W for guidance the whole way round. They came 2nd in their class and were chuffed to bits with the results.

My random act of kindness somewhat backfired today though when a total stranger asked if I would help her with her test. For the non dressage Blippers, there are a series of numbered tests which are like a floor plan of what moves you do and the competition venue decides which ones you can do on any particular day...well this lady had learned completely the wrong test and so asked if I would read out the movements for her during the new test...no problem said I, happy to help. As she was going into the arena she said “you’ll have to shout, I am a bit deaf!” ... I think that was a bit of an understatement and with the combination of the wind she didn’t hear anything I said...she went wrong so many times she ended up getting eliminated, I felt awful but apparently I could be heard in the car park so it wasn’t that I was too quiet. She was very gracious about it, not blaming me at all, but I felt so guilty for the rest of the day.