Sponsored Rider Update – Gemma

So far this year we’ve been really focusing on our dressage. Alongside working on things at home, we’ve been getting out to regular competitions and taking part in the TopSpec Summer League. Having that structure and support in place has made a big difference to staying consistent with training and progress.

We’re currently working at Prelim level. Prelim 1 has been going

really well, with some great scores, while Prelim 2 has been a bit more challenging—particularly our canter to trot transitions, which are still a work in progress. With the right guidance and focus in training, everything is improving and becoming more consistent.

One of my goals this year was to get out to some new venues rather than always going to the same places. So far we’ve competed at Yorkshire Equestrian Centre and Edenthorpe Equestrian Centre, which has been a great experience for both of us. It’s really helped build confidence in different environments, and I’ve got a few more venues on my list to visit later this year.

We’ve also achieved some of our best dressage scores to date:

• February – 69.8% for Prelim 1 at Northallerton Equestrian Centre
• March – 67.2%
• April – 68%

We’re now consistently scoring in the high 60s for Prelim 1, which is really encouraging and shows how the training is paying off.

Prelim 2 has been a little more varied, with a score of 68.26% at Edenthorpe in February, followed by 65% at Northallerton. It’s still a work in progress, but we’re making steady progress and building confidence in the areas we’ve been focusing on.

Alongside dressage, we’ve started getting back into eventing. We began in January with arena eventing at Northallerton in the 70cm to rebuild confidence, as our last event had been in April 2025. It was a great start, and we came 1st. Having a clear plan and support behind me really helped me go in feeling prepared again.

I’ve also been focusing on my mindset, which has made a big difference to my confidence and nerves. Learning how to manage those thoughts and approach competitions differently has been a real turning point. As a result, in February we stepped up to 80cm arena eventing at Yorkshire Riding Centre and finished 3rd.

The original plan was to stay at 70cm for a while, but confidence has grown quickly and we’re now feeling ready to step up and push ourselves a bit more.

In March we attended an eventing training day at Northallerton and achieved one of our best dressage scores for BE92 with a 33. We followed this with a full one-day event on April 19th, where we achieved a personal best dressage score of 32.75 and finished 4th overall, despite picking up a few time faults on the cross-country.

Our next event is at Breckenbrough Horse Trials on 3rd May, which I’m really looking forward to as we haven’t competed there since 2024.