Time to face my nemesis. JJ and I were meeting Lauren and Hannah and their friends at Warren Barn so we travelled there alone. JJ likes a companion to travel with but since we have met up with others when we have gone out before, or picked ponies up on the way hopefully he knows he isn't always going to be going places on his own.

When I arrived I left J on the lorry and sorted out payment etc at the secretaries tent where I found Hannah and Nikki. He was quiet whilst I was away, according to the lady with the trailer next door who I asked to keep an eye on him - I was pleased he was relaxed and not scraping the floor as he used to do - this is yet another simple but good example of how much more confident he is these days. 

I started tacking up, put J's new XC boots on and got myself ready for the action. Lauren and Kayleigh arrived and soon we were ready to go.

So the line up is me and JJ, Lauren and Ben, Hannah and Scampi, Kayleigh and Star and Nikki and Star (they have a horse each btw they weren’t riding the same one - honest).

We queued up and got told the route which started up a steep hill then on to a field near a privet hedge for jumping.

The ride went a bit like this:

We started our ride up the steep hill and let the horses go to get their blood up and a bit of energy out of them. We all stormed ahead and the two youngsters Star and Star made it a bit further up the hill than JJ, Ben and Maggie Moo but they were all puffing and panting up the final stretch. It is good practice to warm up gently through the paces but sometimes that isn't particularly easy when faced with a lovely inviting gallop and fresh horses! 

The field ran around the top of the hill which we walked along and the first jump then appeared as we rode into the next field. Lauren and I jumped this, a simple jump of about 2' or so.  

We wandered on to the end of the track and were greeted by an enormous stack of green plastic bales complete with lovely loose bits flapping in the wind. As JJ gave it a dirty look, Maggie wandered along as if it didn't exist so the rest if us let this brave "what's the big deal?" horse take the lead and we shuffled through behind with our horses having wobbly knees but better than they normally would be - thanks Mags! 

A marshall told us the next route and showed us the next set of jumps which we could see on the far side of the field. Another flat out canter followed with all ponies being very good and JJ speeding up as the youngsters came alongside. He proved a bit tricky to stop as he was concentrating on the other horses and not me so I got the usual wallop out of the saddle when he came to grinding halt from canter. One day he will learn to be a bit more fluid rather than doing the kind of downward transition that should be left in the field! 

Anyway, eagle eyed Lauren spotted the hedge jump (that's the main difference between Lauren and I, she eagerly looks for jumps and I try to wander by pretending the are not there and my first thought is "oh crap" and hers in "yippee!". 

The riders in more detail:

Lauren is an adventurer, always has been, in spite of Ben trying to persuade her that it is far too dangerous (in his younger days). 

Hannah is desperate to have the most amount of fun with her 5/6 year old having had a challenging start when she firstbought her and not knowing whether she would ever have the chance to have this much fun. 

Kayleigh is as brave and determined as they come and seems phased by nothing, was up for everything and will make Star an incredible horse as he grows up. 

Nikki wants her Star to get some experience out with other horses in open fields before pushing her to jump and will grow in experience and confidence as a partnership.

As for me, I will push the boundaries but only within my comfort zone and as far as I think Dolly can handle - the thing is, Dolly’s confidence is rising and my position is improving so our challenges are getting bigger.

Back to the hedge.

Lauren predictably chose a huge part and I was feeling good after the first jump which JJ attacked with style so we had a look and cantered over it. Hannah and Mags followed and all three ponies did a fantastic job. We then had a long conversation about how big it was just so that I could make sure it was as significant as I thought! 2’9” we concluded.

Star and Star at this point were being brilliant focus points for our horses or “points of reference”.

We rode the next field and founds ourselves back at the hedge in the opposite direction whereupon Lauren did the hugest part of the hedge and Hannah and me chose a slightly smaller option (in an attempt to conserve energy you understand, nothing to do with “pushing our luck”). The best best bit was that Star followed us and jumped the hedge too and with great style too. Well done Kay and Star, you did a great job - he is so young!

Facing us now were the show jumping rustic poles along the long side of the road.

Hannah, Kayleigh and Nikki went ahead and took the fences one at a time for their young horses to give them plenty of time to look, assess and not worry about what was asked of them. In Nikki’s case, she just wanted Star to take a look and get the experience from seeing the others.

Lauren and I waited for the girls and I took JJ to the first which was a cross pole. The road was busy and I did wonder what would happen but JJ jumped the cross beautifully despite not checking it out before and on landing he started to slow as if to say “done it Mum” so I put my leg on once and he responded incredibly and may as well have said “ok, another? righto” because he cantered on to the upright with no effort and jumped that beautifully too. Lauren followed us and both our boys did a wonderful job. This was quite an incredulous moment for me because JJ was listening to what I wanted, confident and responsive. Such a good boy.

We left that field and onto the next one which also ran alongside the road. A canter was needed now so we all set off heading for the space between the white and red flags. This was going well and fast until young gelding Star got a bit lairy and decided to overtake everyone which put him in the precarious position of negotiating the taking out of a white flag at the same time as putting the other horses into race mode. Bloody hell that horse is fast but between us riders we got him to the right of everyone and the flag stayed intact and we all came to a graceful stop ahead of bunch of other riders towards the end of the field. I think it’s important to say at this point that “there is NOTHING like a flat out gallop”.

After another wonderful long gallop we jumped a few fences at the top of the valley and then finished at the bottom of the valley where more jumps awaited, including the sunken road and water, barrels and more. 

This was a truly incredible ride, topped off by JJ and I jumping the 3 steeple chase fences at the bottom of the hill. At 2'9" to 3' these were the biggest xc fences we had tackled and JJ did an amazing job.

I had the best time on the ride and JJ was just incredible. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful ride.