© Stephen Mowbray Photography

Day Two at Equitana by Emma Pidgeon.

What a day! After the long walk home last night it was a slow morning. Once we got our things packed up we headed in to EQUITANA very excited to watch the Grand Prix dressage. It did not disappoint. What a magical morning, like poetry in motion. Heath Ryan took away the top honours, impressing the entire crowd with his flawless performance. 

Jade and I went for a tour through the breed village to check out the horses. There were some different breeds that we don’t have much exposure to at home which was really interesting, Of course the Clydesdale caught our attention and held it for the longest time. What an amazing breed J

It was about this point in the day when the frozen yoghurt stand held my attention for a moment (YUM!). We made our way back to the big tent for The Way of The Horse Challenge. This was a great learning time. Seeing the way all three trainers used their own techniques, but all seemed to be having good results was very interesting. I’ll be excited to see the end result on Sunday.

©Emma Pidgeon

While some of the other girls headed out to watch the barrel racing in the grand pavilion I made my way to get a good seat for the dressage session with Charlotte Dujardin… about an hour too late. It seems a few other people had the same idea. Well worth it. I’m headed home to teach Arthur to Piaffe and Passage… umm yeah sure.

The Jump & Drive Challenge was absolutely hilarious; it was great to riders letting their hair down in a fun challenge.

Then it was time for the serious stuff. The World Cup Jumping Grand Final in the grand pavilion was amazing. I’ve got a new girl crush on Jessica Brown and her horse Casco. They were one of only two pairs to ride clear in the first round and then finished the second round with only one time fault. It was a very tough course which was taking no prisoner’s tonight.

It wasn’t all about the horses today. I made some time to visit a few trade stands… Yup, I went shopping. My purchases included a super bargain at Thomas Cook, a new pair of breeches and a rain jacket which I promptly showed off in the apartment when we returned. And a set of Kool It Wraps which I will be using as an alternative to ice boots when I get home. Thought better of trying these on in the apartment…

Watch this space for tomorrow’s updates.

©Emma Pidgeon