Dressage…Marriage…Pregnancy…2019

It’s been an interesting year for me so far, and It’s given me a new perspective on a lot of things. I had gradually started riding again after finding the right saddle (erreplus),  but I still felt a bit lost. I have always been someone who sets something in her mind and goes after it only this time I wasn’t quite sure what I was going after.

They say dressage is a beautiful sport and it’s best it is, perhaps I just don’t love it enough. I used to watch videos of Nuno Oliveira with mum when I was little and I knew I was watching something special.

I am not one of those “critiques” or bullies, like so many dressage followers are these days. Yet when I watch the tests of Reiner Klimke and Klaus Balkenhol I feel a sort of sadness in the reflection of what has been before. That’s not to say there are not great riders today, perhaps more that the judging, breeding, and expectation has changed so much that the dressage of the past has been lost a little amongst the flash and fling ding trots. But that’s what is expected these days right?

I got married and I am now 5 months pregnant and no I am not riding during pregnancy. Pregnancy is a time in a women’s life when she gets all sorts of unsolicited advice/ horror stories/ judgment, and while I admire women who do keep riding I am taking a break. It’s been good for me, and for whatever reason…maybe it’s that I stopped putting pressure on myself or my body is changing, or that I am so completely truly content and happy and in love with a man I admire and adore, but I have had the most pain free brilliant months of my life.

 

 

 

I also have a lot of help from two people , Jorge Pereira and Ana Luís Martins, who truly want to help me and whom I lo

ve and above all I trust which is the major requirement in any sort of treatment! 

Will I get back riding? I would love to…will I go back to dressage? I doubt it.

I love training the horse and I love the partnership but I was never really made for dressage. I love riding out in the countryside and just being free. I would love to explore working equitation as I think it’s a sport where the horse has a lot of fun and the rider also. But who knows. For now I am helping people find and import their own lusitanos as I still feel that the breed deserves to be shared and celebrated around the world. (Once you have a Lusitano you can’t go back ;))

Batialo is in Australia with my mum and slowly getting back into shape with the correct training and a huge paddock to play in. Although he is completely in charge and has become a huge fan of the Australian Lucerne (tantrums when not given sufficient amounts) , it makes me so happy to hear mum talk about him. He is a special horse and one that changed my life.

I am working on keeping fit and strong and seeing how the changes over the following months will impact me.

I can say that I never imagined where my life would lead…but I am so truly grateful for never giving up on the most important thing…my own happiness!