Homework Time

Budding showing stars Catherine Tucker and Quattro have been puting in some homework to ensure they put on a polished performance at their next competition.

- Catherine Tucker

Well, what a summer we’ve had – there’s been rain, rain and more rain! Unfortunately, Quattro and I don’t have access to an indoor school so it’s a case of braving the weather or not riding at all. This means our riding efforts have been hampered somewhat.

When the rain stopped for long enough, we spent time in the outdoor arena brushing up on our individual showing routine, and we have also enjoyed some relaxing and sunny evening hacks.

In the arena, straightness has been a focus, and to help with this I’ve been working Quattro over some grids.

Straightness is something we struggle with, as Quatts loses concentration easily and I’m not always on the ball to correct him quickly.

At the first show we went to, we were a little wobbly during our individual show, which made it difficult to display his paces evenly.

Having said that, Quattro is very responsive and performed some nice, obedient transitions in front of the judge, which I believe scored us brownie points.

Another exercise I do regularly is to ride over raised poles on a circle, to work on suppleness.