Imagine being told that you were in the wrong warm up ring just because you were riding a native pony. This is what happened to Sarah Vousden as she warmed up for her Advanced Medium test on her traditional cob. Many of us would let this scare and intimidate us but not Sarah who thrives on feeling like the under-dog.
So what does it take to train a hairy traditional cob called Harley and a sharp and very spooky connie called George to PSG level? According to Sarah, determination, the right mindset and the tenacity to keep going. After feeling disappointed with consistently low marks at elementary, Sarah recognised that she had to change her mindset and not be disappointed with the scores, because the horses were doing the best that they could.
But that didn’t mean that they couldn’t progress up the levels and after a conversation with her coach Tom Graham they decided to focus on training the movements and see where they got too. And that’s how Sarah found herself wearing tails and dancing her way down the centre line at PSG level.
Happy listening, we hope you come away feeling as inspired as we did!
Topics include:
British Dressage
Training for Prix St George level
Overcoming confidence issues
Horses are meant to be fun
Not everyone needs a flashy warmblood horse to do dressage
Changing your mindset
