Hi my name is Andrea and I’m recovering perfectionist. Just kidding. But in all seriousness I often joke about the fact that I’m a perfectionistic overachiever. Within the equine world, dressage riders are often known for being the detail-oriented perfectionists. And similar things are often …
I should preface this by saying that I have never been a confident person either in or out of the saddle. But I’ve been thinking a lot about confidence recently. Not the type of confidence that sees you standing down your fears. Nor is it …
The last few days have been a whirlwind and gave me one very important lesson. Pick a person who backs you even when you don’t feel able to back yourself. It’s probably not entirely clear how a dressage competition and realising just how lucky I …
This post was originally posted on my Instagram account @the_sand_arena_ballerina I’ve seen comments from people recently that have been bugging me a bit. It’s this idea of letting your horse down by not being a good enough rider or not being committed enough.I recently had a week where I rode a grand total of …
Ok guys, I’m taking a leaf out of A Timid Rider’s book and I’m confessing. It’s about my worst habit as a rider. No it’s not about the fact that even after riding for twenty years I still frequently pick up the wrong diagonal on the …
We’ve all been there, the bad ride that turns into a bad week of rides. When your having a challenging time in the saddle, its easy to get stuck in a rut. Here are five strategies to help you turn a bad ride, or a …
I had a funny blog post all set to share tonight, but instead I want to talk about something else – the ups and the downs of this sport. As some of you may have seen from my most recent blog I’ve had a funny …
The past week has been a challenging one. I’ve been running on a little less sleep than what I arguably need, work has been full on and I have a partner who has been sick with a bout of gastro. It’s pretty unsurprising that I’ve …
In 2015, I fell in love with competing and in doing so, I fell in love with dressage all over again. While this may not seem like a big revelation, for me it is. Throughout 2014, I questioned whether I would ever compete again as …
I have long compared myself to other riders. The hallmark of these comparisons has been a sense of not good enough-ness. In years gone by I’ve felt the need to justify where I am on my journey in comparison to others. My sense of self-worth …