A word from our Chair ... 

It seems to have been a long slow winter with some strange weather but hopefully, your horses are all shedding their winter woollies and you are looking forward to a fabulous summer of riding, training and competing with spring just around the corner. We have the winter championships underway and we want to wish good luck to all our central riders who have qualified. It’s a huge achievement and you should be justly proud of your efforts.
In this newsletter we would like to introduce you to our new Judging and Training reps and would like to say a very big thank you to Jane McWilliam and Jenny Welham who stood down after their volunteer terms came to an end. Good luck ladies with your next endeavours. 
 
Good luck to you all for the coming season and remember, the horse you get off is never the same as the one you got on, so make it count.

Jane Imbush

Seniors - Gemma Dainty

I have been in the role now for around six months. Having mostly show jumped when I was younger and then I had a gap of around 5/6 years from competing.  My love for Dressage started seriously when I purchased my horse Blue five years ago and I am now working towards my Advanced Medium debut with him. Outside of horses, I work full time as an HR Reward and Benefits Consultant. 

If you have any suggestions or questions please Email Gemma
 

Applications for Senior Inter-Regionals close on 9th April
You can find all the information and apply here

Then ..... you can apply!
For more info check out the Full selection policy

BD Youth - Emma Mansfield

I’ve been working with horses since leaving school and my roles have included being a yard manager at competition yards and 3-day event groom. I then managed a large TB stud and rehabilitation yard for 12 years before going to work at Sparsholt as Events Organiser four years ago.
In my early braver years I competed to intermediate eventing! However, I now currently compete my quirky mare at Advanced Medium level, having trained her from a feral unbacked six year old!

I’m a mother to Daisy (BD youth member) who is successfully competing at Elementary and wife to Neil who trained with Jennie Loriston Clarke – so we’re a very horsey family! We have three horses, five dogs, three chickens, a rabbit and a parrot! So enjoy a very busy life!
 
BD youth has been going really well within Central region, with lots of new faces coming forwards for squadding and we are looking forward to receiving applications for the first Youth competition of the year, the Inter-Regionals being held a Keysoe on 28- 30 June. Applications for team selection will be open from the 22nd April and will close on the 13th May
 
Training will continue throughout the summer, keep an eye on our Facebook page and Bookwhen for future dates! Please feel free to email me with any ideas you have as to what you would like to see going on in your region!

Coaches - Lindsey Dawes
Lindsey is our Coaches rep and she has answered a few questions for us to get to know her better. 
Do you come from a horsey background?
Not really, my mother rode and had horses when she was younger and so she was responsible for me starting at a local riding school age 5.
How did you get involved in dressage?
Back in the ‘80’s Britain did not have much of a dressage culture. BD was still part of the BHS and there was not the wealth of coaches, horses and good judges we have around now.  I was however very fortunate at age 18 to be trained for my BHSAI by Debby Lush (now a list 1 judge) and work with Donald Kear BHSI and judge.  I then went to the US to work with horses and jobs included working at a German sales barn importing fancy Hanoverians etc and working for a long listed  USET rider in California who trained with Sandy Philips.
Tell us about your horse (s) My best horse was Holme Park Silk (now aged 21) who competed to Inter II and was fully trained to GP and was a British Bred little Trakehner mare. Funnily enough whilst I have had many horses my current horse is also a little British Bred Trakehner mare. This time Tamsin was bred by Bluewood stud, and she is also sensitive, clever and with a good engine and a huge heart. She is training quickly up through the levels following a period of accidents and injuries and I hope will be competing at PSG soon.
What does your volunteer role entail? As Coaching Rep my remit is to support coaches within Central region.  I attend committee meetings and plan and run events.
How would you like to develop your role? I ran some meet and greet sessions following a survey at the beginning of the year when I first stepped into the role as I wanted to find out what sort of events and support people wanted. Based on that we have launched the Coaches Club which is an opportunity for coaches to work with more senior coaches and discuss and practice coaching techniques. We have also run Sports Psychology events and we have more workshops planned. We also plan on running some business and social media skills workshops amongst other ideas.

You can contact Lindsey here - Email

Judges
Richard Baldwin has picked up the reins from Jenny Welham as our Central Region Judges rep recently. Here are a few words from him....

I am a former junior and young rider then competed up to Intermediare level and trained up to Grand Prix as a senior. I took up judging 14 years ago and progressed from trainee all the way through every level to list 2. I am also an FEI Eventing judge.

In my new role as Judges rep for Central Region, I wish to aid the training of all judges to help them develop the knowledge they require. 

You can contact Richard here - Email

Chair - Jane Imbush
Jane is a familiar face on the committee as she was previously our Senior Training Rep. I'm sure you may well know her already but she took the time to answer some quick questions for us to find out more:

Do you come from a horsey background? 
No, definitely not. My mother under sufferance had ponies thrust upon her and was dragged along with my younger sister Sarah and myself to shows all over Cheshire. I rode from the age of 10-18 but then moved to London and didn’t ride for a further 27 years until I bought my first proper horse in 2006 who I used to show
How did you get involved in dressage? 
I attended a BD Central camp at Crofton Manor in 2010. I remember the weather was awful but I loved it so much I was converted from showing. I did my first BD competition in June that year and whilst I haven’t trained or competed at a high level, I am passionate about improving not only my riding but my horse's way of going. I also love seeing people improve and train.
Tell us about your horse (s). 
I have 2.  ‘Bosstick’ a now retired 17 hand show hunter who is loving life as a feral field ornament who takes the greatest pleasure in not being caught and looking as though he has swallowed a Shetland. He definitely has a ‘food baby’.My second horse is a 17 hand, grey, full Irish Draught 6-year-old call Sky. He never fails to amuse me every day, likes nothing better than finding the muddiest part of the field and is a pleasure to be around all the time. I bought him a just backed 4 yr old and need to get out and start competing him, which I intend to do over summer/autumn. His forte is jumping but he can turn a hoof to dressage as well.
What does your volunteer role entail? 
I work very closely with Laura our RDO as well as other members of the Central committee to ensure we can provide the best support to our Regional riders as well as promoting the sport of dressage.
Choose three words to describe yourself? 
Committed, engaged and positive.