Zoe and Ceejay

Hi Everyone,

I am extremely lucky to be sponsored by KB Equine therapy. I thought that I would tell you a bit about myself and keep you up to date with our exploits.

I am 22 years old and I have just graduated from the University of Leeds with a MEng Civil & Structural Engineering degree. I have been riding since I was old enough to get on a horse, however I didn’t officially get my own pony until I was 11. Since then I have owned numerous great horse & ponies. I started out in Rockwood Harriers Pony Club and had some great experiences there. I also competed at the Pony Club National Dressage Championships. As well as Pony Club I was also a member of Holme Valley Riding Club. I was a member of the teams every year, and also won joint 1st place in the team dressage at the British Riding Club National Championships. Throughout my Pony Club and Riding Club days I also competed in area show jumping, and area eventing.

During 2007 I was selected to represent England at the Under 21’s BYRDS Home International in Scotland. This kick started my dressage career. Since then I have competed in Ireland at the U21’s Friendly International 2009. The British Dressage National Championships, the BYRDS Home International 2012. Below is a more detailed list of my dressage career to date.

• Pony club dressage championships 2006
• SEIB trailblazers dressage championships 2006
• Novice Petplan equine area festivals 2006
• British riding clubs dressage championships 2006,2007,2008 (joint 1st winning team)
• Sheepgate U25s dressage championships 2007
• Elementary Petplan equine area festivals winner 2007
• BD winter championships Petplan equine area festival finals Novice 2007
• Representing the BYRDS U21s Northern England team at the Scottish Home international 2007

• BD winter championships Petplan equine area festival finals elementary 2008
• Elementary Regionals finalist 2008
• Sheepgate U25s dressage championships 2008
• Elementary Regionals finalist 2009
• Sheepgate U25s dressage championships 2009
• Medium Petplan equine Area Festival finalist 2009
• Representing the BYRDS U21s Northern England team at Cavan Home International dressage competition, Ireland 2009.
• Senior Inter regional’s Northern team 2010- 6th place individually
• Sheepgate U25s dressage championships- Northern team (medium level) 2010
• Novice Petplan equine Area Festival finalist 2011
• Sheepgate U25s dressage championships- 2012
• Novice Petplan equine Area Festival finalist 2012
• BYRDS U25's Home International- England team 2012

At the moment I have two horses. Sire is a 15.3h bay gelding by Sandro Hit. He is currently away at boot camp as he doesn’t think he should be a dressage horse. We think differently!! My other horse, Ceejay, is a 16.3h bay gelding by Santano who is by Sandro Hit. So they are almost brothers! I am extremely lucky to have the ride on Ceejay. He belongs to Julie Lockey who is an amazing breeder. She has bred the best 5 year old horse in the country called Cariniso. Cariniso is ridden by Becky Moody and came 7th at the Young Horse World Championships in 2012. So there’s high hopes for Ceejay!!!
This year we qualified for the British Dressage Petplan Equine Area Festival National Novice Championships. Well we headed off to Hartpury College for the Nationals and arrived to torrential rain. The temporary stables were flooded but luckily for us we were in permanent stables. Luckily the rain eased off for the day of our competition. Sue Carson helped warm me and Ceejay up for our dressage test. She is List 1 dressage judge (the best judge you can be and also competes at Grand Prix level dressage!). Ceejay felt amazing going into his test and performed a near perfect test except for adding two flying changes into the test! He thought he would show off to the judges, but they did not agree. Unfortunately this cost us dearly and meant me were out of the placing’s! Unfortunately this is what happens when you have young horses.

We then went on to compete at the Northern Region U25’s regional Championships. The dressage tests used for this type of competition are different to normal ones and are judged on the rider’s ability rather than the overall picture. There are 3 level, C Squad, B Squad, and A Squad- with A Squad being the highest. Due to Ceejay’s age we are graded as B-Squad. Well anyway Ceejay was well behaved today and we were crowned Regional B-Squad Champions.

In July we were selected for the second year running to represent England at the U25 English Home International in Bedfordshire. The competition standard was extremely high and Ceejay was a little out of his depth, competing against some older and more established horses. However he still produced some very good work and scores. He had many admirers and many people commented on how talented he is and that he is definitely one to look out for in the future. So we were very happy with this. ☺

Kathy is extremely important to me as she ensures Ceejay is kept in top condition for his performances. When I got Ceejay his stifles were unlevel, this was apparent when riding him, especially in straight lines and when doing leg-yields. Kathy put Ceejay onto a programme to straighten his pelvis. He is now straight and as a result working much straighter and his flatwork has improved tremendously. Kathy gave Ceejay a nice relaxing massage to release any tight muscles and calm him before the Nationals and the BYRDS Inter-regionals. I immediately noticed the change in him when I rode him.


Kathy is to me invaluable to me and I cannot thank her enough for what she does for me!
Zoe