last updated on July 30, 2010 16:13

19 year old young rider squad member Emily Harris (pictured) from Sway, Hampshire blogs on her preparation for the European Championships.

This year the junior and young rider teams and reserves were given the fantastic opportunity to have a three day training camp held at High Meadows in East Grinstead before heading out to the competition in Kronberg, Germany 21 – 25 July 2010.

The main focus of the camp was test riding and we were delighted to learn that internationally renowned judge, rider and trainer, Christoph Hess, would be overseeing the riding of the all important team tests.

The camp began on Monday with the chance to have a mechanical horse simulator lesson with the amazing Michelle Cogger, with whom I have had a few previous sessions, having been introduced to her through the BEF Regional Foundation Squad. Michelle is an expert on developing a correct and effective position, which as we all know is invaluable.

The rest of the day was taken up with Freestyle test riding with Chief Selector, Judy Firmiston-Williams, judging and giving us helpful feedback. We also got the chance to meet our grooms for the Championships and discuss our individual horse’s needs.

The excitement of the day, however, was the distribution of the team kit, which this year included fabulous embroidered summer sheets, kindly sponsored by Windmill Farm Dressage and Picador Plc, as well as some very smart rider clothing provided by Toggi and Sew Equestrian. Day One finished with supper round the pool and time to catch up on the day’s activities.

Day two began with the second round of mechanical horse sessions – I think we were all trying to get some last minute practice in before riding in front of Christoph Hess! The sessions started and everybody gathered at the arena to watch. The sessions were absolutely fascinating and practice test riding has never been so inspiring! Christoph insisted on horses being forward but in their own balance and improved all the horses’ way of going just by concentrating on simple but effective exercises.

I was very pleased with my own test on Washington 103, just making one small mistake, and I was thrilled by the comments and positive input Christoph gave. Everyone came away from it having enjoyed themselves, learnt a lot, and in a positive frame of mind, especially as we got the chance to go through our videos individually with the selectors and Christoph – a rare and invaluable experience.

Our final day gave those that wanted to run through the individual a chance to do so, with selector Islay Auty judging. Some of us felt that our horses had done enough the previous day and wanted to give them a break before travelling home, we therefore had the option of another mechanical horse session with Michelle, which I took up.

We then had a final debrief and departed home to begin preparations for travelling to the Europeans. Every one of us was agreed that this was the best training camp we had ever attended and that the privilege of having Christoph Hess giving us his valuable time was a unique and very special experience.

A special thank you goes to those who made this camp possible – from our hosts at the beautiful High Meadows, Jill Day who organised it all, and to selectors and Chefs, and especially to the generous sponsor who made it all possible. It was a great experience and second to none as a way to prepare for the European Championships.