I'm so excited I could burst 
To do official competitions here horses have to be registered with the FFE (French Equestrian Federation) and have their identity / passport details officially verified by a vet on their list. So far Mouse has only done training shows (unofficial shows run by riding schools) because they are perfect for young / novice ponies and my focus has been on bringing him on. But now that he's come on so nicely I thought I would like him to do a few proper shows before he goes on loan and so a few weeks ago I got his identity verified (tis handy when your boss's husband is one of the listed vets!) and sent off the paperwork to get him registered. Nothing happened for what felt like ages... then a few days ago this appeared on the database...
So little Mouselet is now officially a real pony - and it happened in the nick of time!
One of our local venues hosts the Normandy Horse Show every August and I got it in my head that I wanted Mouse to jump there this year, but I couldn't enter him until his registration was completed, and entries for next week's classes close at midnight tonight... and I didn't want to ask his rider if she wanted to do a class in case she got her hopes up and then he wasn't registered in time. So yesterday I asked her and now this has happened too...
There's my boy His rider was hesitant about doing it because she was worried I'd be upset if it didn't go well - she knows from training shows that that's not true, but I know myself how nerve-wracking it is competing someone else's horse so I understand why she felt like that. But she said yes after I gave her the usual talk about just wanting her to ride him correctly and have fun and the result isn't important to me... we have had this talk before every training show but I don't think it ever hurts to have it again! And to be quite honest I am going to be bursting with pride just watching him in the warmup
To do official competitions here horses have to be registered with the FFE (French Equestrian Federation) and have their identity / passport details officially verified by a vet on their list. So far Mouse has only done training shows (unofficial shows run by riding schools) because they are perfect for young / novice ponies and my focus has been on bringing him on. But now that he's come on so nicely I thought I would like him to do a few proper shows before he goes on loan and so a few weeks ago I got his identity verified (tis handy when your boss's husband is one of the listed vets!) and sent off the paperwork to get him registered. Nothing happened for what felt like ages... then a few days ago this appeared on the database...
So little Mouselet is now officially a real pony
- and it happened in the nick of time!One of our local venues hosts the Normandy Horse Show every August and I got it in my head that I wanted Mouse to jump there this year, but I couldn't enter him until his registration was completed, and entries for next week's classes close at midnight tonight... and I didn't want to ask his rider if she wanted to do a class in case she got her hopes up and then he wasn't registered in time. So yesterday I asked her and now this has happened too...
There's my boy
His rider was hesitant about doing it because she was worried I'd be upset if it didn't go well - she knows from training shows that that's not true, but I know myself how nerve-wracking it is competing someone else's horse so I understand why she felt like that. But she said yes after I gave her the usual talk about just wanting her to ride him correctly and have fun and the result isn't important to me... we have had this talk before every training show but I don't think it ever hurts to have it again! And to be quite honest I am going to be bursting with pride just watching him in the warmup 
