Youth: Millie Long
How Millie found Beau...a new partnership with a lot of character. How the pair got started within dressage.
Millie met Beau in the Autumn of 2020 where they became the best of friends, after seeing him in a field. Joanna, Millie's mum was not planning on buying a pony however it was the best decision for her daughter, "I went to a friends to collect some baby clothes and came home with the clothes and a pony! As Beau had been in the field for most of the year our first focus was not only getting to know him but also starting with the basics and getting him fit. This was a great way for Millie and Beau to gradually grow their partnership and trust in each other."
The thirteen year old New Forest pony keep Millie on her toes, "he has bags of character! Beau has a very loving and cheeky personality, he always welcomes you with a whinny and will do anything for a treat! He gives a lot and loves to learn but he definitely makes Millie work, he is not complicated but can sometimes be opinionated! When Beau and Millie are not training they love to hack, we are very lucky to be based on a farm with plenty of acreage and we have direct access onto a local common so we make sure our weekly routine is a mixture of school work and hacking. One of the farm fields has a great canter hill and Millie and Beau like nothing more than to beat me up it with my horse."
Joining British Dressage a few months after their new partnership the pair haven't looked back since, "we joined BD with the intention of competing through last winter but that ground to a halt because of COVID! Millie’s training continued at home and we even managed a couple of virtual Zoom training sessions too! We did an amazing BD Youth camp in June which then set us up for getting out and about competing where they secured their Petplan Equine Prelim Area Festival qualification. Millie's Area Festival target was to remember the test and to get over 60%, being new to dressage the Petplan Equine Area Festivals was a big ask as Millie had never ridden a long arena test, let alone learn it and not have a caller! However they trained hard and they did indeed remember the test and got over 60%"
Millie has big dreams, "like every young girl she wants to ride like Charlotte Dujardin and carry on training and competing. This year she would like to compete at Petplan Equine Area Festivals again and would also like to do Quest and try Music classes."
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