Over the last year, I’ve been extremely lucky. I’ve ridden and competed some fabulous horses, I’ve got some wonderful people around me, and I’ve had support from a new venture that I strongly believe in: Equo Events.

By now, I’m sure you’re used to seeing riders of all levels publicising their sponsors through social media and I’m sure that if the content doesn’t grab you right away, you scroll right past. I think the main issue with a lot of these riders is that they don’t genuinely believe in what they’re promoting.

However, right from the outset, when I first applied to be an Equo Events Ambassador, I knew that this was something I really wanted to be involved with, not just so I could say “Hey guys, I’m a brand ambassador!” but because it’s a genuinely good system, in an area that was ripe for development.

In a nutshell, the reason I was so determined to be part of the Equo Team and to help with the promotion of the system, was because I’m busy, and I hate doing entries. In my book, anything that saves me time and effort when I’m doing entries after a long day on the yard is good.

For example, I’ve been lucky enough to qualify two horses for the BD Summer Regional Championships. Due to timings and prior commitments, I had to enter them both into two different venues on different days. One of those venues is Kingston Maurward in Dorset, an Equo Events venue. Via Equo, the entry for the horse competing there took me a total of 45 seconds.

The entry for the other venue took half an hour. Registration was frustrating and the website was too busy to understand easily. It was slow and clunky. Not exactly a time saver. I simply can’t understand why venues would use such a complicated, old-fashioned system. If it wasn’t a Regional Championship and I didn’t have the same commitments, I would have abandoned my attempt to enter and gone elsewhere. It has certainly put me off going to that venue again.

Away from the benefits of Equo as a time saving device for competitors, I’ve also found a few new venues just by browsing local events. With such a busy schedule, I often struggle to fit everything in, so evening dressage and low key jumping at places like Grove Farm Equestrian near Didcot and Bury Hill near Swindon are perfect for getting the young horses out to.

I’ve also met some really super people over the last 10 months and have had good fun blogging – I am extremely grateful for the opportunities that being an Equo Events Ambassador has presented. It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind, and I’m not sure what the next year will hold for us here at Ridgeway View, but one thing is certain…

I’m an Equo enthusiast and now, I can’t wait to enter, compete and repeat. It’s showtime!

Search upcoming events and enter online at www.equoevents.com