Well from my last blog so much has happened!! A new horse has arrived for the Haslams. Steph has sorted out her new job and her Mum and her have managed to fund another horse for Steph to ride which is very exciting. She is a 6 year old large riding horse by Cult Hero and she will stay with me a few weeks to get her going how we want and she will probably join us as one of the three horses at the Your Horse Live showing demonstration I am doing on 14th and 15th November. I know Steph has had a very worrying time financially this year but hopefully things have settled down now and we can safely look forward to the new year.
On the Saturday before HOYS I was leading Daisy (Shybont Navaho Girl) to the walker so that we could muck her out when disaster struck - as she was leaving the barn she slipped and came over on the concrete and completely skinned one of her knees so our preparation for HOYS was a lot more intensive than I could ever have imagined with vet visits, laser treatment, equissage and icing to get the leg down and the wound to begin to heal and dry up. Fortunately she was never lame but the grazing was very extensive and not very sightly. Holly and I did a 24/7 job on her and the result on the day of HOYS was in actual fact quite amazing. Her leg was completely down and with a lot of make up the damage did not look too bad. We were thrilled under the circumstances with Daisys result of 5th place as only two days before it was doubtful that we would even make it. We were very lucky to have such a vigilant vet to look after her. Teresa her "mum" was great about the whole affair - horses will be horses and unfortunately accidents will happen for no apparent reason however diligent you are with the care of them.
I have to say a huge congratulations to Jo Geddes who shares the yard with me on her win with June Snedkers Keep Talking (Buzz). I gave June Jo's name when she was looking for a rider and I feel very proud to be part of that winning combination. Jo has never competed at HOYS so to win on her first time is pretty amazing. Jo is a successful event rider in her own right and now sheepishly admits that she looks at the showing pages in Horse and Hound first now!! Another convert!!! I have also been helping Jo with her flat work on her big 17.2 5 year old event horse Jaffa for the last few weeks and his progress has been very exciting to log as it has also dramatically improved his jumping. I get such a buzz from helping horse and rider combinations and seeing the results so kick on Jo and lets keep up the good work!!!
Daisy departed on the Saturday after HOYS and Jo Dixon's 3 year old horse Dream arrived to be broken. This is a lovely big upstanding mare by Rubin Star N (by Rubinstein) out of a Donnerhall mare so is really bred in the purple for dressage. She was actually bred by Jennie Gilchrist of the Rommano Stud up in Scotland who bought Broadstone West Country from us a few years ago when the stud disbanded. Dream has already been well handled and shown which makes my job easier. She is a big girl though!!! Her progress is coming on well now and after 10 days we are now trotting and cantering round the school nicely and getting more and more forward. Because she was so huge I spent some time long reining her so that I knew that I would have a certain amount of steering when I was set loose. Jo helped me from the ground holding her. I am only happy doing this type of thing if I have a good person on the ground who can read the horse and react in the correct way so as the horse remains confident as well as the rider!! As a general rule I do not take on three year olds for breaking but I have made an exception on the last two occasions because they had been so well handled and had seen the sights and sounds of the show ring. My bones are getting older now and I do not need to hurt myself at my "granny" age!!
During the week after HOYS I took Chris Palmer my fantastic groom for a great night out to thank her for all her hard work during the season and we went to see the comedienne Jan Ravens which was great and then met up with the girls - Holly, Pip and Kate at the fair afterwards. We went on the dodgems which was about our limit while the girls went on the more exciting rides. Holly and I went off the next night into Oxford for our girlie night out to see the "Vagina Monologues" which was absolutely brilliant and had us in fits. For us there is always life beyond horses after the season - we work really hard and it is nice to let off steam now and again!! Talking of which I went to David Tatlows celebration party which turned out to be the party of the year - I danced all night, had a fabulous time and met up with lots of friends - a complete blast!
I have now purchased the five year old small hack that I had in for schooling which came from Bridgit Millington. She is liver chestnut by Infantry out of a mare that goes back to Tap on Wood. She was shown successfully in hand with Bridgit. I am thrilled to bits to have her and am looking forward to next season with great excitment as I have a great team of horses to play with at long last. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan!
My last piece of news is that Holly has unfortunately been stamped on by one of the horses and her big toe was totally crushed and broken so poor thing is in a lot of pain and on crutches at the moment so is off games for a couple of weeks. Again no-ones fault just another very annoying accident so Holly has gone down to see her Dad for a few days to catch up with him and his girlfriend. My mobile has been a hotline as she is quite bored not being able to move about much. Lets hope the bone and skin and nail knit quickly and she can get back to riding. Off to the fracture clinic next Monday.
I am off to Addington to take Hanna (Stephs new horse) and Bridgit (the new small hack) to ride round the indoor school to see how they react to that to prepare them for Your Horse Live in November. Daisy will be joining them at this demo - I am doing a demo each day on Showing Your Horse - Accentuate the Positives - lets hope they don't let me down!!! Having had geldings for some time I now have quite a hen pen and they all let me know that they are girlies!!!
Hanna has been going through her MOT since she arrived and has been seen by Ellen Stanwell my Chiropractor and Annabelle Galt who massages the horses to loosen off any muscles that are tight. Dream the three year old is having her teeth looked at by Mark Slingsby on Thursday and will have her wolf teeth removed at the same time and then probably have an easy couple of days to let it all settle down. Sam is due another clip this week as he and Kate have another lesson with Rhett next week. They are going great guns and really making progress. Kate is still getting help from her Chiropractor for her straightness and Annabelle Galt does the sports massage (tough!!) to release all those tight muscles. Kate is really working hard at her straightness and it is showing in her riding - Sam is really appreciating it too!! Well done!
Time to sign off now - bath and bed!! another early start in the morning as no Holly to help!
