Enter at A... And keep smiling

August so far has been full of activity.  Socks and I are now full members of British Dressage, Picnic is losing weight and obviously the most important thing is that my birthday happens to be in August and being a Leo loving attention and being spoilt for the day is always enjoyable!

Socks excelled herself on her second outing BD scoring just short of 70% in Prelim 19, we had some lovely comments and two 8's!  

It's such a good feeling when young horses start to feel grown up and enjoy working with you, this feeling however is still in its early days as our second test showed ... we seem to have minor cheeky moments to iron out :)

At this rate the blog is going to need a name change as the showjumpingshire has retired and until the replacement can be found we are temporarily doing dressage!  

S is for...

S is for a summer of schooling, socks, studying, sunshine, success and scales of training plus many more that have been the theme so far this summer!

The last few months have flown by and I've been a bit behind on my blog but it gives me lots to write about as there's so much to catch up on. 

The showjumpingshire has been limited to walking out on hacks as her arthritis has got quite bad but hopefully if we can shift some of her excess weight it might help her get more mobile, however she is still bright eyed and full of mischief so there's life in the old girl yet.

I am very proud to say after all the hard work and set backs with Socks we have finally made it out competing!!!!  We decided to attempt an unaffiliated dressage evening competition, amazingly my jacket and breeches still fitted as they have been at the back of the cupboard for a year due to lack of horsepower!  The evening was better than I could have hoped, little Socks not only managed to stay in the arena for the test but coped with seeing white boards and a warm up arena for the first time to get placed bringing home a rosette and scoring over 70%!!! We have been schooling working on the scales of training and earlier in June had fun training at the Unicorn Trust with the TTT then at Hartpury for the BD South West Senior camp, for the first time ever we completed a test in a long arena (I had to do a quick crash course on where the extra letters were) and scored respectfully over 60% in our first novice with lovely feedback from the judge.  

Not wasting time I decided to jump in and take Socks to her first affiliated competition to see how it went.  We went to Summerhouse in Gloucester, a venue she hadn't been to before (and I had never seen it without jumps in the arena, looked very strange) I was absolutely amazed with how she coped, other than a little spooky causing tension she performed well and to top it off brought a rosette home and scored high enough to earn our first qualification to the Area Festivals :)

For now we are enjoying being back out competing but I am missing my showjumping so much, hopefully not for too much longer!!!  In the meantime I have also been busy studying towards a sports psychology qualification to add something extra to my teaching and also hopefully help me too gain 'the winning mind'!

I'm loving it!

What better weather to be back in the saddle, yes I am absolutely loving being able to ride again!

Last week I rode Lara for the first time since my fall and it went so well I didn't want to get off.  Giovanni has done such a great job with her she feels totally different and much more grown up, a couple more rides on her there and it will be time to bring her home. Gulp! 

Socks is obviously feeling the pressure of Lara going so well that she has been on best behaviour, obviously feeling slightly threatened that she may get shown up when Lara comes home so she's out to prove herself!  I'm not complaining though as it's a joy to ride a co-operative horse that wants to work.  We went for our first outing to a friends to be able to hack out with some hill work and had a great time, such a good feeling to be back out in the lorry and getting out again.

Picnic is getting very excited that the two youngsters are coming on so well, it means more playtime for her if they are around to do the hardwork so she can just do the fun stuff and enjoy a little jump every now and then!  To be fair Picnic has left very big boots to fill for the others and deserves to be spoilt and allowed a bit of fun in her semi retirement.  

Let's start again

So after last months little mishap my body had taken longer than I expected to recover, I suppose that means I'm getting old!!! Picnic and Socks have had a little field holiday while Lara has been at boarding school.  Unfortunately Picnic and Socks now resemble hippos and in need of a slim fast diet, I could probably join them too after a month out the saddle and little exercise, therefore it's time to put a plan of action together to get us all back on track.

It feels so good to finally be back riding again, I can manage a trot it's the back to walk part I find the hardest and getting off.  But as the girls are fat and unfit hopefully we will strengthen up together so I am fit and ready for Lara's return.

Lara is going really well and the facilities are amazing so she is in the best possible place and starting to look very grown up. 

 

Getting going then ... whoops!

Throughout February everything was getting back in full swing, Socks got the all clear to return back to full work, Lara was in the process of being backed and Picnic had her sparkle back.

After surgery on her tendon sheath, Socks had made a text book recovery and all the hard work of in hand walking and sticking to the rehab programme paid off when her leg has almost returned to normal and you have to look really hard to notice where the injury had been, result!

Picnic is back in light work and definitely feeling looser and happier in herself as proved when she got very excited being allowed to trot over a pole and proceeded to leap and hump down the side of the arena with little working breaks (thankful for neck straps).  It is lovely to see her cheeky side back!

Exciting developments with Lara as she is happily walking and trotting under saddle and hacking out very boldly.

Everything was looking very promising for the start of 2014 and finally I had 3 horses soon to be in full work and the diary was on its way out to get planning some outings.  Then a little 'whoops' happened... 

It was a lovely quiet evening and I decided to give Lara a little session in the arena, little did I know that at the bottom end behind the hedge lurked about 50 sheep!  Unfortunately as we were walking down the long side of the arena the sheep decided to all run at once from behind said hedge and appear in full view dashing up the hill, obviously known for their horse hunting abilities Lara took quick action to launch out of danger.  I however didn't take such quick action and got unseated and stylishly (or not) fell straight down full face dive into the floor, not recommended! After an ambulance trip to A&E thankfully no broken bones but lots of bruising, concussion and a very pretty face means I am out of action for a few weeks.  The scan showed the bruising is causing pressure against my spine resulting in pins and needles and basically painful so until the swelling goes down I'm grounded :(

Getting there slowly

It's 2014 and everything is coming together slowly.  Unfortunately we've not had much to write about the last couple of months as the days have been quite repetitive, mainly consisting of in hand walking twice a day!  Picnic has just been spending time out in the field and not in work and Lara has not had much time dedicated to her due to only seeing her in the dark.

Now it's going to be all systems go.  Picnic is going to be brought back into light work and see how she goes after having some time off, the ringbone looks to have settled down and she is now sound again so time will tell as to how much work she can return back to.  Picnic has retired from competition but I am hoping she can still enjoy being ridden for a few more years yet as she has not taken to retirement getting bored and can be a little bit of a handful!

Socks is now in ridden work and we are increasing her trot work every week so by the end of the month we can start to introduce canter.  It has been a long slog doing the In Hand walking with all the wet weather and the dark evenings but I have to say she has been very good at working in the dark to fit in two sessions a day!

Lara is a real sweetie but I have felt very guilty that we haven't progressed as quickly as I'd hoped, but with socks rehab programme and work getting in the way we just keep running out of daylight.

So hopefully 2014 will bring a more successful year with more ups than downs with healthy, happy horses!

Surgery for Socks

The day arrived when it was time for Socks to go in for surgery at Newmarket Equine Hospital which also meant a 7 hour round trip to Newmarket!  Thankfully the traffic was quiet and we made it there and back without getting stuck in any traffic, not even on the M25 so that could only be a good sign.

When we got there it was an amazing place, the staff were very helpful and the stables were immaculate which all helped to make me feel at ease leaving my horse with them.  Before leaving I had an appointment with Socks' surgeon, Ian Wright, who ensured everything was explained to me and allowed me to ask any questions I might have.  It felt very strange driving the lorry home empty and couldn't help but worry.

The next morning I was a nervous wreck waiting for 'that call' to say everything went well, I knew she was second on the list for surgery so would hopefully not have to wait too long.  Finally the call came and I felt such relief to know she was up on her feet and was ok, I had to wait until later that evening to find out the full details but when Ian rang he was really pleased with how it went and there wasn't anything structural only damage to the tendon sheath which was exactly what he expected from the scans which he tidied up and put right.

Kindly the staff took a photo of Socks in her hospital bed as she is staying there for a few days to recover and it is lovely to see she looks bright eyed and quite happy - I can't wait to get her home!

Socks in her hospital bed at Newmarket Equine Hospital

A mixed month

My search for a new horse has ended - with something that I set out not to buy!  I was looking for a young horse with a bit of experience that I could get going on to progress up the levels, unfortunately after trying various horses nothing was quite right as described in my previous post.  A chance phone call to a local stud to find out what they had for sale resulted in me viewing an unbroken 4 year old mare.  One vetting later she was mine to collect and bring home, so I now have a bigger challenge on my hands than originally planned but she is absolutely gorgeous with a super temperament ... Fingers crossed she stays that way when under saddle :)  it's been two weeks and the first week was just getting settled as she came more or less straight out of a herd in a field and needed time to adjust, we've now introduced a bridle, roller and rugs and so far so good.

Meet Lara:

I now have a theme though it seems, when I looked back at my horses in the field they are all bay mares with two white socks!

The girls seem to have settled together almost instantly and Picnic is still the herd leader with complete control.

Everything with Socks was going well and on track to organise our first competition but then her near hind seemed to be swelling up intermittently but not lame so bandaged at night and cold hosed.  her attitude in the school was deteriorating and she became stuffy and the leg appeared a little bigger I stopped working her for a few days but no improvement and called the vet.  Outcome of vet visit and scans is that she needs surgery for damage to her tendon sheath - absolutely gutted!  So it's now a trip to Newmarket for Socks to have surgery and she'll hopefully be booked in shortly so we can get on the road to recovery.  

SJ Training at Rectory Farm Arena

This morning we set of to Rectory Farm arena to hire the show jumps for some practise.  Thankfully we beat the rain and it was the first time Socks had been jumping on her lonesome and managed to cope very well, she's growing up!!!  She seems completely unfazed by fillers and takes everything on but a bit more work is needed on her canter to get her stronger so thats our homework for the next couple of weeks then we'll be back to get some more practise in. 

A month of '1st's (but not in the rosette sense!)

Wow its been a hectic few weeks and Socks has been one busy mare!  Picnic the Showjumpingshire on the other hand has been enjoying her leisurely strolls and schooling sessions but not so keen to see the lorry keep leaving the yard without her.  We are hopeful that now she is on a new joint supplement and her workload has changed that she will be able to go for an outing soon and I get the feeling there may be a 'sit tight' moment or two as she is feeling very well in herself.

Socks has suddenly grown up and progressing very well, coping with lots of new situations and in the space of 3 weeks it has been all systems go!  Socks has so far done her first fun ride, first cross country jump, first full course of show jumps, first warm up in the school with the door open and first run though of a prelim dressage test.  I am very proud of her and here is a quick summary of everything she has managed to do.

Fun ride - We went to Barbury Castle on the autumn fun ride organised by the Vine and Craven Hunt.  This was the first time Socks had seen so many horses in one place and the first time she had ever seen a cross country fence.  The first log was quite funny as she stopped with all four legs spread apart snorted took a minute to work out what i was asking her to do then lept it landed and shot off towards the next one with ears pricked, only problem being that she kept collecting her canter and showjumping them!  By the end of the ride she managed logs, tyres, rails and even a steeplechase fence when we were feeling brave although she still kept showjumping them all almost jumping me out the saddle each time!!!

Course of Showjumps - We hired Rectory Farm arena with a full course of BS show jumps, there was a course set up complete with fillers so we thought we would do a mock competition and just warm up over one fence then have a go at the course.  Socks was bursting with confidence and although a little wobbly into some of the scary fillers she took everything on and managed a course of 11 fences clear!  Good pony!

Schooling away from home - we have been out to 2 different venues for lessons, the first with Tessa Thorne in an indoor school on her own and the second at AM Dressage with Matt Frost in an indoor school sharing with one other horse.  The lesson with Tessa was great as there happened to be lots going on and horses being lunged next door so she had to cope and other than a few baby moments of calling out she coped very well.  We went to Matt for two days and had one lesson on each day, the second day we ran through a full test and managed a warm up with the door open and didn't disappear  out of it!  She worked beautifully and it really felt like we had a breakthrough in our training - the best feeling ever and probably equals a win out competing.  After working so hard I cannot stop smiling at the fact I now am starting to have a grown up horse that is beginning to enjoy her work and we are becoming a partnership (with the odd disagreement buck - she really does know best!)

Now we need a little rest before we are off to hire out the showjumps again then I think it may be time to try our first competition... watch this space!