Welcome to blog! I started it in 2020 to chart my recovery from breaking my ankle (hence the name). I guess no-one saw a global pandemic coming. It's turned into a place where I can talk about the things happening in my life, my horse and my cats. Enjoy!
It was saddle check day for Buddy. And the first check my dressage saddle. I absolutely love it. Even if I’m still not 100% confident in it. I’m honestly not sure if I’m a good enough rider to have such a thing of beauty.
The brain is a weird thing sometimes. When I bought my Fairfax Event saddle, I’d never spent that much money on a saddle before. The expectations in my head were huge. We’d be proper eventers with its help. Has it help us be better? I don’t know about that, but I do know there hasn’t been a moment where I regretted buying it. It’s saved my bacon more times than I care to remember.
I’m sure I will be the same this time. It was even more expensive than my other one. It’s not about the price tag. It’s about the feeling I get when I’m riding in it. I could canter in it for days.
I had a chat with my saddler today about it. She summed it up. I thought people would look at the saddle and expect us to knock out a Grand Prix test rather than ballsing up a Prelim (on a good day). Who cares though?! It fits Buddy. It fits me. We will shatter any expectations as we go along.
And no, this isn’t a post for everyone to tell me I’m a good rider. It’s an honest post about how self-worth can be linked to weird things. Who decides if I am worthy of an expensive saddle (or two)? Me. And Buddy is most definitely worth it. I am too…
So 2020 was going to be my year. The year I got my life sorted after being served redundancy notice from my job in November 2019. The year I ticked off more things from my horsey bucket list. The year I got my mental health back under control and reduced stress in my life.
I had a plan. And it was a good one. Then the plan changed dramatically on 2 January. I came off my horse at speed and broke my ankle. Badly. Like all good equestrians, I got back on and rode back to the yard, sorted Buddy out and then drove myself to A&E. That’s where this journey really began...
I was sent home from A&E and told to crack on, only to receive a phone call later to say they’d missed a fracture (and a rather serious one at that). Whoops! So fracture clinic on 3 January, surgery on 5 January and home to recover.
I started this blog as a way to chart my recover back to the saddle. As I cleared clinics and competitions out of my diary and wondered what the next few months would bring, it's been a safe space for me to say how I'm feeling.
The new plan was to get a new job, to keep Buddy is kept ticking over and recover from my injury. Another good plan! I didn't expect a global pandemic, lockdown and all that happened in 2020.
This blog has changed over time but it's continued to be my safe space to share the things going on in my life, with Buddy and the cats. Enjoy!
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Tales, Tails and Talus 