Author: langlep

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!

Finalists

We’ve arrived in Lincoln for the Champs. Really good journey here earlier. Buddy travelled like a dream. I was a bit worried that he wasn’t eating his haynet till we arrived and I saw he’d eaten the back of it.

He wasn’t keen on the stable as he walked in and straight back out. He liked it considerably more when he realised there was grass in it. Actual green grass too!! A rare sight for us Norfolk folks.

Took him for a leg stretch before dinner. He was absolutely brilliant with the heavy traffic going past on the bypass. Not so sure about the footballers on the pitch. Though he did show some rather nice passage. 😆

Walked both courses for tomorrow. They look OK. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.

Now tucked up in my little lorry for the night. Everyone is being so supportive and lovely. It’s great to be part of a team. Oh and we’ve got a medal for getting here. A proper one too. What a lovely touch.

Lists

I woke up in a very determined mood today. It resulted in an awful lot of things getting ticked off my various to-do lists. I say various, I mean I have a lot of lists. One for each of my clients. One for Buddy. One for me. One for the house. One for food shopping. I do love a list!!

There’s a new list too called ‘Champs’. That’s had a few things ticked off as well. Printed my numbers, a map of the show ground and a few other bits of information, just in case.

Sadly Hugo is not on the ‘Champs’ list. He will be very disappointed when I take my bedding to the lorry tomorrow. I’m now more excited than nervous. Fingers crossed it stays like that.

Spa day

Buddy had a spa day today. He started the day with a sports massage. And finished with a pedicure. Honestly, he’s such a pampered boy. But he’s totally worth it!

He definitely has a bigger support team as I do! It’s working as he’s looking amazing right now.

Swans

Headed over to Salhouse Broad for a ‘walk and talk’ this morning. I saw this family of swans. I do love swans. They’re so elegant and serene. I’ve made a career out of being a swan – serene on the surface but the legs going like the clappers underneath.

It’s a good skill to have, to keep your head when things aren’t going to plan. I’m trying to bring that to every part of my life.

It seems to be working with our jumping too. We were flying this afternoon in our final lesson before we head off to the Champs. They were ‘a good metre’. Which we know is instructor code for frigging huge.

I filled up the lorry ready for the off on Friday. Only £160 to fill it up! I nearly passed out at the pump. But this could be our only chance to represent our riding club at a Champs. So balls to it! And I love toast…

Haffy Au Pair

Early start this morning as I headed to The Aylsham Show to help Samantha Hayes with her Haffy’s. I ended up being an au pair for her yearling. She’s sassy but super cute!

Lovely to be back at the Aylsham and catch up with so many people.

Another horsey outing without doing the horsey thing. Time to get back to doing the horsey thing though. We’ve got a big week ahead of us! Buckle up Buddy, we’re off to play with the big boys and girls.

Stressage

Fear not good people, Buddy and I haven’t entered the boards. But I did get to watch some dressage today. It was fun being at a horse thing, without doing the horse thing.

Great catching up with some lovely people. And being extra groom and videographer. Saw this quote on the toilet wall and it made me smile. It’s rather apt too.

It might be time for me to dust off Buddy’s dancing shoes as well. Kinda felt a bit inspired watching it today. Of course, that may pass…

Side-saddle

Today Buddy and I did something new. We had a go at side-saddle! I honestly wasn’t sure how it would go. But Buddy, once more, proved he really is an ‘all rounder’. He was bloody awesome! I, on the other hand, may need a few more sessions.

Given I’ve only had a go at side-saddle once before, and only in walk and trot, the fact we were cantering by the end of the lesson blew me away. My downward transitions weren’t great. Muscle memory kicked in and I tried to rise in the trot. But we definitely improved as the session went on.

The instructor was incredibly complementary about Buddy and my riding ability. The words ‘elegant’ were used. I’ll take that!

Forager

Buddy is a big fan of foraging in the hedgerow. So after our lunge session, I took him for a wander. He LOVES blackberries. So much so that he looked like he was wearing purple lipstick.

He was very happy. And that makes me very happy.

Boxes

I ordered some cat food for the kittens. They seemed more excited about the box than the actual food. In fact I couldn’t actually open the box because they slept on it most of the day.

When I did get to open it, I found another box inside. And in that was 3 boxes of food. Talk about cat paradise! 5 boxes for them to claim… let alone the food. I will have happy kitties indeed.

Amicitia

Buddy and I went on an adventure. We headed over to High Ash for a hack and picnic with some wonderful friends. It was great to wander round for a few hours before having a picnic lunch.

We rode past the archeological dig. So cool to know think that Roman artefacts and buildings are waiting to be discovered. I kinda wanted to get off and go and see what they’ve found. I do love archeology.