Oh dear, Bert’s toy exploded! He’s going through a rather destructive phase. Thankfully he’s attacking his toys rather than anything of mine… He’s destuffed several toys and is taking as many of his others toys into the garden as possible.

He does make me laugh. I was tackling my rather long to-do list when I heard a bit of a commotion. This was the sight that greeted me. Typically I’d just hoovered. He was rather pleased with himself.

Today has not been my best. I’m on the post-camp comedown. It happens every time, so you’d think I would be used to it by now. I guess cause I went into a busy weekend, it delayed it.

I tried to have a productive day. I was doing well. I’d mown the lawn and trimmed a rather overgrown bush without issue. Then I headed into the Buddymobile to clear it out and burst into tears. I felt so sad clearing him out. Again. My living room looks like a saddlery with all the stuff. I’m in limbo as the part for my new lorry still hasn’t arrived. Limbo isn’t a fun place. I know, I’ve been there many times before…

I decided to get on with some other jobs instead. I needed to print a return label. 35 minutes later, lots of swearing and pleading, I gave up. Honestly, the printer has one job!

I phoned a friend to rant. She needed to buy a new mattress so suggested we meet to test a few out. As you do! It dawned on me that my mattress is 19 years old now. So probably needs changing.

So this is what happens when an overly emotional and tired person tries out mattresses. My god there are so many to choose from. I like a firm one, but the 3D scanner did I needed a medium one. So more to try.

Have to admit, I got a bit overwhelmed with the choice. Who knew it was so hard to choose a mattress?! And when did they get so deep? I felt like the Princess and the Pea on a few. At least I got to have a lie down and a giggle.

Bert had a health check today at the vets. He dragged me across the car park and was very pleased to see everyone. The nurses were laughing as he ran into the consultation room. Usually dog run in the opposite direction…

He got a gold star in all categories. He even sat like a statue while his heart was listened to. There might have been a treat or two involved.

I booked him in for his castration in August. Let’s hope he’s still happy to go to the vets after that! He’ll be 10 months then. I don’t want to breed from him, so better to get him done before we have an accident. I could do without having to do the whole birds and the bees speech. I’m hoping it’ll stop him humping too.

Birds actually featured in my day. As I was out with Buddy, a red kite flew over us. It was so low, I could see its eyes. It seemed to follow us along the road. Such a special moment. In fact I was so in the moment, I didn’t get my phone out to take a photo.

Then a Robin flew alongside us. Jumping and flying along the hedgerow. In a spot that I’ve never seen a Robin before. It felt like we were being watched and protected today.

This afternoon I headed back to help out at Carleton Riding Club’s second qualifier this weekend. This time it was Combined Training. I ended up stewarding the show jumping element. So after stewarding the dressage yesterday, I kinda did my own combined training – just in stewarding!

Now we know I run a tight ship when it comes to any kind of stewarding. The two judges were very complimentary. They asked if I could steward for them again. They were both impressed with my efficiency. All done with a smile.

It was lovely watching everyone jumping. There were some lovely horses and rounds. And no fallers!

Running one qualifier takes months of organising and an army to put on. So running two on consecutive days is quite the feat. Over the weekend, we all came together and pulled it off!! Very proud to be a part of such a wonderful riding club.

OK, I admit it. I am clearly more tired than I thought I was. I mean, I knew I was tired after camp. And I haven’t even started the camp clean up yet.

This morning I headed over to help out at the dressage qualifiers being run by Carleton Riding Club. I was down to steward two arenas for a few hours. That ended up turning into four arenas for a bit longer than I’d planned. It happens and at least this year it wasn’t raining. Can’t say I was on my A-game though.

When I got back, I needed to move the Buddymobile over so I could get the Upgrade on my drive too. I only needed to move it over by about 2 foot. I managed to reverse it into a plant pot…

After that, I admitted defeat and flopped on the sofa watching Wimbledon.

Tomorrow I will be less haphazard and start the camp clear up.

We’re all back from Big Camp. We all had so much fun together. Buddy and I are old hands at these camps now. I’ve been going to them since 2016, Buddy since 2017. Now we can add Bert to the list. He aced Big Camp.

He was quite the hit too with the other campers. He got lots of fuss and cuddles.

Not to be out done, Buddy got lots of fuss too. There are a few more people in the Buddy and Bert fan clubs.

This morning we finished off our lessons with poles. The instructor set up a Y-shape in poles so we could trot or canter through them. It was very versatile. And definitely one I can recreate easily at home. I love it when I get homework.

This afternoon, we finished off with a little competition. We came 6th in the dressage with a score 67.40% (Prelim 1). Not bad seeing as the last time we did a dressage test was February 2023! Even got an 8. Admittedly it was for a bit of walk, but I’m taking the positives.

We then did a round of show jumping and came 5th. Because it’s an open competition, there were people doing everything from poles up to 80cm (I’ll let you guess which one we did). It’s so wonderful watching people achieve things they didn’t think they could.

All in all, it’s been blooming brilliant. I’m pretty sure we will all sleep well tonight…

I got to see the results of Bert’s photoshoot today. Oh my goodness, they’re just brilliant. Shelley has captured him beautifully. Looks like I’m going to need bigger walls!!

I had to have this photo as a print. I got another one too. I’ll share the rest as soon as I can. Believe me, you’re going to love them.

I’m hoping there will be some good ones of Buddy today too. He had not one, but two jumping lessons today. First up was focusing on the canter through curving lines and a bounce.

I ended up having a long conversation with one of the campers about how we measure progress. I found her the video of my first ever lesson with Buddy with today’s instructor at Forest Edge back in 2017. She couldn’t believe it was us! We’ve come so far since then.

This afternoon is was grids. We love grids!! Buddy flew through it. I might even have a photo where my face is enjoying it too.

Afterwards some of the other campers complemented my riding. It’s true what they say that you have to look back at how far you’ve come sometimes…