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!
I saw this painting at the hospital today. It was called love enduring. It made me smile. But then horses have been making me smile for most of my life.
It was much needed. Mum has really gone downhill since I last saw her. All prayers and healing vibes gratefully received right now.
One of the advantages to a sharp frost is that it makes poo picking so much easier. Love collecting all the frozen nuggets from Buddy’s fields.
They’re lighter as well so the barrow isn’t too heavy. The mud’s frozen, so no getting stuck or sliding about.
The downside – I can’t feel my face, hands or feet. And it takes hours to thaw out. Me, not the poo. As an equestrian in winter, I’ll take any little win I can.
The Buddymobile had its first outing of 2024. Buddy and I headed over to Thetford Forest to meet up with Vicky Harris and her gorgeous baby boy, Roo.
Buddy can be quite the calming influence. Roo definitely seemed very chilled in his company. I think a new bromance has been formed.
It was lovely to take Buddy somewhere new too. I could have ridden round for hours. So lucky to be able to get out and about. And it was relatively dry under hoof! Though it seems Buddy brought a lot of mud with him as I failed to groom my horse properly. Epic groom fail there! Buddy was very happy to embrace his bog monster breeding.
Vicky brought some soup for lunch as well. Now I love anyone who feeds me. So Broccoli and Stilton soup went down a treat when we got back.
All in all a wonderful day.
First hack of 2024 for Buddy and me. And the first time I’ve ridden for over 2 weeks. It felt so good to be back in the saddle. If a little weird to start off with.
We went for a lovely wander round the village with Carla and Missy. Now Missy and Buddy are firm friends. They’re so relaxed in each other’s company. Carla and I chatted the whole way round too.
Got to ride in my new Equidry coat as well. My gosh, it’s so comfy. I was very impressed indeed.
This is the face of a horse who isn’t impressed with the fact that his Christmas holiday is over. He’s had over two weeks off. We’ve done a lot in 2023, so I thought he deserved a bit of a break.
I was expecting a few fireworks after his time off. Buddy had other ideas. He seemed most put out that he had to work.
He was very pleased to see me though. And I was very pleased to see him.
Back home after a lovely Christmas in Suffolk. Simon and Harry always make me feel so welcomed. It really is my home away from home. And they’re family for sure!
I was welcomed home by my family. The kittens haven’t left me since I got back. Maybe they missed me. Or maybe it was cause I came home with cat food.
Buddy was pleased to see me too. Maybe he missed me. Or maybe it was cause I came home with haylage.
You draw your own conclusions…
It still feels weird not calling it Olympia. Having a lovely day out at the London International Horse Show.
In position waiting for the jumping to start. My god, the jumps are HUGE!!
Well that’s it, we did our last clinic of 2023. And it was a really good one! I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it when I woke up feeling pretty rotten.
Dosed myself up, downed a few medicinal lucozades and headed off feeling more human. Thankfully Buddy was feeling rather fine.
We haven’t been to Anvil for a while and the pigs were back by the Arena. Buddy does make me laugh. He’s scared of a pigeon, but give him a field of large loud pigs and he’s like ‘got it Mother’. He even ended up being an emotional support pony for the 5 year old mare who we were sharing the lesson with. She wasn’t happy about the pigs. But Buddy soon reassured her.
It’s been a while since we had a lesson with Simon too. We finished the session popping over some meaty metre jumps. A fabulous way to end our 2023 training. We’ve come such a long way. I’m excited about what 2024 will bring.
Well this is the downside to a long day out yesterday. A rather large poo pile for me to clear up today.
Buddy excelled himself by pooing up the wall too! That took some cleaning I can tell you.
My saddle, bridles and saddle pad were still wet from yesterday. So more cleaning to be done there. Again, the horse does all the work? Right?!
We headed over to Easton College today for our last competition of 2023. It was a festive affair, so I thought I’d go the whole hog and break out my ‘dressage elf’ t-shirt.
Yes, you read that right. Buddy and I donned our dancing shoes and ventured between the boards. Not content with that, we tried something new. Our (and my) first long arena test. My god, 60m is a long way down the centreline! I thought it was never going to end.
Overall I’m so happy with Buddy today. He’s only ever been at the venue to jump, so was a tad confused when he went in and there weren’t any jumps. Being Buddy, he made his own of a fashion.
One of us (still unclear who) knocked one of the mini Christmas trees over. They were being used to mark the entrance at A. And of course, it fell into the Arena. Well Buddy wasn’t best pleased when we came towards it. Just as I was asking for canter. He jumped said Christmas tree, but by the time we’d got it back together we’d blown a lot of marks.
Still really chuffed with 69.13% and 5th place.
Then it was a VERY long wait till the fun stuff. Arena Eventing. I’m so grateful to have a horse who will quite happily stand on the lorry for over 4 hours munching away.
By the time, it was time to tack up, the heavens had opened. Again. Soaked by the time we’d warmed up. And yes, I see the irony of that statement.
I’d entered the 70cm and 80cm. But decided that if the 70cm went OK, we’d call it a day and go home. And the 70cm went more than OK. He flew round taking 3rd place as the fastest 4 faulter. Couple of sticky moments and one refusal (totally my fault as I over-rode it).
All in all a fantastic way to end our 2023 season. It’s been a pretty good one. And a lovely way to end my first year on the Carleton Riding Club Committee.
Tales, Tails and Talus 