Olympia not Olympia

On my goodness, what a fab day. Feels so good to be at the London International Horse Show. It’s not Olympia cause it’s not there. But it’s a cracking show.

I’ve spent more than I planned. Bought myself a new body protector. I needed it as my old one is far too big for me. It’s really uncomfortable now. My new one is so comfortable. Can’t wait to get back out XC and test it out. The riding bit, not the falling bit of course.

Got a new reflective tabard too. With lights on it. No driver is going to miss me!

Waiting for the fancy dress class. Then home. It’s going to be a late one, but totally worth it. Same again next year!

High alert

This is the face of a muppet. Who was on high alert today. And bounced round our hack. The local shoot was on and I’d forgotten. Buddy is usually fine with it, but not today. It was terrifying and he wanted to get home as quickly as he could.

Let’s just say it’s a good job my riding tights have sticky bits on them. Buddy was spooking at everything.

Barrow in a box

Had to go out to buy more dry cat food. Came back with a new wheelbarrow. As you do!

To be fair, I’ve wanted to get a new barrow for a while now. Not for the garden, but for the yard / Buddymobile. It does make camps so much easier having a wheelbarrow. And will be a massive help mucking out.

Hugo instantly claimed it. Of course. The issue I now have is do I put it together at home and run the risk that I can’t get it in the Comedy Car…?! I suppose I‘m close enough that I could push it to the yard. That could be fun!

Little and large

Buddy and I headed down to meet up with a friend and her new pony Mick. He’s super cute! But tiny compared to Buddy.

They were both hoof-perfect. And firm friends by the end of the hack. We didn’t stop talking the whole way round either.

Given I felt quite down when I woke up this morning. This was the perfect tonic.

Clipboard power

Now those of you who know me well, know I love a clipboard. So this afternoon I was in my element with an A3 one!!

I was stewarding at Carleton Riding Club’s last show of 2022. We started behind, but soon caught up time. And even ended early! I feel that I ran a rather tight ship. Thankfully all of the competitors and horses were happy to be yelled at by me. It seems my voice carries across the warm up rather effectively.

Of course, I’d rather be competing. But this was the next best thing today. Well done everyone.

Two chocs

Headed over to meet a friend for an early morning ride around Blickling. It’s fast becoming one of my favourite places to take Buddy. Another thing that could become a favourite is a National Trust hot chocolate. Oh my goodness! We both had one when we got back to warm up.

I’m so grateful to have my own transport, a horse who loads and travels well and friends to ride with.

Autumn sunshine

I was reminded of a great quote today from Nathaniel Hawthorne. It goes ‘I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as Autumn sunshine by staying in the house’.

I couldn’t agree with him more. So after a morning of peopling, Buddy and I headed out this afternoon to enjoy it. It was sheer bliss. Just me and him against the World.

Thanksgiving

I may not be American, but I’ve been giving thanks today. Thanks for everything I’ve got, every challenge that’s been sent my way and every lesson that I’ve learnt.

I had a coaching call this morning with a client. And we started talking about strengths. It made me reflect on some of mine. One of my strengths is definitely resillience. But resilience is something that you can only get through adversity. It’s ironic that you can’t get strong without finding out how strong you are.

Another of my strengths is making connections. It’s amazing how quickly I can build rapport, friendships or find common ground. I think moving to Sweden when I was 12 really helped with this. I’m thankful for the experience at such a pivotal time in my life. It definitely helped to shape me into the person I am today.

But more than anything, I’m very thankful to have Buddy. Horses have taught me so much too.

Sweatfest

Today we headed back to Forest Edge Arena for a BHS Clinic with Caroline Meads. Safe to say Buddy and I had a workout. We had a group flat lesson this morning. We worked on keeping a consistent contact. I’ve been very down on myself lately with our flat work. I felt like we haven’t been progressing. After 6 years together, we still can’t maintain a decent outline. Naturally, I look to me first. So was good to hear that it’s not all me. And get more tools for the toolkit.

Then this afternoon we had a private jumping lesson. How lucky was that?! Of course, I was soon questioning this when we were put through our paces again. In the jumping lesson we worked on the quality of Buddy’s canter.

Let’s just say we were both dripping by the end of it. Buddy needs clipping again. He was only clipped a month ago, but you’d never know. His coat has come through so quickly.

You can’t see the steam coming off him. And you definitely didn’t need to see a very sweaty me!

Jump for joy

We headed over to World Horse Welfare today for a lesson with Simon Grieve. Always a fun thing to do.

We took a detour on the way there to check out the sale at Express Equine. Buddy got carrots. And I bought myself a new riding hat.

When we got to the lesson, Buddy was a little gung-ho to start off with. He didn’t want to do poles. He was very keen to get jumping.

Thankfully when we did get jumping, he was on top form! Even when I got some rather dodgy lines or strides. He still jumped everything. Shows me how far we’ve come.