Cinderella

Buddy has his special shoe put on today. Just call him Cinderella! It’s called a spider plate apparently. My fab farrier made it for him after having a chat with the vet. Honestly, I’m not kidding when I say Buddy has a crack support squad!

To make sure he’s not wonky, he made a slightly different version for his other front hoof. Everything crossed it helps his recovery.

I love the green putty. Green is definitely Buddy’s colour. Well he is an Irish boy after all.

I’m grateful for my crack support squad today too. There have been lots of tears today. Things have been building up for a while. I know I’ve been drifting into the rumble strip of life. So today I let the tears flow. And took my oversized Labrador and his Cinderella shoes out for his constitutional. It helped.

One day we will go to the Ball Buddy Boy. Till then, walking it is. Let’s face it, he’s definitely my Prince Charming.

Horses inside out

What a fab demo at Easton College this evening from Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out. She paints the anatomy on the horses so you can really see the movements. Learnt a lot. And came away with some more pole exercises to do with Buddy.

Reminded me of many years ago when I went to another demo with her. And got to paint Murphy. It was so insightful seeing how he moved.

Lovely seeing so many people too. I do love a horsey outing. In fact it’s been a bit of a horsey day. This afternoon, I was an Emotional Support Person for a friend who was taking her horse to the vets. While we waited, we went for a walk through the bluebells and chatted in the sunshine.

I’m definitely horsey inside and out.

Improvise

Had to improvise today as the indoor school was being harrowed when I went to lunge Buddy. So I took him out to his field. In the squally wind. That was interesting!

A couple of ‘wind up the tail’ moments. But for the most part he was his usual wonderful self.

I like to lunge him as it gives me a different view of him and his way of going. He’s looking really well at the moment. Good job too with his crack support team!

One of whom I met for breakfast. It was really good to chat without a horse in the way. Though there were rather large sausage baps involved. I’ll let you insert your own jokes there.

Faith

I saw this and it resonated. Today has been a bit of a reflective day. Once more I’ve been touched by people’s compassion and support. It really is the little things that can make a big difference.

A message to check in, an invite for dinner, a smile, a hug, a kind word. They all count. And make me feel seen.

Jump for joy

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.

Blessed

These beautiful blooms were delivered today. From the friend I met for coffee yesterday. She wanted to bring some more joy to my life as she knew I was having a tough time. Made me cry when they arrived.

I feel very blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. Who check in on me. Who put an arm round me. Who left me cry on them. Who give me a hug. Who make me smile. Who make me laugh. Who make me feel seen. Who love me.

Oxygen

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for me for many reasons. I found out that my lovely next door neighbour died. He was 98 so had a really good innings. Still made me sad as he was always so cheery. And he didn’t get to see his new roof.

I’ve been spinning lots of plates and some are really wobbling at the moment. Yesterday took its toll too. I missed my Mum’s 80th birthday lunch today. I looked at so many different ways to get there. But it wasn’t to be.

Sometimes you have to admit defeat. I was reminded today that you need to put your oxygen mask on first. So today I rested and took Buddy out for a really long hack. That’s the best way I know to recharge my batteries.

I will be OK. But right now, I’m struggling with a few issues. I will get them sorted. I always do. Thankful to have some wonderful people in my corner.

Club together

Day 162: club together. Back home after a fab weekend away at the BRC Arena Eventing Champs. Lots of driving, but the Buddymobile did me proud. And now has a new memento onboard.

First time that someone else has slept in the lorry with me. It was a little cramped but we made it work. The heater was needed to keep us warm during the night. Poor Sam had a hard night as the air mattress deflated.

Oh and I have a very cute snore. Whoops!

Buddy and the kittens were pleased to see me. And I will be pleased to see my bed tonight.

I love being part of a riding club. It’s so much fun doing stuff as a team. I also love being able to help a friend and support others. It makes me very happy indeed.

Support crew

What a fab day at the BRC Arena Eventing Championships in Aston Le Walls. I wasn’t sure how the day was going to go when I woke up to snow and ice!! Turned up at the yard to find the lock on the gate frozen and my lorry door frozen.

But I needn’t have worried, by the time we got onto the main roads it was smooth sailing all the way.

We arrived in time to watch the first two members of the team do their rounds. Vicky and Becca were awesome.

Then it was time for Samantha and Halo to go in. And in typical eventer-style, the heavens opened. They absolutely stormed round!

Big smiles all round. And the team came 15th.

Now snuggled up in the Buddymobile. Belly full of soup. Wine in hand. Little heater packing out some heat. What a good day.

Today has made me even more determined to get Buddy to another Championships. And goes to show that you can get as much from being the support crew as you can from being the rider.