March - April Update

Tying-up Update

I had so hoped to have a really interesting update for you this month, as after 2 weeks rest Socks appeared to be recovering well from her tying-up. I built up slowly and by the 4th session in the school I felt we were back on form and hadn't lost any ground in our training.

Cross-County

We have had a Cross country lesson with Janine Lamy booked for what seems like ages, Socks' first experience of solid fences and open spaces! As the day drew closer it was questionable whether the course would be open, the never ending winter has seen ground waterlogged everywhere and many events cancelled. Two days before, the clinic was cancelled, so her XC debut will have to wait a bit longer!

Wobbleberries

In the mean time my Wobbleberry buddies and I took a girl's trip out to Munsted horse trials. This is the course we have planned to do our challenge at in September (although a deferment is looking ever more likely). As we drove through the gate I think all our faces went grey. The place was a mud bath with a million horses and people everywhere, or so we thought at first impression. We watched a good few very pro looking riders on very posh horses showjump the 90 course, then headed out for a walk round the cross country. The ground out there looked a lot better and we realised although it was cut up in places, it was surprisingly not slippery at all. The 90 horses were running but we had a good look at the 80 course as we walked. A nice cup of tea and some lunch followed, by which time the showjumps had been put down to 80, they looked SO much smaller and it was nice to see some more 'normal' horse and rider combinations.  We took a second walk of the xc course and this time started to discuss lines of approach rather than brown underwear! We left feeling like we could possibly attempt it after all!

Dressage

This week I had a super duper schooling session on Tuesday evening and was so looking forward to dressage at Stilebridge. However the night before, I rode her and she was very uncomfortable when I asked for canter, humping and changing legs. She had not had her gut balancer supplement for 2 days due to my online order being delayed. I double dosed her dinner and popped some in her breakfast too, hoping it would be enough to settle her tummy at today's competition. It wasn't. She warmed up so sweetly in walk and trot, but as soon as I asked for canter she was so unhappy and even popped a few bucks, which she never does. So unfortunately I made the decision to withdraw, there will be plenty of other competitions for us. Another trip to Speedgate for some Protexin Quick Fix and hopefully she will be all good for our lesson with Bobby Hayler next weekend.