Welcome to my first blog of 2019!

I think January is always an ‘interesting’ month; leaving Christmas behind and (hopefully) some time off before having to get back to work and embrace a new year, often in some of the worst winter weather. Joy!  I write this hiding from the snow… I know lots of people love the snow but I genuinely can’t find a single positive, the fact it looks pretty and lasts about 5 seconds.  The night before the snow came we had -7 so that was also fun. Bring on Spring!!

It’s been a busy month and apart from the last few days we’ve taken advantage of a particularly dry and mild winter.  A few days into the year we took a couple of horses to Summerhouse for their Eventer Challenge arena hire. The main point was taking Jamie’s youngster Fozzy for his first outing but it was too good an opportunity not to have a bit of jumping fun myself at the same time! You’re probably starting to see a trend here for me…why stand and teach when I can ride as well and do it from horseback?! So I took my mum’s horse Truffles who it is fair to say had a ball. Then with the lorry out and Truffles all booted up it was, again, too good an opportunity not to practice travelling the babies! Since loading practice was going beautifully it was time for Friday to have her first little trip, just around the block, with Truffles as babysitter. Friday was an absolute superstar and so settled, I was tickled pink, she can be a panicky little orange pony so I didn’t know what to expect. I bought her indirectly from the breeder so she’d only been in the horsebox twice in her life.  Truffles was ace, of course, for her second journey of the day. Next it was Sidney’s turn…he has a liking for drama but survived a trip around the block as well, again with Truffles beside him, for her third journey of the afternoon. I think in total she was either on or in the vicinity of the horsebox for about 5 hours…she really is worth her weight in Gold!

Having picked up gold stars for their mini travelling trips we have got some dates in the diary for both Friday and Sid for their first ridden outings in February, just arena hires for a low-key play. Can’t wait! I love this part of working with babies, when everything is their ‘first’ and it’s all about low expectation and high praise. After seeing several other horses go on the horsebox and out to parties Ruin was literally furious, so it was a good thing that he didn’t have to wait long for his own party – a lesson with my trainer Gareth (Hughes). It was a great session; we got some really good bouncy collected canter without the ignition stalling, and he was so so over his back that his sitting trot was ALMOST comfortable and didn’t leave me with an inability to empty my bladder. Result! We’re definitely getting there. The focus now is on the Regional Championships in February where we will contest the Advanced Medium. I really can’t wait! I’m not putting huge amounts of pressure on us though, my main focus is to get through the test without needing an oxygen break or collapsing midway through due to a heart attack. You see for Regional’s you are not allowed to carry a whip…yep this could be a challenge because Ruin’s two favourite speeds are halt and slow walk. So if we genuinely get through the test and come out not looking like I need an inhaler pronto then I will be thrilled!

Ultimately he’s started his BD competition career not even a year ago and this will be his first big competition so there’s no expectation, it’s just a great experience for him and he will learn a lot just being there. The others have been going well and our weekly yard jumping sessions continue, with the horses all progressing beautifully. I’m particularly thrilled with foal-face Friday. I can’t believe we’ve had her for 7 months! She’s a slow project because (a) she was unbacked and pretty feral when she arrived, (b) she’s only little and delicate (so I don’t want to snap her), and (c) she’s going to be awesome so I want to take my time to ensure she reaches her max potential. She may be small but she has masses of attitude and sass! She’s definitely been (and continues to be) challenging but I just love every fibre of her. Huge thanks to Lisa Lessels, whose support has enabled me to have another Eventer.  So exciting.

Overall I think 2019 has started well! The only thing that didn’t go quite to plan was when I gave Ruin his third clip of the winter. This was ‘interesting’ for two reasons : (1) I used my trimmers to do his face and had them on the shortest cutting setting (who knew there were different options…) so I’ve basically scalped him – he looks ready for surgery, no extra shaving required! There is also a really obvious line where the rest of the clip with the proper clippers starts. I won’t lie, it looks awful. (2) He looks very weird, even ignoring the panda eyes. It’s hardly the first time I’ve clipped him but he’s gone grey/beige…people warned me about this with black horses but this is the first time I’ve witnessed it myself. So he looks lovely! He definitely thinks he’s been violated and I’m sure is also hoping some hair grows back before he has to go out in public. Fingers crossed!

Lots of people set themselves New Year Resolutions in January. I like to set my own version, i.e. goals for the year for myself and/or the horses. My top three aims are for Ruin to step up to PSG, Sidney to start his competition career with some Advanced Mediums, and Friday to get out and about and beginning her Eventing education. There are lots of little goals for all the horses but these are the big ones and ones I want to be able to tick off when I reflect back in December.

Please note I am touching wood with every extremity as I write this!

I hope you have all had a good start to the year and have similarly made some plans for the year, I think it’s the best way to get through these difficult few months if you feel you’re working towards something. I’m doing some training videos for Genius Equestrian and my first one is on the website so do check it out for some exercises to focus your riding sessions. In the mean time keep safe in this challenging weather and I’ll see you next month, when I’ve decided it will basically be Spring!

 

www.hmnsporthorses.co.uk www.facebook.com/hmnsporthorses