The XC was a great forward track with a few questions but I was hoping she would find it easy after previous novice runs this season and she sure did! She popped round making it feel easy and we finished clear, well inside the time :) There was 3 of us that finished on 31.0 in equal second but to decide the exact placings it came down to who was nearest the optimum time XC, and seeing as we were the fastest in our arena XC we finished in 4th place which I was chuffed with. It was just the confidence boost we both needed after all recent shenanigans.....

With a good result behind us I was very looking forward to the next event and the week up to Brightling went quickly and it was another early start! The weather wasn't looking too good for the weekend and other than the odd shower we managed to miss getting completely soaked, well until we got home anyway!! On arrival I went and walked my XC course and it was going to be a bit of a test for Milli as the majority of the Novice fences were in the 1* course as well......

I had had another physio appointment the Friday before Brightling which had made me feel a lot better in myself but to Milli I wasn't sitting as I normally do and she failed to co-operate with me in the dressage unfortunately. Best way to describe it is it was just 'one of those days' in the dressage but she has been working very well so once we've got used to each other again we'll be on flying form :)

On to the SJing and as always at Brightling the course was at the top of the hill and can cause some problems and quite a lot of faults due to jumping up and down hill. Milli coped very well seeing as she's only just 6 but we did pick up 4 faults at fence 3 which was an upright down hill...personally I would like to say it was the wind as she barely touched it but there wasn't much wind that day!!

With a quick change of clothes I was in the XC warm up going through the course in my head and although it was a  tough course I couldn't wait to see what Milli made of it. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO! Off out the start box we went and Milli settled into a beautiful rhythm very quickly which I was very pleased with as it was a long course and the final two hills can be very tiring for the horses, especially young horses like Milli! She was flying round, taking it all in her stride, if anything a bit too bold and keen as we found out when trying to turn in some of the tricky combinations but Milli clearly knew exactly where she was supposed to go! She made it feel very easy and finished really well and as you can tell by the 'flyer' we took to the last fence (below) up the hill she had plenty of energy left in the tank!

After sorting Milli out we decided to head over to the score tent and get a bite to eat. We picked up 6.4 time faults which was the 3rd fastest in our arena, with many combinations picking up 'double-figure' time faults so I was very pleased with this. With our 'not so good' dressage I wasn't sure if we would have managed to climb into the top 10, so with the rest of the crew at home to sort out and Roxie's bandage to change we set off home. I looked on the BDWP site later that evening and was very pleased when I found out that we managed to move our way up to 9th place! This is a PB result at Novice level so far for us!

So, with a bit of work on our dressage, and I know we can achieve a mark in the low 30's, we should be able to make it more towards the top of the leader board which is very exciting, especially when she is our first home bred horse!!

#onwardsandupwards

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***Keep Calm & Canter On***
***Eventing 2014***

Not only has Roxie been in on box rest, Milli has had a slight interruption to her work schedule after she had to have a week off after injuring her back leg. She had a small scab on the white part of her back leg which I washed a put a cream on but unfortunately we think she had a reaction to the wash I used and her leg swelled up so she had some antibiotics to give her a helping hand to fight what ever it was away! Thankfully she is now fighting fit and back to normal work and we are next out on Monday 7th July at Tweseldown Horse Trials with her.

We've had a very busy start to the week and yesterday was no different. We had Sofia Graham with us all day treating some of the horses on the yard as well as Carly from WOW Saddles doing saddle checks. It was great to have them both here at the same time and it was very interesting what we found with poor Milli. It has become clear that I was more injured in my fall with Roxie than I first thought! I think all horsey people are the same and we just power on regardless and yes I've been in quite a bit of pain riding but I just assumed I would get better with time. Sofia had a feel over Milli and she could feel some tightness through her back where I've not been 100% straight due to back injuries etc. Now this is were the 'WOW' part comes in because Sofia can treat Milli but my recovery is going to take longer so Carly has put a-symmetric air back in my saddles so I'm straight on Milli now! This is why I absolutely LOVE these saddles and the little adjustments that can be made are amazing! Once the a-symmetric air was in the saddle felt amazing and of course Milli was going much better immediately! This now makes me understand why she stopped at Stratford Hills because her mum was obviously sitting slightly skew-iff on top and she wasn't happy about it! She is such a sensitive little soul bless her!

Roxie thoroughly enjoyed her treatment from Sofia as well and as expected she was quite sore all over! Sofia also used the laser treatment on the wound on her knee to aid healing which Roxie wasn't too sure about to start with as it tickled her but she soon realised it was helping her and she continued her usual 100& perfect patient behaviour which really helps when bandaging as she doesn't move at all! I have to say though, my bandaging skills are looking very good now, I'll be bandaging better than the vets soon!

Lots coming up over the next few days and weeks so keep checking back to see how we're all getting on.....

SG Eventing
X

***Keep Calm & Canter On***
***Eventing 2014***