Wishing you all a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!!!!!  SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On***
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 How cute does she look now she's all fluffy?!? :) After weeks of walk work / gentle hacking and slowly introducing trot work to help re-build the muscles in her knee, Roxie had her first little schooling session after our crashing fall at Tweseldown back in June! We both had HUGE smiles on our faces and it was so nice to be asking a few questions of her again. Although she has lost a bit of the flexion to her left fore she is 100% sound which is absolutely amazing, especially when I think back to the vets initial prognosis when we arrived at Bell Equine late that Sunday evening!! She felt amazing and she was offering more and more as the time went on! Every time I turned down the 3/4 line she was offering half pass and then if I changed the rain across the diagonal she wanted to show of her medium trot, which is definitely her favorite party trick! We did lots of long and low stretching work which she enjoyed but I did let her do one diagonal of medium trot and she felt SUPER, in fact it felt better than before! We even had a sneaky canter each way which she found very exciting!! Considering the damage done I'm amazed at her recovery, she's clearly just as determined as her mother!! She will continue on a similar work load as she has been doing as I want to allow her time to re-build all the muscles properly and I really don't want to rush her, she doesn't owe me anything so we're just going to have a bit of fun and anything we do do is a bonus, although how she felt at the weekend I feel she could become my little dressage diva alongside the eventing and jumping with Milli! In the above pictures, please excuse the big fluffy coat, feathers and long mane......her inner native side is coming out!! Plus I think she looks so cute......what do you think?! I also got some video which I will try and get uploaded soon but work have been very kind and are allowing us all to finish early at 3pm today and tomorrow and then 1pm Xmas eve, so if I dash home quick I will have time to ride in the daylight and maybe even get them both ridden...... :)
SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** After a fortnight of keeping ourselves busy, me at work whilst Milli and Roxie were causing havoc in the fields, it was time to get ready for our next competition!! In preparation for last weekend's competition I took Milli to my friends yard in Preston, Shotfield Farm Equestrian Centre, at the beginning of last week to have a jump. There was plenty of fences set up so I could practice a course. Milli was very fresh to start with and after having a treatment from Sofia the Saturday before she felt great!! We warmed up as normal and then got straight on with course practice, finishing off jumping a course of 1.20m plus!! Milli made it feel easy which is very exciting........unfortunately I was there on my own so couldn't get any pictures of videos of us training!  Last weekend it was the Area 45 Christmas show at Duckhurst Farm and I was lucky enough to get a lift with Alex again as she was just taking one. We went on the Saturday and it was a rather early start as we were jumping the first class.....this early start wasn't something I was looking for as I was out the night before for the office xmas party........!!! I jumped Milli in the 1.05m Open class to start with and although it wasn't to up-to-height it seemed to be causing a few problems and not riding very well. Milli was her normal excited self in the warm up but felt good so in we went. She was jumping a very good round, well until the rider fluffed it to the second to last fence resulting in a very unlucky 4 faults! I think the stride I was going on was the sort of stride you'd want to the vicarage V at Badminton not a 1.05m upright.....clearly an eventer at heart?! Putting this behind us, Milli had a bit of a rest on the lorry as there was LOADS of people there! Alex jumped her two rounds next and a 3+ hour wait Milli was back out again. I had hoped to do the WOW Saddles Qualifier on her but there was so many there she would have had to wait what looked like it would be another 2+ hours so I decided to jump her in the 1.10m Newcomers. Again Milli warmed up great so we went in and I was very pleased with the round we jumped. We did end up with 8 faults, which were two babyish mistakes and poles she just tapped behind. Although she has been jumping Novice h eight this summer with British Eventing the courses are much more spread out and only 2 fences are up to the maximum height of 1.10m. This was by far the biggest track we have jumped together and although 8 faults isn't that good on paper I was very pleased with the round we jumped and it has given us plenty to work on over the next few weeks, in particular establishing a good rhythm in between the fences. After mainly jumping outside in open grass arenas, being in an indoor arena with 15+ fences is quite tight but it gives us something to work on and overall I couldn't have been more pleased with how she jumped even if she was convinced the water tray was going to eat her.......... For those of you who have met Milli and experienced / seen any of her slight quirky moments, this will definitely make you chuckle!!
I came out of the ring and looked at Alex who laughed and said she never would have let me forget that if my 'event ' horse refused to go over the water trays! I'm sure it was just another one of Milli's typical cheeky moments just checking the rider is 100% focused on board!!
For more pictures from our outing as well as a video of both our rounds, please Click Here! With that hopefully putting a smile on your face, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, which reminds me, I really should get on with some more of my wrapping...... Until next time, SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** After a few quiet weekends on the horse front it was a nice change to be out both days with Milli and even nicer when both days went well! First of all I was out teaching the local Pony Club Saturday morning which was nice and something I’m looking forward to continuing over the coming weeks. With the last lesson taught, a quick dash back to my car and off to meet mum who had got Milli already loaded and ready to go to our British Showjumping Academy training session with Chris Moyce at Eaglesfield.  I haven’t been to Eaglesfield for years so it was a nice change to be riding somewhere different and the indoor school is lovely there so it will definitely be one I will be returning too for more lessons / competitions! Milli was pleased to be back out and she jumped very well so I was very excited to know that we were going to a competition the next day.......so, with a spot of tack cleaning Saturday night and dusting off my competition attire we were already for British Showjumping at Duckhurst the following day.
There were loads there and as Alex was jumping the earlier class I decided to just jump the one class with Milli after her standing on the lorry for a few hours. Milli jumped a super double clear and found the jump off ever so exciting and when I put my legs on we showed the crowd our very best acrobatic moves with typical Milli squeaks as opposed to going faster!! This unfortunately cost us a placing but I wasn't going there to win, I just wanted to get her back out and have a good round under our belt, as after all there is always a next time.....
To view more pictures as well as a video from this outing please 'Click Here' The girls have been having duvet days the last few days and they have been very happy to stay in their stables as opposed to going out, especially when they have their lovely Likit toys to play with as well as a Hickstead Horse Feeds fibre block each!!! Spoilt horses I think! Today they also had their yearly vaccinations and we got some great feedback from the vet regarding Roxie's knee.... The vet that came today hasn't seen mine before and after noticing the bald patch on Roxie's knee he asked my mum what had she done. My mum explained what had happened and the extent of her injuries plus the surgery that she had to have as well. He did various flexion and extension tests and considering the visible damage she has, he was amazed at how well her recovery is going! We are still taking it steady as she has to rebuild various muscles etc around her knee but to hear that she is doing so well has put a big smile on my face, especially when I think back to the initial prognosis the vets gave her!! So, with that great news and a few more competitions to look forwards to it is #onwardsandupwards!! SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** |
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