It’s been a busy week with horses to canter and school and people to teach. I’ve also been out show jumping with Fin and a horse I’ve got in to sell plus all the working pupils came too which involved lots of laughing and some education and match practice for them all!
I’ve just arrived back from Purston Manor, one of our locals and a nice event which we always try to include in our calendar. I had Womble, Alex and Tommy running today – all in their first ever Novice, although I planned not to run Tommy and Alex cross country – I just wanted to give them Novice dressage and show jumping experience ahead of the Young Horse Championships at Osberton.
The ground was very good in all three phases; the recent rain coupled with old tough and good grass cover made for good going under foot which was great and much appreciated after the summer we’ve all had. I was fearing, as is often the case, that the dear English weather may take us from concrete to a bog overnight! However luckily this had not transpired and Jenny is best pleased as she doesn’t have to listen to my moaning.
Purston had a good strong show jumping course with lots of flowers and colour which was good. The cross country had three reasonable novice questions but the rest were fairly straight forward, not overly big novice jumps. The questions included a skinny just through a hedgerow that was easy to run past and also two big steps down into the water – they are infamous at Purston and always seem to cause their fair share of trouble.
All three horses did nice dressage tests although Tommy was a bit fresh and cheeky, there’s a surprise! Tommy is now very consistent with his show jumping and jumped a lovely clear. Alex and Womble tried hard but just need more milage and experience, they were both a little green. Womble was the only one that went cross country. It was his first novice and he had a couple of little hiccups but he gives me the feeling again that he will be a very competitive horse.
On the home front Tim and Hipp continue with their rehab. Tim is making good progress and is not far off starting to be ridden again. After much consultation with our vets and various experts around the world Hipp is going to have surgery to try and improve the chances of his long term recovery back to full fitness. This has not been an easy decision as surgery always carries risks. However after much consultation with Hipp’s owners and the experts and our Australian and local vet support the decision has been made to go ahead as it’s viewed to be in the best interests of the horse. This will take place in the next few weeks.
We have a couple of horses that have come in to break and get going along with one in to sell. I enjoy playing and getting young horses going so these projects will be fun. I also have ‘Dotty’ back for a few weeks, she’s a filly out of a mare Jenny used to event when I first met her – and dear to our and her subsequent owners heart. She sadly died of grass sickness shortly after giving birth to Dotty, however Dotty has many of her mother’s characteristics which means it’s especially nice for Jenny and I to have her back for a few weeks to continue her training.
Magnus is also most likely sold, which is sad for me but pleasing for the Ranks – that’s how it goes sometimes and I’ve always known he would one day be sold.
I’m off to Gatcombe tomorrow with Figgy and Harry, Figgy hoping for a 2 star qualification and Harry having a last run before Weston Park.
Ill keep you posted on how things unfold over the weekend.
Cheers,
Bill
Posted 16th September
