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June has definitely been a month of ups and downs, from horses to college to family.
Starting with a positive note, Oscar’s second batch of rehab is going really well thanks to Stride Forward Physio. A few weeks ago, he had a very intense physio session, where he was sedated so the physio could really dig right into his muscles in order to relieve all the tension in his back and SI. It was hilarious watching him, he had enough sedation for a 14.2 pony, bearing in mind Oscar is 17.1, and I was literally holding him up by his head and there was a lot drooling and snoring….not that he is a drama queen at all!!
Anyway, it worked wonders and he is feeling so much more comfortable and able to step underneath himself better with his hindquarters. He is still only working long and low to prevent any tension in his back, whilst we build up the strength again. But all in all, it’s good news that he’s back on the road to recovery and with any luck we might just be able to sneak in an event at the end of the season (but don’t tell Oscar!).
Sidney is being his usual amazing self, going really well in training. Thanks to our HorseQuest training money we had a great session with BE South East at Coombelands on the 4th. He went beautifully in the dressage training, practicing some slightly more technical test elements and working on getting more power in his canter to reach the higher marks. He also went well in the SJ training session, jumping a lovely clear round with Mark Corbett making me work on getting a good rhythm straight away, as it is occasionally lacking at the beginning of our courses.
Onto Rackham BE100ou18 which wasn’t quite the weekend we had hoped for. On the Saturday my dad was taken to hospital with heart complications, which as you can imagine took the whole family by surprise (thankfully, he is absolutely fine now!) and we were questioning whether to got to Rackham on the Sunday or not. However, we weren’t allowed to visit him, so decided to go rather than being sat at home worrying. Sid warmed up really well for the dressage, thanks to all the help from my dressage trainer Leslie Hill. However, he had a bit too long to warm up as we were let into our arena quite late and he went a bit stale and flat which was a shame because I know we could have done a much better test, but still got a reasonable mark of 31.8.
The SJ was a bit of a mess to be honest with 2 poles, where I think it was a mix of things: me not riding to my best; being very tired and once again putting too pressure on myself and very sticky ground which doesn’t suit Sid. I have to be honest I was really annoyed with myself after the SJ because we could have come 5th without the poles. But I gave myself a little pep talk, told myself off for being annoyed because that’s horses, one day may be amazing and the next not so great.I got my act together, got to the XC and had an amazing clear round inside the time, adding to Sid’s faultless XC record! In the end we came 16th / 42 which wasn’t quite the result we had hoped for but against some very flashy horses, I was pleased, onwards and upwards to Tweseldown in July!
I found out a couple of weeks ago that both Sid and I are in the top 10 for the BE UK Grassroots Foundation points league! Sid being 6th out of all the horses at that level and me 9th out of the riders. I can’t thank my Mum enough for lending me Sid, and Dad for all his help and support. Also, to my trainers for all their help and of course HorseQuest for their funding.
Another thing that June held was my driving test. Unfortunately, that did not go to plan…I failed, looks like I might stick to riding! I have also begun to write my personal statements and deciding on universities! Being passionate about eventing, I’d always wanted to go to Hartpury University so I can study and event alongside.
However, I also love acting, having studied Drama GCSE and currently Drama A-level I began to think about applying to Drama School. But the thought of not eventing for 3 years seemed impossible to me and after someone telling me ‘It seems as though your heart says eventing, but your head says drama’ and attending a Hartpury open day (it is an equestrian heaven!) I think I’m pretty set on Hartpury…not quite sure what Oscar will think of it but let’s just hope he stays sound and in work!
Hope everyone has had a good few weeks and you enjoyed this month’s blog, thanks for reading!
Danni x
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