Clare

Hope Wanda's poorly foot is on the mend Sounds like summer is on its way back this weekend at last

Have fun at the RC clinic Gooster, as long as its more than one leg and they are going down when he moves around I wouldn't worry to much, its probably just a result of him being stabled for so long then getting moving again. Stable bandages might be a good idea for a bit until everything settles down I had an interesting hack last night, was cantering along when Loki had a little spook and I noticed a dog running behind us, shouted to the others to pull up but dog didn't seem aggressive was just enjoying running with our pack, but then it wouldn't leave us and we couldn't find an owner it was still with us by the time we approached the road so ended up stopping and phoning someone from the yard to come and pick her up. We called the number on the tag a few times with no reply so then got worried that maybe something had happened to the owner walking out in the woods, so I called the police to explain my concerns but think they thought I was mad and just gave me the number of the dog warden. I also left my number with other dog walkers on their way into the forest in case they came across someone looking for their dog. Finally got a call from one of the walkers saying they had found the owner looking for the dog, lady had gone out and forgotten her phone, sods law! So arranged for the lady to come to the stables and collect her, which was handy as by this point the dog was singing lots of lovely husky songs and none of us fancied taking her home overnight Lovely dog didn't seem at all bothered by being with us, apparently she runs off on walks a lot but normally always comes back So a quick hack ended up a rather late night!

Hope Phebe was a good girl and you didn't come across any more monsters Milo is looking well, and bigger than I remember You are so lucky to have hacking straight into Brams! Yay great news Blue can go out, hope he is none the worse for his airs yesterday and has been more relaxed about it all today

Oh what a shame I'm lucky our month end doesn't kick off until the week after. Yes with so many events being cancelled and no improvement forecast for the weather the organisers must be getting a tad nervous!

Just booked the day off

Hello Bob I know couldn't believe it either, I think I am going to try and book the day off so I can watch. Have a lovely time S, I have to admit I didn't fancy it as a venue so will be very happy if I can spend the day on the sofa watching, and then we can enjoy your pics

Hope everything has cleaned up ok PW and you haven't had too much more rain Oh gawd CP what a nightmare Hope the possible place turns out ok. Yay fab news Gooster, it would be fantastic if its sorted Blue's lameness out, its amazing the difference a good farrier can make

Awww how cute is Banner, she looks a natural at agility didn't seem to phase her at all Well done Wanda, great to hear you are both out struting your stuff again Hope the new farrier can sort Blue out, he sounds a good one, my farrier is great too he will call if running more than 10 mins late, and I can get hold of him whenever I have a problem, like last night and Loki coming in from the field having removed the frog protection from his bar shoe, which my farrier said is not possible so I had to send him a pic to prove it!

Well done PW and Banner Can't wait to see the video Hope all those with poorly feet are feeling better, hope you get the farrier situation sorted Gooster. Good to hear Milo approves of the new yard So yesterday off we set for Mattingley Horse Trials, the alarm was set for 4.30am my dressage was at 8.12! Did an ok test he wasn't foward enough really I think we were both still asleep, totally messed up our first canter transition that had to be done in the corner straight after changing the rein across the diagonal because Loki decided at that point he had to poo and obviously being male could not do two things at once So came out feeling a bit dissapointed but my support team thought it looked ok. Off to the dreaded showjumping, with me trying to remember all the things I was told in my lesson last week, and thankfully the confidence crisis I had been suffering seemed to have dissapeared. We went for forward and positive and got round with only one fence down, me and team were very I was really looking forward to xc, the only fence I was a bit concerned about was a very skinny wood carving of a pig with Xmas trees each side three from home, sure enough he spotted it a way off and eyes came out on stalks and head was getting higher and higher and I was having trouble keeping him straight, so bought him back to trot a couple of strides away and he had a good look but popped it nicely in the end and then suprised me by accelerating away full of running at the end of the course. By the time I had walked him back to the trailer his breathing was almost back to normal so very chuffed with that. Checked the scores before we left to see we had 36 dressage but judge not being generous and more in the 40s than 30s, the 4 from sj and had 2 time penalties. Looking at the rest of the dressage scores looked like we wouldn't be placed so I didn't bother driving back, then checked online last night and saw we had come 2nd!! It appears xc caused some problems and very few were inside or near the time so that pulled us up the scoreboard. They are sending me our rossette and a cheque for £50 Loki has actually paid for his own physio this week

That is very sad, my thoughts go out to those involved.

Happy gotcha day beautiful Cherry

Good luck at the new yard CP, sounds nice Hope you had a nice ride on Phoebe Sometimes they can take time to adjust Gooster, perhaps he would be better with just the backs off they seem to cope better with that. Try not to worry its unlikley you've done any damage I'm sure if you put the shoes back on he'd be fine, your farrier wouldn't have taken them off if he'd thought it would be detrimental to his problems Had a very interesting jumping lesson with the new trainer and I'm pleased to announce I didn't fall off Not sure I'll see any benefits eventing this weekend as lots to change and when my brain goes into panic competition mode Im not sure I'll remember but hopefully after some lessons we might be able to improve a bit. Just hoping the weather stays nice and its not cancelled!

Oh no sorry to hear that CP, after her being so nice about you coming back too Hope you find a nice new yard Norty Blue

It must be lovely to have a horse like that, we are always on the lookout for horse eating monsters too How much longer does Blue have on box rest? I've had an interesting morning, finally decided it was time to get my knee looked at its huge, very purple and still numb, the only reason I had put it off is that I work in Ascot and the hospital is at the opposite end of the High Street from my office and its Royal Ascot this week which means we hide in the office and don't venture out. So I bravely joined the throngs, feeling very scruffy and hobbled to the hospital it wasn't too bad and saw some lovely carriage horses, the way back was harder as I was against the flow and got bashed all over the place! Good news is nothing broken, they called in the trainee nurses to look at it as they rarely seem such an extreme case of bruising she thinks it will be months rather than weeks for it to settle down and I just have to be careful about blood poisoning due to all the blood hanging around in my knee. Riding is quite painful but now I know nothing serious going on I will just get on with it and try not to fall off jumping on Sunday

So sorry to hear of your loss Ian :GroupHug: Run free Thor reunited with your friends again

Big Jack is rather gorgeous You look very at home on him already! Blue is looking really well after all his adventures, aww the girls have obviously missed their superstud

In a way its the second fall that bothers me more as I really shouldn't have fallen off, found myself laying on the floor thinking what the hell happened there! It was just a wall filler such like he has jumped plenty of times before so wasn't expecting anything exciting to happen he has been so unspooky this season he hasn't done any of his "specials" but he was saving them up for a super special it seems lol I guess its because we knock so many fences down that makes me think I am useless and I hate watching back videos and seeing my position. I did get back on both times and jumped some more so will probably leave it now until the lesson as feel like I might need a bit of hand holding or more likely being shouted at to get me going again. Glad Blue enjoyed his walks and looking forward to seeing the pics of Big Jack Ah Milo needed the firm hand (or hoof) of a woman to sort him out and see the errors of his ways, we should have known

Oh no poor Annie, hope she is ok now and Bumble's mouth is healing ok Glad Lillie is feeling better Hope the walking went well today Gooster Really pleased to hear Milo is going well and you can finally get to enjoy the rc clinics! Ermm I had a very odd jumping lesson yesterday, I fell off twice Once quite badly, I was very lucky and at the moment am only sitting on the sofa with ice on my knee thats five times the size it should be and a very fetching purple colour, it could have been a lot worse and I definately need a new hat. I've had him for 6 years and never come off then come off twice in one lesson!!! First time he was a bit naughty, took against a filler that he shouldn't have as has jumped far worse things stop dead and then, well actually I'll let the pics tell the story... Just about survived that but the bronching on landing finished me off The second time was just a misunderstanding of where to take off and I came shooting out of the saddle where I normally would have stayed on, by this time I was wondering what on earth was happening, sadly no footage of second departure! I'm quite happy to accept I'm was having one of those days and I do tip forward too much and some will say (PW ) quite rightly it was only a matter of time, but when I joked about a good start to my new saddle the instructor said she never comments on clients tack unless they say something first but she was of the opinion that the saddle was too small for my lanky legs and as my knees are pretty much over the knee roll the saddle is offering no support and she felt it was a major contributor to what had happened, especially the second time as that was something and nothing. So I'm going to have to speak to the saddler tomorrow, its really frightened me that I can fall off so easily where I never have before and I've discovered I don't bounce as well as I used to! Have contacted the organisers of the event I am doing in two weeks and have moved down to the 80cm class as I have been shaken up and not looking forward to riding him at all let alone jumping, have a lesson with showjumper next weekend so hopefully he can help get some confidence back next weekend, not ideal going to an international showjumper for the first time feeling like a right scared numpty

BCA Horse Trials has been cancelled due to waterlogged xc course Horrible blinkin British summertime

Aww what a gorgeous boy, he looks so happy and settled already

Oh no, hope Phoebe is better soon Have fun riding the dales Gooster, glad you have found something to ride. How is Blue doing? How is Milo now, did he go in the with mare? Looking forward to seeing foal pics and agility video

Oh wow Phoebe is stunning Looks much bigger than 14.2hh, think you'll have some fun with her I went showjumping today, what can I say I don't like it much as I'm pretty useless at it but had to get some practise in for next weekend. Was pretty happy with the 85cm round for two down, good for us Went into the 90cm actually looking forward to ironing out some of the things from the first class and made it even worse for 4 down. He was towing me into the fences more which didn't help but didn't ride well and came out feeling our showjumping is doomed for ever more I'm not proud I'll share my uselessness http://youtu.be/vOJTKJLCYlQ http://youtu.be/dUkeS4OKlTo He didn't touch this one though!

These horses never make things easy do they! Could he go in a little sectioned off area with no or little grass and some hay overnight and then go out in the field as normal during the day, he then might be more interested in grass than playing? Saddler came, all is good I have a new saddle We had two options one was an old second hand saddle she had in the van that might fit him and we could put a air pad underneath it to still give him the air feel that he seems to like, if that didn't work she had a new WOW saddle I could try, when she told me how much that option would be I kept everything crossed option one would work Thankfully it did, its not a well know make and its brown but Loki said he liked it even without the air pad so just shows there was something about that other saddle he did not like, we think probably the tree points. The best news of the day was that she templated him and compared it to the one a month ago and his girth measurement is the same but he has built up muscle already, so we must be on the right track. Now can it just stop raining and I can look forward to next weekend! Just thinking about Blue being bored, have you thought of doing some clicker training with him Gooster?

Wondering what Blue is going to do with rubber ducks Grrr getting a bit fed up with saddlers. So by Wednesday morning still not heard back so I text to say that I presumed she wasn't coming out as hadn't heard and could I book her next available appointment. She came back and said still hadn't heard back from client so wasn't sure what she was doing but could see me on Friday 9.30am. I said fine and have booked the morning off. Just got a text to say client that messed her around on Wednesday now wants my Friday appointment and could I change to lunchtime Have text back saying no as only have half day booked off, but you would think if this other person has messed her around so much she should just fit in around other appointments...... phew rant over, of course if she comes back and tries to put my appointment back to next week I will have to do it , I know the saddler just wants to keep everyone happy but I really don't think its fair

So sorry PW Run free Cecil