August 2009 Archives

Well I'm ready to go away on Thursday, I'm going to fly to Birmingham & I've hired a car to drive myself to Vale View, Angela has lent me her sat nav so hopefully I won't get lost. Initially I was going on my own, but my dad has booked a flight to come with me, I don't think he trusts me driving on a motorway on my own for the first time.

It's Manx Grand Prix this fortnight, more motorbike racing, so again we're confined to riding up the mountain, at least we have that option, we could just be confined to the paddock. It's a bit cold up there though, and it's been very rainy so it's wet up there too, I'm hoping the sun will come out in September, so I can be a lizard & charge my batteries before the Autumn kicks in. I've started giving George his winter feeds as he was looking a bit slim, I can't say that about my old horse Taz though, he's on starvation after a touch of laminitis. I've had Taz for 14yrs, he was my first horse when I came off ponies & taught me a lot. He's not mine he belongs to a lady called Jo but he's with us on permanent loan. I used to jump him & also do x-country & everything on him, he could be very temperamental though, he could jump like a stag at times, but then on other days he'd decide he wouldn't go over a pole on the ground & however hard you tried, there'd be no getting him over it. I competed pre-novice eventing on him when I was 16, it was the first time I competed away & luckily he was having one of his good days & jumped everything clear, our team came third. Also that year we entered a local two day event & I couldn't believe it when we were lying first after the dressage, it was the first time that had ever happened in our family, the lessons paid off that yr & funnily enough they were with Angela, but I still preferred jumping, and he did too, we made a great partnership & when we really got to know each other we did well in the showjumping locally & he got out of his temperamental ways. He's 26 now, but doesn't act it at all, he's a real character, you can be walking past his stable & a bucket can come flying out at you, Taz hinting that he's feeling a bit peckish. Before I started para dressage I had a go at side-saddle to see if I'd find that any easier, Taz happily obliged to be my side-saddle horse, it was really funny when we put the saddle on him as he decided he was very regal & really showed off under it, we did one show in it & I came third, but after that Taz got lame from standing on a nail & it took him ages to heal from that, George is far too bouncy to ride in it & unfortunately it doesn't fit Bernie, so it's a bit surplus to requirements at the moment.

The competitions are starting again in September, I'm looking forward to getting back into that as we've had a bit of a break, but B has had plenty of work so hopefully that will show in his next test, that's if I take enough rescue remedy to keep my nerves away!

Both Bernie & I have had a busy week. I flew to Liverpool on Monday evening after work, my dad came too to keep me company. My cousin Ian moved from the Isle of Man to Manchester a couple of yrs ago, & I'd text him a few days earlier to say we were coming over, he offered to come & pick us up from the airport & take us down to Clwyd, which was so good of him. The B&B we stayed in was lovely & the people were really friendly. We went out to find somewhere to eat, but we were too late for a pub tea, so had some chips from a local chippy, chips, cheese & gravy, my favourite! The next day, after a good breakfast, we got a lift down to the riding centre. I met Ben the horse I was to ride in the session with Janet, he was a nice piebald cob. The stirrups wouldn't go long enough for me so I suggested doing the lesson without them, to save swapping stirrup leathers, silly me, I've been paying for it as my stomach muscles have been killing me since. I had a half hr session with a physio, I found it really beneficial, she gave me some exercises to do for my shoulders to loosen them off & that should improve my riding, then I had another half hr with a sports psychologist, who also gave me some things to try to help my nerves before a competition. I found the whole day very helpful & met some lovely people. Janet kindly gave us a lift to Chester train station, where we got a bus to Hooten, as there was something wrong with the electrics at Chester, then we caught a train to Liverpool, then a taxi to the airport to catch our flight home. The weather was miserable back home & has been since, rain, rain & more rain. I'm going to have to get used to the travelling as I've booked myself a couple of lessons at Vale View at the start of September & have to get myself there from Birmingham airport, should be fun, especially with my island mind, not used to trains & the like, we only have one steam train route over here, and as for motorways....

While I was away Angela took Bernie for a training session with Clive, she told me he worked really hard & she was very pleased with him & I told her all about my training day away. Yesterday B had a session with Janet, she's over training on the island for a couple of days, Janet rode him for me, they had a little fight at the start, but after that he looked like he went well, she was quite surprised by how sensitive he was, as he doesn't look like the sensitive type, & he's also really willing. Today I took him for more training with Janet, me riding, she'll be sick of my face over the last few days, Bernie felt great from the start, sometimes he can be a bit shuffly to start with, but his walk was nice & free & he went well for the whole session, I left the lesson feeling really happy with both him & myself, lets hope he behaves like that at our next test in a few weeks time. So that was my busy few days, I think a nice hack is on the cards tomorrow & as for tonight I think I'll go & soak my muscles in the bath!!

It's the Royal Manx agricultural show today & tomorrow, today was the showjumping & it was a beautiful day, really sunny & hot. I had physio this morning & I've had really sore knees over the last week, so Isla (my physio) worked on them to start with, my thighs were really tight & this makes my knees painful, she also worked on my neck & shoulders as they've been hurting too. So I decided I wouldn't go down to watch the show because the uneven ground plays havoc with my back & knees, & I didn't want to undo all Isla's work, all though I would've liked to have watched my friend, Lizzie, jump. The Royal Manx is the big show on the IOM & I used to do the jumping & working hunter every yr, my little pony Grub knew it was important to me, as we'd get clear all the way round, then, I'd relax at the last jump & he'd skip out the side, I think he did that a couple of times with me & then he'd do it with Lizzie, she rode him when I'd grown out of him, he was a crafty little fella, he was worth his weight in gold though as he'd let me & Lizzie do anything with him, we'd make up routines in our summer holidays where I'd canter past her bareback & she'd jump on behind me & we'd do jumps & stuff.

I had my lesson on Thursday, Bernie's mind was on everything except me, it was really hard to keep his attention, but after a while, & a few words between me & him I managed to get him a bit more reactive, he's really stiff to the right at the moment, we did a great canter on the left rein, but it was another story on the right, but we got there, and at that point we thought we'd best leave it on a good note. After the lesson we sat down & had a chat about what we want to do in the future, we're going to go & watch the Nationals in September so I can take it all in & see what it's all about, & I have training planned, lots of it through Autumn & winter, as there doesn't seem to be many Para competitions untill Spring time. I'm really looking forward to going to Clwyd too, that should be a really good experience for me.