This month has been taken up by selling my cottage, as once all the paperwork and HIP documents came through, things happened very quickly and I found myself doing urgent lawn mowing and last minute touch ups as viewings started the day after it went on the market! I used all the tricks... fresh flowers in vases, lots of herbs and baking in the kitchen, all the lights on and everything hidden in overflowing cupboards! I soon discovered it is a labour intensive time to sell due to mushy dead leaves covering everything daily, as well as keeping the flower beds presentable! A week after going on the market we had an open day so I stayed home to get everything immaculate and show round quite a lot of people. I had six viewings which was very good and my sales chat got a lot of practice! Then again it is an easy cottage to sell with two great pubs in a delightful village with good connections to London and pretty walks along the Itchen river! I am nervous to see how the sale goes so that I can work out when I should move the horses to the Cotswolds.
On the eventing front I took Kiwi to a last Novice event, he really wasn't confident with the bigger spooky show jumps so I retired him as he is not ready for this level when he is in the ring. I may now have sell him on the hunting field as it is going to take too long for my finances to take him further eventing, although he has great BE100 placings. He was awesome to hunt last season tackling big hedges with the Beaufort.
Recently I have schooled a friend's horse, particularly over jumps, as she has gone to uni'. Remi is an ex-racehorse in her first season, and has been rather careless SJ lately, making Alex tense. To help them I made Remi do lots of gridwork to improve her technique and teach her to take care of herself more. I also discouraged her from rushing single fences and used two mahogany poles that are a bit heavier to encourage her to be more respectful and think more. Together with some schooling on the flat she made huge progress in three sessions resulting in a double clear at her next event on Alex's return from uni'! Alex's excited text really made my day, especially as it came through after my life had taken a frustrating turn...