Filming has been quiet over the last two weeks but on the personal front, a lot has happened and I am sitting at my computer shell-shocked and utterly exhausted! More later…..
On the horse front, I am sadly unable to continue my ‘dressage challenge’ with Jane Gregory’s Grand Prix horse Luke. Jane kindly offered him as a stop-gap when Project Walero fell through but he is an older horse who has had some soundness issues and she feels realistically, that I can't depend on him for the more demanding advanced horse. So it’s back to the drawing board! Meantime, I have booked a lesson on a GP schoolmaster this week and if that works out, we will hopefully film the following session but he won’t be a competition prospect. I am hatching a cunning plan though, which is a bit off the wall and I will tell you more if it comes off!
Meantime, I have become a member of Endurance GB to pursue my second (well, third after eventing) riding career (all simultaneous!). Horse Hero ex-blogger Nikki Routledge has fixed it for me to borrow horses to complete the necessary qualification to ride at advanced level. So I will be competing next month at the fabulous eventing venue, Barbury Castle but it will be odd not seeing any jumping. Bring it on!
Closer to home, my dearly beloved Norris finally went eventing last weekend at Great Tew (his first outing for 2 years, as you will know from previous blogs). We were doing an Open Pre-Novice (not a big deal for an Intermediate horse) but I had to see if he could cope, and I needed a refresher too! I have to say, he coped extremely well, producing a double clear though a little on the rusty side, so we are off to Milton Keynes in a couple of weeks to repeat the exercise!
Having run a ‘tape’ of the event in my head a few times, I think I over-rode him a little in places as he was feeling green and next time, I will aim to keep the same rhythm with power to the fence, giving him time to look if he needs to but not back off. Once he's had a couple of runs and know it doesn't hurt his feet to jump, he'll probably become quite cocky!
Every horse is different and you have to figure them out. I had a fabulous French mare once who was very light in the mouth, very sensitive and hugely talented. However, to maximise her talent she needed to decide where she took off! So my job was to keep the rhythm, sit still and create a fraction more power in her back end with no change of speed on the approach to the fence, then blur my vision on the last few strides so I couldn't be tempted to look for a stride! Sounds risky but it was the perfect solution for her, whereas if I interfered it often her to chip in infront of the fence. She wasn’t fast but I frequently got time penalties for going too quickly simply because she jumped out of a rhythm and wasted absolutely no time at the fence. She was complete poetry, which I hope I will be lucky enough to experience again one day, maybe with Norris!
On the behaviour front, I was very pleased to find that Norris was a reformed character at the event! A couple of years ago he was pretty dangerous in the warm-up (picking up on the adrenalin of the other horses) and spooking and bucking with great athleticism. I put the change of behaviour mostly down to the stronger bond I now have with him, established during his recuperation. As he wasn’t able to do much work for 18 months, I made a meditation of the small things such as walk, transitions and finding a way to overcome his spookiness out hacking! Otherwise we might have gone out of our brains with boredom. Utter consistency, calmness and concentration have been the keys to our connection and I'm delighted to find this has carried over to the highly charged competition environment.
Changing the subject, Gloucestershire is royal county as you probably know, graced with the presence of Prince Charles and Princess Anne who live just a few miles from each other. Highgrove, home of Charles and Camilla, is 5 minutes from where I live and having had my name on the waiting list for a very long time, I was summoned to a tour of the gardens a couple of weeks ago. They are totally stunning with a huge variety of themes. But the thing that struck me most was how quirky and imaginative they are. HRH is a handy artist in any event, and he has made the grounds a work of art too! The starting point of many of the themes are the gifts he receives from all over the world – trees, statues, monuments, carvings - many weird and wonderful objects. He is remarkably resourceful in using as much as possible, and many gifts have become the centre-piece of a theme. The man has real imagination!
I began the blog by saying I was wrecked, and I will tell you why.... I have moved house. I always underestimate the trauma of moving. For weeks I had been purging myself of every last item I don't need (both personal and business) which I have to say was very therapeutic! I am not one to hoard things but I was staggered at how much stuff made it’s way to charity, EBay, friends and family!
Sadly, I also had to relieve myself of something I love. My Maine Coon cat, a Canadian breed which is a cross between a wild and a domestic cat. Major Tom, who is nearly a metre long at full stretch, is an avid nocturnal hunter and where I am now living (temporarily) is not safe for him to roam. So, one very hot Saturday afternoon, I set off with Tom in a large dog cage in the back of the car to Eastbourne to take up residence with cat-mad friends who live on the South Downs. However, what should have been a 3 hour journey turned into 5 hours (with a screaming cat). And when we finally got there, poor Tom was so traumatized that he hid under the nearest piece of furniture and wouldn’t be coaxed out for hours. I stayed overnight, which was not very relaxing in the circumstances, but he was more settled by the morning and is now one happy bunny lapping up endless love and constant attention showered on him by my retired friends!
Having purged myself of superflous possessions (and put some larger items in storage), I assumed the easy bit would be the packing. Boy, did I underestimate that. It was back-breaking, made worse by humping at least half of the boxes myself, to compensate for the tardy removal crew. It was destined to be a complex and lengthy move (even though I was only going a few hundred yards down the road), as I swapped properties with the people who bought my house. I am now renting until I move properly to the country later in the year, where I will have equestrian facilities and finally be able to kiss my precious boy goodnight!