We had fabulous news about Tambo last week! He went back to Rossdales in Newmarket for a scan and Andy Bathe was delighted with the results. Tambo has become a bit of a celebrity up there and Andy has looked after him brilliantly. The scans are looking better than could have been expected and we are to increase his work to include cantering now, and can start dressage work properly in April. He can then begin jumping and faster cantering and we are aiming for Great Tew as his first event. Unfortunately he will not quite be ready for any of the Young Rider trials this year but we will make this our priority next year, especially as the 2011 Championships are at Blair Castle! I wrote to Alex Colquhoun, the Chairman of Selectors, to notify him this week and received a very kind and charming reply, which cheered me up!
We had a World Class home visit from Sarah Verney and Gill Watson last week too. They saw Rocco for the first time and thought he was lovely! Gill gave me a dressage/jumping lesson which was really helpful and then I had a light flat work session on Tambo. Both Gill and Sarah thought Tambo looked really well although I think he would have far rather been jumping!
We’ve also had our yearly visit from Catherine Edwards, who is an equine iridologist. Equine iridology is the analysis of the coloured part of the eye to reveal the horse’s health. It can help to discover old, current and future health issues and reveal the root cause of reoccurring issues. All ailments/problems are then treated with herbs and plants, most of which are self selected by the horse. It’s really fascinating to compare the photos of the eye from year to year and to see the changes and improvements that take place. We now have a feed room full of dried nettles, rosehips and spearmint amongst other things!
I took Rocco cross country schooling for the first time to Littleton Manor in Reigate. It’s a great place with loads of facilities, a large show jumping arena, cross country training and gallops. Rocco absolutely loved it and he was so excited I had to canter him first! He’s got a wonderful long, powerful stride that just eats up the ground. We had an amazing time jumping the cross country fences and he was fantastic, locking on to all types of fences and flying them! We are going up to Aston Le Walls in Northamptonshire next week to do some more cross country and show jumping and I can’t wait!!
Apart from riding loads I have also been doing lots of training in broadcasting techniques and I am doing a couple of small presenting sessions next week. Nic and I went to the Absolute Ice Bar, just off Regent Street last night, it was literally cool! When you arrive they give you metallic foil coats to wear as it’s soooo cold! We had an amazing drink that was luminous and glowing – no idea what was in it though! Afterwards we went over the road to Momo’s to warm up and have some dinner.