The TREC season has now finished so Wiz is having a month of just hacking at home until the hunting season starts. He’s still working as I need to maintain his fitness levels, so the speed work is ever present in his rides. At this time of year with the shortening evenings I really appreciate the yard where I keep him as we have a good hour of riding on field margins with minimal road work, which allows plenty of canter stretches. With all his fluff he’s getting regular baths due to the sweat that all that cantering works up.

Last weekend Wiz was left at home as I went off yachting again. The event was once more organised by the sailing association at work and ran over the weekend. We met in the bar in Port Solent on Friday evening, raced in the Solent on Saturday, spent Saturday evening on the Isle of Wight, raced again in the Solent on Sunday before returning the chartered boats on Sunday evening, or at least that was the plan...

The weather forecast was for heavy winds on Saturday so I’d packed my wet weather gear. After strapping my still injured arm up for protection we headed out onto the open water for the first race. Racing was lively with the wind being up to a Force 6 and many boats had reduced power by putting a reef into their sails (folding a bit up). We’d not reefed and had our full sail area up so we had rather a hairy time as each gust hit. On the second leg we were doing ok and starting to work well as a team when disaster struck and we 't-boned' another boat (crashed straight into its side).

It all happened in a bit of a blur but I do remember thinking we weren’t going to get around the back of the other boat when WHAM, we slammed into the side of it. My choice of language was colourful to say the least and everyone on the boat was a little shaken up, especially the skipper. Damage assessment showed that our forestay, the critical wire at the front that holds the mast up, was bent at the bottom so our sails came down straightaway to take all the stress off it, as a mast coming down is not a pretty thing. The other boat however had suffered quite a lot more. We’d put a sizeable hole in the side, which was above the waterline when the boat was level but as soon as it started to heel (lean over) with the sails up, the boat would have filled up with water so their racing for the day was also over.

The holed yacht went back to port and swapped to a spare boat but we continued on to the Isle of Wight under motor to start the party early. That evening we had a barbecue outside (in October!) followed by a party inside the Folly Inn, a legendary party venue that never disappoints, and as expected the night finished with dancing on the tables.

Sunday morning the rest of the fleet set off bright and early for their second day of racing, whilst we had a much more leisurely breakfast in Cowes and a spot of shopping before heading back to the mainland and driving home with our tails between our legs.

Wiz’s week has been another gentle one. We had one schooling session under the floodlights for the first time. He worked well and I managed to stay on board which is a bonus! This weekend I’m going on holiday so Wiz is going home to Mum for a week off chilling in the field. He’ll appreciate his fluff then as he’ll be out at night naked!

After all the fun of Austria I've returned home and am getting stuck into preparations for the TREC competition that we're running at the weekend. Last minute meetings and lists of paperwork to prepare has meant that poor Wiz has lost his usual spot at the top of my priority list! I'm supposed to be fittening him for hunting but really this week I'm just keeping him ticking over.

Last night I squeezed in a quick schooling session. Due to the ever increasing amount of fluff Wiz soon heats up which then tires him out quickly. He started off working really well, I was only concentrating on very basic things such as transitions and circles and he was moving off the leg nicely and holding a good outline. As time ticked on and Wiz got tired he was finding his usual collected canter hard work and he broke to trot – naughty boy!

In TREC, a break from canter to trot is extremely costly so I always communicate this clearly to him with a flick of the whip; however, tonight I forgot that instead of my usual short crop I was carrying a full length schooling whip so the force of the "flick" was slightly more than intended. Wiz expressed his displeasure by bucking, something he has never done with me before! At the time we were travelling across the short side of the school so with the bucking Wiz quickly found himself at the wooden fence. I had been sitting the bucks without a problem but when Wiz did a sudden 90 degree turn I fell onto the top rail of the fence and landed on my back in the school. Schooling sessions really aren't supposed to be that exciting!

I finished the schooling session as usual and then after I'd washed Wiz off I also gave my arm a very tentative rinse under the hose, which although slightly sore wasn't anywhere near as painful as when I disinfected it later at home, I'd forgotten how much that stuff can sting! Thankfully I don't think I've broken anything (apart from my watch and my pride!) but I have a few scrapes where my watch broke and a nasty friction burn that runs half the length of the underside of my arm. Cycling to work this morning was an interesting experience; the burn hurts when I go over bumps so I cycled most of the way one-handed, which is fine until I hop up and down kerbs trying desperately to keep my front wheel straight to prevent another fall!