2020

Pictures courtesy of Equiscot

Initially when I saw that the Winter Regionals were at the start of February I was filled with dread - it's been the end of February for a number of years. January weather tends not to be great & usually means work is intermittent so Regional prep is difficult. Thankfully this year January was actually a good month & it was February that has had the horrible weather!

January had a trip down to Carl's, which as ever was super & rejuvenated me for the season ahead. 

Both Humphrey & Goofy had a competition outing & made a good start to their point collecting for Summer Regional qualification. 

The Winter Regionals were a mixed bag of results...Humphrey gave me a super ride in the Medium Gold to win with an excellent mark & get direct qualification for Hartpury. He was a bit nervous in the Freestyle but still produced a good test to gain a credible 2nd & was awarded a wildcard for that Championship. 

Goofy reminded me that horses are horses & have 'off days' too. The first day was uncharacteristic for him & it did take me by surprise. In the first test he made a good attempt at ejecting me - thankfully he failed! He then proceeded to sulk in the second test, the PSG...both tests resulted in 2nd placings. Luckily for us both, he put his good head on the second day & won the Advanced Medium Freestyle & got direct qualification for Hartpury. 

After the Regionals Humphrey was delivered down to Gloucestershire to have work done on flying changes. I was struggling with his size & power in the teaching of these & decided not be proud & 'brave it out' & to get help. I will get him home in a few weeks & am pleased to say that reports so far are good!

Darcy (5yo half sister to Humphrey, by San Amour) took advantage of the March HorseScotland training to help her gain confidence of working away from home. It's a step by step process but when I took her to training with Paul Hayler a week later she was definitely braver & happier about showing off!

On HorseScotland's advice I have started to have sessions with a Personal Trainer in Glasgow to help with my balance while doing traverse movements & also aid my coordination & strength....all of which are the remnants of my accident 5yrs ago. 

At the HorseScotland Awards in early March I was thrilled to see Lady Hope, my long-time owner & supporter recieve the 'Owner of the Year'. Our relationship spans 15yrs now & I hope will continue for many more. Mary is a good friend as well as an owner. It was lovely to see my friend Jonty Evans, who was the guest speaker for the night. He & I share a similar experience & it was lovely to inspire him in seeing my recovery which is 2.5yrs ahead of his. 

The first third of March gave some warning of what might happen but only an inkling. The reality has turned everyone's life upside down....Covid19 has stopped the world in it's tracks.

Just prior to lockdown we got to what was our last competition for some time. Darcy went to do her first straight tests at Novice at Rockrose EC. She excelled & went in to both tests with confidence not seen away from home. Both tests scored over 70% & gained a 1st & 2nd. Comments from the judge's were super & it was so nice to hear about the potential she has!  

As I live with my mum & dad I am now 3wks (9th April) into living in the lorry while mum & dad are self isolating in the house. Apart from 3hrs of help 7-10am I am doing my own & livery horses by myself so getting used to the 5am alarm & 15hr days! Time wise all the horses are having to be exercised just now rather than worked but needs must.

Sara Gallop at Summerhouse has been working with Humphrey & his flying changes. Reports are great & he was due home a few weeks ago but unfortunately because of lockdown he is not allowed to travel so can't come back yet. Fingers crossed he will be allowed home soon.

Sadly the Winter Championships at Hartpury were one of the many competitions that had to be cancelled. It looks like 2020 is going to be a very strange year......

......& suddenly it's June, half the year has gone. It's frightening that the year is literally disappearing & life feels like the pause button has been pressed. From the end of July we are allowed to compete again in Scotland. I have my first training session since March booked in August & have started giving lessons again.

Humphrey returned home from Gloucester towards the end of June. Mission complete, he has learnt his flying changes....now just have to find common ground, synchronise & learn each other's flying change language. Well done Sara, good job & thanks for looking after him!

Another June highlight for me was that after 93 days living in the lorry I returned to the house!! It was luxurious having rooms, solid walls & to be able to sit up in bed....it certainly makes you appreciate life's simple things.

The year has now started to gather pace. The Winter Championships have been rescheduled to take place at Hartpury in mid August. But after much deliberation we decided not to go. In many ways it would have been perfect....outside classes, minimal people around etc BUT there is still a risk. We felt that we've done so much to stay as safe as we can, that at this point it was better to stay at home. 

At the start of August I had my first training session with Paul Hayler since March. Humphrey & Darcy were able to show that they had both come on hugely & benefited from lessons & it was so good to be pushed that bit harder to ask for more....& get it!

Resumption of Scottish competition has just been allowed & I am looking forward to getting out & about up here. We have made a trip down to Alnwick Ford Equestrian with Darcy as English regulations were slackened sooner than up here. It was her first time out in 5 months, only her 4th competition & first time at Alnwick but she was so good! I've yet to get the forwardness that I have at home but it is coming. As we are able to add the points that we had already gained for Summer Regional qualification to what we get in the autumn for Winter Regional qualification her 72.67% meant that she completed her Novice Gold. Darcy then got 76.9% in the Novice Freestyle, so is well on her way to gaining this too.  

Another session with Paul with both Humphrey, Darcy & I getting gold stars for our completed homework….phew! Self carriage, balance & ability to take weight behind all improving in regards to their level of training….so onwards to the next level & the first Scottish competition at Morris EC. Darcy did the 5yo Young Horse Qualifier & was 2nd with 7.78. We have qualified for the YH Championships at Keysoe but have decided that as she hasn’t been able to do any long journeys yet for training, one for a competition is a big ask for a young horse. She also did her first Elementary on that day, I did pick a ‘friendlier’ one for her to do & even though there were a couple of big-ish blips she got 72.07%. She is gaining confidence & with that has the more genuine forwardness that she has at home. 

Humphrey completed his Medium Gold Regional qualification at Morris, started his Medium Freestyle Gold qualification & did his first ever Advanced Medium!! I was very happy, even though it was only Advanced Medium 85 as it was our first public appearance with changes & happily they came off - time for me to breath & be more confident!

Humphrey then returned to Morris for HorseScotland training, I also had a fitness assessment & physio. The training is a good check of where I am with Humphrey & a chance to get another eye on how he is progressing. Ideas are talked through, tried & are added to my toolbox to use within our work at home - thanks Erik. 

I am hearing ‘for your age’ an awful lot these days!! This happened again in my fitness assessment….supposedly living in the lorry, increased work & the Covid lockdown has benefited me - thinner, fitter, stronger, better balanced & a metabolic age of 15+yrs less than I actually am - ALL GOOD!! My physio session was sadistically ouch but it’s a means to an end & I know it benefits me!

After Morris we took Humphrey back to Alnwick Ford to do another Medium Freestyle & a harder Advanced Medium test. His Medium Freestyle Gold qualication is now complete with a great mark of 76.59%. His Advanced Medium had improved work on the week before but the number of changes had more than doubled, so no mega mark but enough to gain valuable points towards his Winter Regional qualification.

Like buses, there are no competitions for ages & then they all come at once! 

Humphrey then headed to SNEC for the next competition. He was good but was 0.21% away from finishing his qualification for Advanced Medium. Unfortunately a non-changes malfunction; my half halt correction on the centre line was misunderstood as a signal to halt resulting in a 4 - too clever for his own good!! On the good side it was an overall win, more qualifying points have been gained & as they say practice makes perfect!!  

Last of the buses before a weekend off & it took Darcy to Rockrose EC to do two more Elementary tests. She is growing up so fast, both mentally and physically....working in for the tests felt amazing. It makes all the early mornings & long days worthwhile when you get rides like this. To have her try so hard & be so focused made me feel very proud of her! The icing on the cake came in the tests....there were green moments but she won both tests with great %'s; 72.7% & 74.3%. Hopefully just another couple of competitions & she'll have all the points she needs for her Winter qualifications. 

After a weekend off it was Darcy that headed out again. This time to Morris EC to finish her Novice Freestyle qualification & start her Elementary Freestyle qualification. Using music that both Colin & Plum have previously used it is becoming apparent that her competition nervousness is fast disappearing as the home floorplans now fit away from home!! I was thrilled with her Elementary test as she had only learnt simple changes the week before & it was definitely the hardest test she has done so far....so 75.19% was super! She then did Novice Freestyle & it went rather well! So well in fact that she gave me a PB of 88.61%, lots of 9's & even a 10!!! Needless to say she managed to get her Novice qualification!!

Darcy & Humphrey headed to SNEC next on their mission of gaining Regional qualification. Both tackled harder level tests as well as Freestyles...Humphrey found it all a bit scary & shrunk away from me. Unfortunately at the more advanced levels this is harder to disguise but even with a few very low marks he still managed to gain 67.5%. He was a little more confident in the Freestyle & got 70.5%. Good news though & Advanced Medium Regional qualification was secured & he is now halfway there in the Freestyle. Miss Clever Clogs was great & rose to the challenge...72.19% in Ele59 & 75.58% in the Freestyle. She has now gained qualification at Novice & Elementary in both the straight & freestyle classes.

With restrictions getting tighter & a possible lockdown happening again we made the most of still being able to train & compete.

We were able to squeeze training in with Paul Hayler & also Carl Hester. It is almost 10 months since I last saw Carl & his first viewing of Darcy....I was slightly nervous!! Both Humphrey & Darcy were fabulous & really made me proud with how they went & what they achieved!

Humphrey has now broken the 70% barrier in Advanced Medium. He did this at Rockrose EC where he also completed his Advanced Medium Freestyle qualification. Happy days as they have both completed their qualification goals for this year!

On the baby(horse!) front I have some exciting news! I have a new yearling from the Caledonia stud, Viva Caledonia (Vera) by Valverde...she is stunning & has a very adult head on her young shoulders. She joins the impressive yearling gelding I co-own with the Moray Firth Stud, MFS Rossetti (Rupert) by Revolution. Joining Vera & Rupert is Golden Girl (Goldie)….Donnabel’s daughter & Humphrey’s full sister who is a year older. Donnabel hung up her breeding shoes after having Darcy 5yrs ago & sentimental fools that we are we now have Goldie! We hope that Goldie will take over from Bel & breed some beautiful foals. Poor Bel must think that her worst nightmare has happened as she now has 4 children living within 10m of her stable!! Last but not least Headmore Bella Luce (Betty) has also returned from being broken, her summer holidays & more recently being restarted & I look forward to riding this lovely 4yo. Thankyou Scott McLennan, Jonathan Lough & Rockrose EC for all they have done for her so far....now it's down to me - no pressure!!

Sadly Lockdown has hit again, fingers are firmly crossed that it'll just be for the predicted 3wks.

Goofy has had radio silence for much of this year due to being sidelined with White Line Disease. If Goofy was to choose any year to be off this certainly was the one! He has had to spend much of his time on box rest as he had to have a good third of his hoof removed. He has been getting back in to work since early November & has on a recent check-up been given the ‘thumbs up’ to return to full work! Happy days for me, maybe not so for Goofy who has rather enjoyed all the snooze & eating time! Many thanks to Andrew McDiarmid at Clyde Vets & farrier, Stewart Armstrong for helping him along his road to recovery.

For all that it has been an unconventional time in more ways than one for my owners, Lady Hope & Gordon Grainger, I want to thank them for their unfaltering support. I hope 2021 sees life returning slightly more to normal & that they will be able to see their horses at training & competitions.

The horses continue to benefit from TopSpec feed. I’d love to say that their shine was down to my elbow grease but I have to admit that their coats are a product of minimal effort & I have to thank TopSpec for that! All are fed on the Balancer with Humphrey on Conditioning cubes, Darcy & Goofy on UlsaKind for their delicate tummies & the babies on Fibre Nuts. I love the condition & muscle development they have, they are fit not fat & have the required energy for the level of work they are at. All get joint supplement; Joint 10:10 & Calmer if needed. 

The competition horses get the luxury of Equilibrium products. Their range covers everything from work & competition boots, to nose relief nets & fly masks & Equilibrium’s fabulous massage & magnetic therapy pads & boots. All are valuable & time saving in the competition horse world. In addition to the massage & magnetic pads, the horses benefit from a ‘hands on’ treatment from Emma Donaldson (Sports Therapist) when required or before a big outing. This really gives an in-depth view as to how their bodies are feeling in relation to their training & eases any tensions that have developed.

Sankey Saddles provide the horses & I with saddles that are both comfortable & effective in allowing the horses freedom of movement & me security without restriction. In addition to the saddles, Andrew Sankey makes quality leatherwork & provides us with both super girths & stirrup leathers.