Well, it's been a totally weird year horse-wise. Last time I posted I was all up in the air about what to do with him. First of all I advertised him for sale. (Not very extensively I might add, as I wasn't quite sure I could do it). I had a couple of calls but everyone seemed to think he was too old and no one came to see him. In the meantime a friend of a friend said she would be interested in sharing him. This would mean he could stay in Shaftesbury where he is happy and I could ride him twice a week and take him to the odd show. The rest of the time the other girl would ride and look after him and help pay his livery. Perfect!
With this all arranged I re-registered him with the BSJA (which is quite expensive) and took him to West Stour show. I missed the Discovery which is our usual class and so went straight in the 1.05m. He jumped really well and we were sixth and so qualified for the final in August. I was really pleased with him and thrilled that I had everything sorted out. Unfortunately it only lasted for a week!
I don't really know what happened but the woman who had agreed to share him changed her mind. I don't think perhaps she realised just what a time commitment she was making. Also I think he was a bit lively out hacking with her and I'm not sure he didn't scare her. Anyway I was back to square one.
I then had another offer of a loan home. The problem now was I had spent money registering him and he was going so well I didn't want to give him up! The final that I had qualified for was 1.10m (that's the height in metres and I know it doesn't sound very big but when you're the one on the horse a 5cm difference can seem like a hell of lot!) so I thought I had better have a practice. I haven't jumped a course that big since before I had the munchkin. So we did the 1.10 at Stourhead and we were 5th which was great. Unfortunately the actual final didn't go that well. I shouldn't make excuses but the ground was quite slippery and they had built these big parallels going downhill which were horrible! I felt like we didn't really get into a good rhythm and I had 2 down and some time faults. (Coincidentally they were both the parallels going downhill which probably means I messed it up because I was gutless!) It was okay considering I wouldn't have even attempted it at the beginning of the season, but a bit disappointing as we'd been going so well. You can see the photos from that show here.
Balu is now at Leigh near Sherborne which is about 20 minutes away. He is on part livery whereby they muck out and turn in and out for a very reasonable price. It means if I can't get there every day he is taken care of but I do all the riding, grooming, etc. There is a small indoor school which will be great for the winter and an outdoor school as well as good hacking. So far I am really impressed. It's busier than Shaftesbury but everyone is really nice and I can't believe how quickly Balu has settled in. He can talk to the horse next door and they seem to be great friends already. His stable looks onto the outdoor school so there is lots for him to look at all day long. He goes out at night with three other horses in a nice big paddock and seems to be totally relaxed there. Not at all like he was here at home. I haven't hacked him out yet (this was what we had problems with before) but I think he'll be fine. I've ridden him in both the schools and if anything he was a bit lazy.
So now I'm really happy again. Going to shows is still a lot harder work now I have a child to worry about but a few rosettes sure seem to make it all worthwhile! I'm hacking out this week and taking him to Dorchester show on Saturday so lets hope it all stays good!
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My Boyfriend
This is me and my boyfriend, Balu at our most recent show last month. He is an absolute star and I love him very much. I've had him for nearly 10 years now and and he's taught me so much. He's always done his absolute best to please me and I'm very attached to him, so why am I thinking about ditching him?
It's very complicated and I can't decide what to do. I've worked really hard on getting him and myself fit enough to compete again, but now were doing it I've suddenly realised that I don't have the same enthusiasm as I had for competition before I had a baby. I don't think it's nerves, although I did have quite a bad fall before Christmas which made me think, it's more that it just seems like such a huge amount of time, money and effort to get to a show and then it's fun but not that amazing. So I've been thinking about giving up. The thought of all the money I would save and the extra time I'd have is very tempting but then I look at this picture and realise how lucky I am. There are not many people who have a lovely horse like this that they can load up in their own trailer and take to show and be confident that they can enter a class and have a fair chance of coming away with a rosette.
So I don't know.
There are also some other factors, such as that he is not really happy at home here with just the pony for company. I also don't have a school here and I don't enjoy hacking him that much so keeping him fit in the winter was a nightmare. He's much happier at livery in Shaftesbury but it's too far from here to drive more than twice a week and pretty expensive too.
So I don't know.
Obviously the best thing to do financially is sell him, but he is 14 years old now and does have a bit of arthritis so I'm not sure that would be all that easy. Also it might just break my heart.
So I don't know.
We're also trying for another baby which obviously means no riding for a while and I'm not sure that if he had another year off I would ever get him fit again. It was a struggle this time what with foot problems and arthritis issues.
SO I DON'T KNOW.
I think my best option would be to try and loan him for a year. If I could find the right person who I trusted then maybe they could carry on having fun with him and he might just have some fun too. I'd feel like I was abandoning him to a stranger but then maybe he'd be better off with someone who had more time for him.
SO I STILL DON'T KNOW.
Am I being pathetic? Am I being selfish? Am I being totally self absorbed? Answers on a postcard or better still in the comments please!
No foot, no horse
Actually it should be no foot, no horse, no money! My poor horse is lame again! Ever since I had Emma and he had a bit of a holiday I haven't been able to get him fully fit. Last summer he was diagnosed with arthritis in his right pastern joint and his left coffin joint in his front feet.
He had loads of treatment and I think we're managing that okay but then this winter he has had problems with his back and sacroiliac joint. I've taken him to the osteopath 3 times which seems to have fixed that but now his feet are falling apart. He has quite brittle feet and in the summer they always seem to dry out and literally fall apart. He has been going really lame after being shod and it's been getting worse each time, he's shod about every 5 weeks. He has special shoes because of the arthritis so I thought maybe these were hurting him. I got the farrier to try some others but this time he pulled away and broke 2 lead ropes when the farrier was tightening up the nails. This is so unlike him and I felt really sorry for him. It must of been hurting as the nails were going into his feet. Poor thing! He's on Bute at the moment ( that's like horsey Nurofen) but I've spoken to the farrier and this week we're going to try taking those shoes off and glueing on lightweight aluminium ones. In the meantime I've been researching the latest in feed supplements and hoof treatments. The Horse and Hound archives are actually very helpful.
Anyway all this is costing me a fortune but Balu is so sweet I'm afraid he has to have the best treatment I can get for him. I mean just look at that face!
By the way, Annie was 10th in the Welsh Masters today!
Annie's story
One day I will write about my own super steed and our showjumping exploits but today I want to tell you about one of his stable mates. She is at present more news worthy and I have been thinking about her today, for while it has been pouring with rain and blowing a gale here she is in sunny Spain. A horse on holiday I hear you ask. Is she sunbathing on the beach right now? Not quite. She is in fact working hard competing at the Madrid horse show.
Annie or to give her her full title Fresh Direct Animation II belongs to my friend and trainer of 19 years Diane Jay-Ing. She bought her as a yearling from a friend of hers who owns New Priory Stud. This was nothing unusual as Di buys a youngster nearly every year, but this particular year she was a bit short of cash and came back with a very ugly looking thing that she got for £1500. Even worse she had a very twisted front leg. (Her left foreleg is turned in from the knee down.)
Everyone told Di that she shouldn't bother to keep her but Di just kept saying that she didn't cost very much so she may as well see how she turned out. Then it came to breaking her in. Di sent her away to be backed first of all. She didn't have much help at the time and we have found that sometimes horses that are broken at home are always a bit difficult at shows. She sent her to some professional friends who sent her back saying they would never have another one of Di's horses again! Over the next year she earnt her nickname "the mule". Why Di kept going with her I'll never know. She tried long reining her for a bit but she reared up and fell over in the field then jumped out over the gate with the reins trailing behind her. We caught her up by the main road.
Di would often ride her for about 3 hours a day. Most of this time she spent in the hedge just behind the barn as Annie refused to leave the yard. I used to ride my horse beside her up and down the lane to the school for ages until Annie would do it without making a fuss. Many people would have given up on her but luckily Di is even more stubborn than she is.
Eventually she was ready to go to shows but that wasn't easy either. She often wouldn't leave the lorry park. Di took her to a 3 day show and rode her all day every day and never actually went in a class. Everyone thought she was a waste of time. We went to Dorchester show but there were flags and we couldn't get her anywhere near the ring so we had to just come home.
However, once Di got her in the ring, wow did she jump. There was one show in an indoor arena and Annie refused to go down the far end. Di could jump all the jumps at one end but then Annie would look at these mirrors they had on the wall and Di couldn't get her to the next jump. The height wasn't a problem though. The classes that day got progressively bigger and Di took Annie in every one. She won the last class of the day.
By now Annie was 17.3 hh, which is very big, and getting very strong and Di realised that if she was going to do much more she would need a man to ride her. Since then she has had a succession of riders and has done progressively better with each one. She jumped at county level with James Rosewell and then at national level with Geoff Luckett. 
Also whilst with Geoff she jumped her first Nations Cup, that is she represented Britain on a team of 4 horses in Copenhagen.
This year she is being ridden by Tim Stockdale and should go on to even better things. She was second in the Jaguar Grade A class at Royal Windsor last week and I think another Nations Cup appearance will happen soon. I haven't had a full report from Madrid yet but I think she has been placed. Currently she is number 35 in the BSJA rankings list of horses and has won £13,184. Not bad for a £1500 mule with a bent leg! I'll be catching up with Di when they get back from Spain so I'll let you know how it goes.
Meanwhile my poor Balu is stuck at home in the rain, but at least when he meets other horses he can tell them about his high flying friends.