2020 begins and back to real life. The first big event of the New Year for me was that Mike Barratt came to see Askeaton, and after three month’s box rest we managed to keep enough of her feet on the ground at any one time to pronounce her sound and ready to go back to work. Camilla and I took advantage of the fact that she was doped to be trotted up and I hopped aboard and we went for a very sleepy 20 minute walk up the road with Heidi and her. Getting competition horses back into work after box rest, and without the benefit of a horse walker is absolutely not fun. From a soundness point of view the best exercise for them is walking in a straight line on the nice flat road. We live on a busy lane and Askeaton is not only on the sharp side but also is not great in traffic, added to this the incredibly wet road was giving her great advance warning of any traffic approaching from behind. Soundproof ears, and the incredible Calming Cookies from Premier Performance CZ have been absolutely invaluable. We have had some days that were more than interesting, and some of the traffic in Bell Lane is now horse-shy rather than the other way round, but six weeks on she has had clear x-rays, she is now back to a normal hack and trotting and cantering in the school and today we trotted her in a circle on the tarmac and the countdown to having a little jump is another two weeks. Horses can always throw you a curved ball, and to have the toughest, most special little horse bruise her pedal bone so badly in the field was a very bad surprise. Many thanks to Mike Barratt at Cinder Hill Equine Veterinary Clinic, Sussex Equine Hospital and Casserley and Sons Farriers who have all been a huge part of her recovery. Askeaton herself coped well with her box rest and is now able to go out in the field and live her normal life which she loves.

The first show of the year was some indoor jumping at Merrist Wood, first show for BE Khalissy, first show for some time for Hurricane Heidi and a first show for Elena Watson with her new horse Pakkse F. A very early morning led to a very good day. Khalissy was very well behaved and just had a couple of baby poles in both the British Novice and the Discovery; Pakkse jumped very well as well and was beautifully behaved and very easy for Elena and Jacke to handle; and Heidi finished the day with a double clear and a good placing in the Newcomers.

This was to be my last show with my very dependable old lorry which is now living across the road with Karen and Claudia Rees, and the start of several slightly frustrating weeks waiting for my new lorry to be completely ready. I managed to borrow a lorry to take Khalissy and Heidi to Michael Duffy for a lesson which was absolutely excellent. Michael is obviously a fantastic rider, but he also has a really good understanding of hot mares, finding them interesting things to do so that they learn, but not repeating exercises often enough that they get silly. I hope this will be the first of many lessons.

At the end of January I set off for Addington for three days with Khalissy and Heidi, I also had Askeaton, to keep her out of mischief at home, and Pakkse for Elena. I had Alex Kane to help me set up and give me a hand for Friday which was invaluable, and gave us a good chance to test out the new lorry, which is very comfortable and very cosy and has a very good shower. Khalissy jumped in the British Novice and did a lovely clear round on Friday, and Heidi just had a rather overexcited pole in the Newcomers. The most overexcited person was Askeaton who spent 35 minutes leaping round the outdoor arena between classes.

On Saturday morning Elena and Jackie Watson joined me bright and early. Pakkse did two nice rounds in the 90cm and the 1m. For some reason Khalissy was very excited the second day, although she was rather silly in the warm-up she did manage to settle and jump a nice round in the Discovery for four faults. I then rode Askeaton who was much better behaved on day two, and bottled out of the Foxhunter to jump Heidi in the 1.10 Blue Chip Qualifier - a mistake in fact as she was very over-confident and had four faults.

On Friday Elena jumped a very well deserved clear round in the 1m and Khalissy jumped a really nice round in the Discovery just tipping the first fence which was a little bit difficult for a baby to get to. We had quite a long wait for Heidi’s Foxhunter, so I rode Askeaton and we started packing up and clearing out our stables. Heidi then pulled out all the stops and jumped a lovely double clear in a pretty meaty Foxhunter to make a very good finish to the show.

Slideshow of the horses above - click on the image to move on.

The new lorry absolutely flew home, which was very encouraging, as with fewer horses to ride, I wanted a smaller, nippier lorry and hopefully this is what I’ve got.

As always many, many thanks to the team at home: Camilla, April, Esther and Mark, and also to my sponsors: Saracen Horse Feeds who keep the horses looking fantastic; MacWet Gloves, which are the only gloves I’ve ever worn that never, ever slip, they’ve certainly been tested to the limit this winter; and Just Equine who supply us with wonderful Kentucky Horsewear Products.

Happy New Year