Injuries Suck :(

I seem to be having a real run of bad luck when it comes to injuries. First it was Pumpkin having nearly 4 months off after his run in with fireworks and then the week he was due back to work I tore my archilles. So its been a slow rehab for me and has really slowed me down and made using of my right leg painful.
And if that was not enough Finn decided that he did not like the clippers and jumped on the other foot leaving me crippled on 2 legs. Its been two weeks now and I am shuffling around like I pooed my pants. Riding is not good. I can only trot for a few minutes at a time before it becomes too sore and I need to walk again. I have both horses entered in a comp this weekend and am not sure how I am going to get through 4 tests let alone getting through the trot in just one. I had a specialists visit this week for my achilles and the Dr looked at me in dismay as I hobbled in with one black and blue foot and a very bowed archilles on the other! Next week a MRI which will hopefully shed some light on why my achilles is so sore. The bad news is that the Specialist says I might have to be in a moon boot! That will mean no riding at all. Not good at all and I will be fighting that one if I can.

81.7% OMG

Last Sunday I took Finn and Pumpkin to the Waitemata Dressage Day at Woodhill Sands.
It was Pumpkins first outing in 5 months and Finns in 3.
I did not expect much from Pumpkin as hes only really been back in work less than a month and had yet to regain the required strength for an Elementary test.
What I did not count on was his excitement at being out again! His tests were exciting to say the least. The collected trots were non existant but the mediums were stong and huge. The medium canters bought about sproinging all down the long side! It was all a bit of a laugh really and he scored the worst scores hes ever had. Oh well. To be expected really.

But Finny really excelled himself. He got the best score hes ever acheived 81.7%.
I was pretty excited with the 75% he got at Auckland Champs but never have we got 81 in a registered competition. Move over Anky! :) His first test was pretty ok but he was a bit tense and tight in the poll. We scored 66% for third place. He had relaxed more for the second test for the huge score. We even beat the horse that was 3rd Overall at HOTY. Granted that one did win the first test though but we were not that far behind him!

Finn has continued to amaze me this week. I decided to run through one of the Elementary tests that Pumpkin had done last weekend and he nailed it. I reckon he would have got a better score than Pumpkin. Not that it would have been hard with Pumpkins yehaa antics!
So its onwards and upwards from here. Next comp will be his debut at Novice. Unfortunately they have the 2.5 scheduled which is a bitch of a test so I will just do the easier Novice and the harder Prelim on the day.

Jumping For Joy

Recently we had Jo from Poland and Rob from Ireland to stay. They put Pumpkin and Finn through their paces.

Jumping for Joy

Recently we hosted Jo from Poland and Rob from Ireland. They put Pumpkin and Finn through their paces.

And Just Because hes so photogenic.

Henry is a Big Boy Now.

Yes hes a big Boy now.
Photos show his first ride (in the arena) The second two (in the paddock) are the 4th day under saddle. Hes an absolute little star and has done nothing to disgrace himself.

Its been a Long time coming. Jan/Feb Update

Sorry its been such a long time since an update. Things have been rather crazed for the past few months. News is...

Pumpkin came back into work late Jan after his lengthy break due to the fireworks injury. A week after I had started hacking him I was out of work as I tore my achilles tendon. So then I was on crutches for the next 10 days and am still hobbling. Things are not healing as they should and I have to go to a specialist in the next couple of weeks. Riding is not too bad now although I can't use my right leg as well as I should as it hurts.

On the 12th Feb I took a team of 4 kids to compete at the Barastoc Horse of the Year in Victoria to compete against the Aussie Showmanship team. It was a great event and the kids all had a wonderful time.
The Team consisted of Kristie Hill,Brenda Kelly,Mark Weedon and Sophie Sills.
I was very proud of the kids who did a great job. Kristie won the In Hand, Mark won the Dressage, Sophie was third in the Jumping with Brenda and Kristie 3rd = and Mark 4th. The Aussies took out the Team Competition this time.