WRC Dressage.

Well its been 4 months but today was the day we dipped our toe back into the competition arena. Finn is still a bit ouchy from his very deep abscess so it was Pumpkin only going to the WRC day at Woodhill Sands.
I must say it was with some trepidation as I have no strength in my lower legs and two ankles that are pretty immobile so sitting to the trot is not easy.
Murphy being himself on our debut it was absolutely peeing down with rain and we arrived at the warmup area with just 10 minutes to go before our test because of my reluctance to leave dry land. But Pumpkin was very chilled and despite my bouncing around like a lump of lard in the trot we did a very conservative test to finish in 2nd place 3/4 of a percentage point behind Henton Attorney General. I did try to at least get a bit more medium for our second test but with me bouncing around it just caused Pumpkin to tighten up. Still another 2nd behind H.A.G again. So no excuse now. I must admit I was knackered riding 2 tests so was pleased that I did not have to ride Finn as well. But now excuses now that the toe is dipped theres no looking back.

WHS Training Showjumping

On Sunday we took Pumpkin out to do a couple of classes at the WHS SJ training Day. Pity about the crap photographer. Sorry Zoe.

Dramatika

Just some old pics I found in my camera of Tika at 4 months. She does not look this sleek at the moment. More like a hairy fat yak. The couple of pics of her in the yard was the first day of her weaning where Babe was in the stable and her in the yard for a few hours. She was not amused at the milkbar being closed.

Back in the Saddle

Yay I am now riding again. I have had my boot off for nearly two weeks now and although I am still pretty lame I can at least ride. The break had healed nicely but the ligament which had been torn was taking alot longer to repair and will still be sore for some time yet. So with the Achilles on the other leg still also sore I am still shuffling around. I have lost alot of riding fitness so its going to take some time to get back on form though so it will be a while before I tackle any competitions.
The horses at least have kept up some level of fitness with the odd ride when I could co-erce someone to ride them. I took the time out as an opportunity to send Pumpkin to Lisa Coupe for 11 days to get a jumping refresher. At the end of the time there he went to a Showhunter training day at WHS. He was very tired and grumpy after his extensive schooling with Lisa and did not jump that well so did not place in any classes.

Still Laid Up

I got my left leg plaster off on Friday and its a real releif to be in a moonboot. Its not great I admit but just being able to take it off to shower and go to bed is a blessing. Its a whole lot easier to get around. I have my appointment with my Achilles Specialist this week and will then be in two moon boots. As bad as it sounds I will be even and if I get some big stirrups I think I will even be able to ride. Sssshhhh Don't tell the specialists I will be shot. Really its not that much worse than wearing top boots. Clumpy yes and no heel but hey any sort of riding would be great even if its a bit of a hack.
The horses have now really had a month off. Just the odd bit off a hack by anyone I can rope in for a ride and for the past 2 weekends Zoe has come and done a riding marathon riding all 3. Henry had already had 2 months off so it was a real airing for him. Of course he was a perfect Gentleman even after all that time off. Pics show his 12th ever ride.

Bad News

Well the bad news from me is that I am now in plaster! After 4 weeks of hobbling around and still barely able to put weight on my left foot to rise to the trot I decided I had better go see the Dr about it. I came out in plaster. It seems that when Finn jumped on my foot he managed to break two bones. No wonder its been so painful! So now I am completely out of action. I am still able to get around enough to lunge both horses a few days a week but thats about it for them for a while. Sadly my achilles specialist is thinking I may need be put in a moon boot for a month on that leg too so when my next appointment comes up in 2 weeks I may be in plaster on one leg and a moon boot on the other. Now won't that be a pretty look!
Good thing is that its winter. I was tossing up about doing the winter series anyway so now the decision has been taken out of my hands. My achilles has been giving me a lot of pain since January and has really affected my riding so maybe its time to get it sorted properly. Sadly Pumpkin was really only starting to work well again after his long break and now will be off again! Not what he needed.

Waitemata Dressage Autumn Day 2

Finn has almost recovered from his clipping ordeal. Hes been tight and tense in the back for the days after but by comp day he was nearly 100% again after 3 daily massages. This was to be his first reg Novice start and we decided to do the Prelim 1.5 as our last prelim and as a leadup to the relatively easy Novice 2.1. Don Diego the reigning Prelim Horse of the Year had the same plan so we were up against some stiff competition. I was pretty pleased with the Prelim test. He was just a little heavier in the hand than I would have liked but good enough for 3rd place.
The Novice test had some seasoned Novice horses in it as well as a few newcomers like us and Don Diego. It was a pretty pleasing test with him still getting a bit heavy and tense and we were very happy to finish in 4th place. We just have to get some more strength in his trot and we will be away. Because Finns tests were running late I had to really fly to unsaddle Finn and saddle up Pumpkin to be ready for being first up in the Elementary. Pumpkin does not like rush and our hurried half hour warmup told in our tests. My leg was also really starting to give me hell and sitting trot was murder. He was 3rd in the 3.5 but with only a 56.4 %.
5th in the 3.1 with 57.2 Horrible percentages! Theres still lots of ground to make up with Pumpkin to get him back up to speed again. Hes still tending to dive on the forehand as hes still not regained his strength. The plan is to get him out to do some Showhunter so hopefully that will help out with his restrengthening.