Another Busy Month

Having had a good break in Amsterdam and knowing that the horses were in good order Ellie and I set off for the Billy Stud on 18th May for an afternoon's training.

I am finding the training at Billy Stud very beneficial, it's a very calm atmosphere, I enjoy the fact that there are always quite a few people jumping together and that although I get a lot of help, I also get left to my own devices some of the time so I can work some of it out by myself. It's not at all dissimilar to the format of help at Breen Equestrian. I think that working in a supervised group can really help you up your game, and watching others is a very beneficial learning opportunity, not only in seeing what others do right, but also the little mistakes that they might make too.

Roger McCrea is always on hand, especially to help with Breakdance, and I have also had help from Helen Wilson and Lucy Townley with Arietta which has been super helpful. Helen also comes from an eventing background, so she can sympathise with some of the strange things I do! Sometimes William is there overseeing us all - rather like Shane he definitely has eyes in the back of his head - he can sense what you're doing even when you don't think he can see - and always has a helpful tip. These guys know the horses from day one, and know their families, which provides a great insight into what works best for them.

We have found it difficult to get Breakdance to gain weight and Arietta has been a little quiet in herself, so I had both horses gastroscoped for ulcers. Breakdance had some deep ulcers in the top part of his stomach, and Arietta had ulcers both in the top part, and in the lower stomach. So they are both being treated with GastroGuard, and Arietta also with Suculfrate to help the lower ulcers.

We had a lovely family weekend, with my stepmother Zandra coming to stay and both Anna and Sophie staying with their little families. It was great fun having everyone together, and nice to have four days to catch up with Zandra properly.

Ellie and I then went to Coombelands on Thursday 25th. Breakdance jumped really well in the Foxhunter for one pole in the jump-off and Arietta jumped a lovely round in the Foxhunter, apart from a sack the jockey moment where I turned a circle when I hadn't got a clue what stride I was on to the last fence.

Another good day of training at the Billy Stud on Tuesday 30th, this time with Holly White helping me as Ellie has now found a full time job that suits her with a lot of travelling to nice shows. We had a really good session, with both horses jumping really well. I am starting to feel really confident with Arietta again, we have changed her bit so she goes with her head a little more out and up, and this seems to make her much more confident. It's sometimes difficult to work these things out in our small school at home. Once again Breakdance progressed well. We've made a few changes to the way I support him to and over the fence which seems to help him.

I am planning to go to Lier in Belgium at the end of July so the horses have had to have blood tests ad get their vaccinations up to date, so no show for this week, but another training session at the Billy Stud on the 30th.

We set off for the South of England Show on Friday 9th June. It's always a great show to go to and the horses learn so much. It's hard to get opportunities to jump on grass so I put both horses in the Newcomers the first day. Arietta was incredibly excited by the sights and sounds of the show and had a pole in the jump-off, which was a pity, but Breakdance jumped a lovely clear round in his first ever class on grass, so I was thrilled with him. We were back again on Saturday for the Foxhunter, both horses had a pole in the first half, which was a little disappointing, and Arietta's was definitely my fault, but they jumped well, and it was very hot and humid, so we didn't jump on Sunday, opting for a quiet day at home for everyone.

Both horses feel as though they have improved for having their ulcers treated. Breakdance is calmer and has put on a huge amount of condition, and Arietta has cheered up and is her normal enthusiastic self, so it was great that when they were rescoped by Marie at Sussex Equine Hospital, she found that they looked almost 100% better. They will now gradually taper off the GastroGuard, over the next month, but we will use it for travelling and stay-away shows.

We have had a fairly quiet week at home. Emma and her foal Alchornes Gold Dust (George) are home which is lovely. He's the sweetest foal, and I'm enjoying getting to know him. Fingers crossed Emma is now in foal to Breen Equestrian's lovely young stallion Opportunity.

I went to Felbridge on Saturday where both horses jumped rather ordinarily! Breakdance had three down in the early part of the Foxhunter and then jumped the second half very well, and Arietta was much the same! Probably a much needed round leading into Hickstead next week. It was very hot and humid, followed by very wet and rainy, so this might not have helped the horses feel on top of their game. Also a reminder to me to be on top of my game, especially with Arietta - we have to get a constant balance of exactly who is in charge!

As always many thanks to Steff, Holly and Mark for their tremendous help, and to my fantastic sponsors, Saracen Horse Feeds, MacWet Gloves, Just Equine and NDS Equine for their continued help. Also to the teams behind the scenes that keep the horses looking and feeling fantastic, Casserly and Sons, Sussex Equine Hospital and Caitlin McCaffery, and of course the team at The Billy Stud, and the team at Breen Equestrian, without whom we wouldn't be able to run our little breeding programme.