rosiesowner
Well-Known Member
This could be a long one, but in my ongoing attempt to remember and illustrate our time together, it's time for another Chilli update.
The end of May saw the beginning of what would be a terrible few weeks. We got our worst score EVER; a shocking 57.86%. So discouraging and really hard for me to find any positives from it. I've no idea what happened, I think something just switched off in the warmup and we went in too tense to be able to gain anything more than a 6.5. You can see how tense she was in this photo; look at her chomping on the bit.
Following this, we had a whole host of other obstacles:
-I was incredibly ill for a week. Making it through the day at work and having enough energy to catch her and feed her in the evening was almost impossible.
-I managed to get back on and after a couple of schooling sessions in walk and trot, I reintroduced the canter. She's going beautifully, so I decide to pop in one last walk to canter before we finish. Perfect, and off we go for a lap of canter before cooling off. Suddenly, she's on three legs. My friend's mother kindly points out "she can't walk". I am by this point practically pooing my pants. I fling myself off, she's got a front leg lifted. Oh Christ, I think. Here we go, blown tendon, broken leg, call the vet, call her owner, oh my God she's dying. Imagine my... sort of strange relief when I see something sticking out of her hoof! I pull the offending shard of plastic out and take her in. Clean it out and on vets advice hot poultice and continue with the poulticing till all is good. So almost another whole week lost.
-Then, she went feral for a weekend and I had foolishly taken off her fieldsafe headcollar because it was raining and I didn't want it to rub. Well, she said. Good luck catching me in this big field, I am having way too much fun with my friends. Food will not tempt me in because there is lots of fresh grass and I have got myself a nice fat tummy!
For three days I could get close enough to put something on but as soon as I touched her, off she went, watching me the whole time. Anyway, eventually with the help of a couple of friends we caught her. Chilli being Chilli and attempting to do as much damage to herself as possible had gone feral during a heatwave, meaning her nose had the most horrific sunburn... Another reason she hadn't wanted me to touch her face/nose/bloody anywhere as it must have been SO sore.
-Due to her sunburn, I couldn't ride her for almost another week. So by this point most of the month had gone!
-And then, I was ill for another week again. Thank goodness my mother is a doctor, as she identified the problem and got me some iron tablets. Hello other people in the iron-deficient club
In fact, by the time I had another lesson with Julie, I had only schooled her about twice beforehand. At the start of the lesson you could tell that the inconsistency in our work had done us no good. However over the course of the lesson things improved and she ended up doing some of the best work she's done for me. Here she is, stood quietly for once afterwards, as sign she has truly worked hard!
Chilli had the dentist this month too so that's all up to date for a while. I worked hard to get her going again running up to our last competition and I made sure to make the most of each session, working on the things we did in our lesson, getting up at 5am most days to ride and sort her before work.
It was all worth it in the end, though. We entered the P2 and N34 on Saturday. I would have been happy with 60%+ after our last abysmal performance and was incredibly chuffed and surprised to have won the P2 on 68.45% and been pipped into second by less than a mark in the N34 with 74.76%. Two new PBs at each level. I pushed her forward and actually rode each movement this time. I agree with the judge's comments about being too polite when asking her for the mediums
So, a pretty pink 1st place rosette and 2x qualifications for Grassroots champs in Aug. As it turns out, one of my colleagues was the one to pip me in the Novice so if we can we'll be travelling down together. Exciting stuff
It was also a lovely early birthday gift for myself, as I was at work on Sunday for the actual day.
Chilli's owner is chuffed, which brings me great relief as I always just want to do as well on her as she has done. If we can keep improving the mediums (and I can remember where to halt at the end of my tests!!) we might be able to get the really posh marks.
So, a mega update from us. Chilli was 16 on the 4th. She's not doing badly for an older girl.
Thank you for reading!
p.s-If anyone has instagram, my account is harriet_courtney and I am very keen to follow horsey accounts back.
The end of May saw the beginning of what would be a terrible few weeks. We got our worst score EVER; a shocking 57.86%. So discouraging and really hard for me to find any positives from it. I've no idea what happened, I think something just switched off in the warmup and we went in too tense to be able to gain anything more than a 6.5. You can see how tense she was in this photo; look at her chomping on the bit.
Following this, we had a whole host of other obstacles:
-I was incredibly ill for a week. Making it through the day at work and having enough energy to catch her and feed her in the evening was almost impossible.
-I managed to get back on and after a couple of schooling sessions in walk and trot, I reintroduced the canter. She's going beautifully, so I decide to pop in one last walk to canter before we finish. Perfect, and off we go for a lap of canter before cooling off. Suddenly, she's on three legs. My friend's mother kindly points out "she can't walk". I am by this point practically pooing my pants. I fling myself off, she's got a front leg lifted. Oh Christ, I think. Here we go, blown tendon, broken leg, call the vet, call her owner, oh my God she's dying. Imagine my... sort of strange relief when I see something sticking out of her hoof! I pull the offending shard of plastic out and take her in. Clean it out and on vets advice hot poultice and continue with the poulticing till all is good. So almost another whole week lost.
-Then, she went feral for a weekend and I had foolishly taken off her fieldsafe headcollar because it was raining and I didn't want it to rub. Well, she said. Good luck catching me in this big field, I am having way too much fun with my friends. Food will not tempt me in because there is lots of fresh grass and I have got myself a nice fat tummy!
For three days I could get close enough to put something on but as soon as I touched her, off she went, watching me the whole time. Anyway, eventually with the help of a couple of friends we caught her. Chilli being Chilli and attempting to do as much damage to herself as possible had gone feral during a heatwave, meaning her nose had the most horrific sunburn... Another reason she hadn't wanted me to touch her face/nose/bloody anywhere as it must have been SO sore.-Due to her sunburn, I couldn't ride her for almost another week. So by this point most of the month had gone!
-And then, I was ill for another week again. Thank goodness my mother is a doctor, as she identified the problem and got me some iron tablets. Hello other people in the iron-deficient club
In fact, by the time I had another lesson with Julie, I had only schooled her about twice beforehand. At the start of the lesson you could tell that the inconsistency in our work had done us no good. However over the course of the lesson things improved and she ended up doing some of the best work she's done for me. Here she is, stood quietly for once afterwards, as sign she has truly worked hard!
Chilli had the dentist this month too so that's all up to date for a while. I worked hard to get her going again running up to our last competition and I made sure to make the most of each session, working on the things we did in our lesson, getting up at 5am most days to ride and sort her before work.
It was all worth it in the end, though. We entered the P2 and N34 on Saturday. I would have been happy with 60%+ after our last abysmal performance and was incredibly chuffed and surprised to have won the P2 on 68.45% and been pipped into second by less than a mark in the N34 with 74.76%. Two new PBs at each level. I pushed her forward and actually rode each movement this time. I agree with the judge's comments about being too polite when asking her for the mediums
So, a pretty pink 1st place rosette and 2x qualifications for Grassroots champs in Aug. As it turns out, one of my colleagues was the one to pip me in the Novice so if we can we'll be travelling down together. Exciting stuff
It was also a lovely early birthday gift for myself, as I was at work on Sunday for the actual day.
Chilli's owner is chuffed, which brings me great relief as I always just want to do as well on her as she has done. If we can keep improving the mediums (and I can remember where to halt at the end of my tests!!) we might be able to get the really posh marks.
So, a mega update from us. Chilli was 16 on the 4th. She's not doing badly for an older girl.
Thank you for reading!
p.s-If anyone has instagram, my account is harriet_courtney and I am very keen to follow horsey accounts back.
