redmone
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,
The sun is shining today, but I'm not feeling the love (partly because I'm sat in a office smaller than a prison cell that backs onto a brick wall, and I want to headbutt my colleagues, but that's another story.....) so I thought I'd try to cheer myself by posting an update.
OK. The good.
Took the girls to a new riding club show a few weeks ago. Daughter qualified for the North West SJ champs a while ago, and on the same day as those champs, and at the same place, is the NW Workers champs, so daughter was desperate to qualify for that too - and this riding club was the last show in our area with a qualifier for it. No pressure!
So we arrived, and Dolly was in a good mood (she always is when OH comes along - she luuuuuurves him
) so fingers crossed, off daughter went. She entered beginners WH (age 12 and under) and did a lovely small course of workers jumps, but on a weird black sandy surface was slipping about a bit. Really nice judge then made each rider do their show after jumping, so they didn't have to wait around (and it was a small arena) - daughter picked up the wrong canter lead, so 
but was still placed 4th out of 8, so was a happy bunny with that. THEN the best bit, others above her had already qualified for the champs, so daughter ended up with a card as it was passed down the line 
That was great, as pressure was off and daughter had got what she came for, very early on!!!
Next class was style and performance. Daughter entered the class, to be shocked to be the only child! There were about 6 others in it, all seniors! I thought they would adjust the jump heights but they didn't
daughter jumped the same as the others, which was quite a beefy course with big logs, fences, gates and an embankment to canter up and a steep slope down straight into the next jump. Dolly rocked it, and put another clear round in Came to the placings, and they only went and won it!!!! YEY!!!!!!!! Don't know if judge felt sorry for them as the only junior, but who cares! A lovely (and I mean lovely!) red frilly for Dolly, and of course another qualification card, which daughter happily repaid the favour from the first class and passed it along!
Last class was novice workers, and again daughter was only junior in the class! Beefy jumps again, but Dolly put in another clear They did a cracking show, but some of the others in the class were absolutely stunning. They still managed a 3rd out for 6, which was brill.
It was a fab day, and Dolly was simply awesome.
Now for the bad.
Took them to a different SJ riding show comp last Saturday, and Dolly was a horror bag. We had a good few refusals and a bit of napping to the door. She seriously does NOT like this particular arena. Anyway, daughter managed a clear round (with quite a bit of left rein use
away from the door!) and then went into the 65cm class. She had a refusal but managed to get round other than that, which was good given the mood Dolly was in. As only 3 went clear, and there were 4 placings, they ended up jumping off for 4th place. Well daughter flew round like her ass was on fire!!! I was a wreck because I fully expected a stop or her to bomb to the door, and dispatch daughter into "that shed" again!!! But no, they floored it and managed to steal the 4th place.
They daughter decided to have a go at the 75cm. She's jumped a metre at home, but never done a 75cm class before. Well we walked the course, and it was HUGE and nasty. Every jump had something nasty with it. I advised her to leave it and go home, but for once, daughter said, nope, let's have a go (this is where mummy is always right, comes into it!). The first refusal was at the same jump as in the 65cm, with much bigger fillers now. So no surprise. Daughter got her over it and then went to the next jump - which had a nasty black solid filler underneath. Now Dolly has jumped this before, so no excuses. She refused, and daughter turned her straight back to it. Dolly then pricked her ears up, and had a steady canter up to it. She then completely slammed on, and buried daughter into the jump.
Daughter managed to bounce her thigh off the nasty filler and landed in a heap. I came in and grabbed Dolly, but then realised daughter wasn't up and running like she usually is. First aiders ran in, and eventually managed to get daughter to her feet. She couldn't bear weight AT ALL on her leg. PANTS.
Long story short, daughter insisted on getting back onto Dolly, so mounted through gritted teeth and we sadly went back to the van. Daughter was in a lot of pain, and I could see the swelling. I was really contemplating her having a fracture in her thigh bone, but thought she wouldn't be able to stand up if that was the case.
Anyway, we got home - warm bath, ibuprofen and then cold compress and elevation. She was back walking around by Saturday night, and not terrible on Sunday morning either! How I wish I could bounce like that!!!
Sunday she was up early and insisted on riding straight away. She soon found out that she couldn't do rising trot, but after a while it did ease up. She was desperate to prove to me that she would be well enough to have her jumping lesson on Monday night. Which she did.....eventually.
It's worth noting here, that Dolly was distinctly "off" on Sunday. Really really grumpy and when daughter popped a jump (to get her head around the falling off saga, and prove she was ok to me) Dolly just bombed it, and really set her neck. I should have looked closer into this, she was not herself.
The costly........
Well she had her jumping lesson, which was awesome. Dolly was back on form, and Daughter had her confidence repaired by her fab instructor. Who's theory was that Dolly could be in season, having an off day or perhaps has put a bit of weight on with the summer grass as wasn't feeling as fit as she should, and therefore not as enthusiastic to jump. Fair enough, good advice and duly noted.
Anyway, today she's come out of the stable lame.
Three years we've had her in August, and this is the first time. DOUBLE PANTS.
I feel marginally better knowing that her pulling such a dirty trick on daughter on Saturday might not be 100% Dolly's fault (it was the dirtiest of dirty stops and really could have seriously injured daughter) but still devastated that I could have missed something.
I should have listened to her on Sunday. I KNEW she wasn't happy, but she did look fine on Monday night.
I really wish it was possible to cram a lifetime of knowledge into a novice owners brain (I've just said this to Honey08 in an email but it does sum up how I feel). Frustrated that despite trying my best to learn as much as I can, it's no substitute for an experienced eye.
Anyway, I've a few theories. She was shod last week - I'd like that checking. She's pulled a muscle jumping last night (most likely, I think) - the best scenario, as hopefully will mend soon with no lasting damage. Or, of course, laminitis, which we all know she's a good candidate for.
It's a foreleg, and I believe there's swelling around the fetlock (not seen her yet as I'm at work).
So, everyone. If you got this far - WOW! You're really dedicated! Have some really sour fizzy haribos and lucozade - they go GREAT together!
And send me some good luck, and hugs for Dolly.
Here's the photos from the working hunter day.....
Getting ready....
A rare photo with me, that I actually quite like....
A log!
Uphills and down dales!
My favourite.
Sorry the quality is pants - stills taken from video.
Thanks for reading all! xxx
The sun is shining today, but I'm not feeling the love (partly because I'm sat in a office smaller than a prison cell that backs onto a brick wall, and I want to headbutt my colleagues, but that's another story.....) so I thought I'd try to cheer myself by posting an update.
OK. The good.
Took the girls to a new riding club show a few weeks ago. Daughter qualified for the North West SJ champs a while ago, and on the same day as those champs, and at the same place, is the NW Workers champs, so daughter was desperate to qualify for that too - and this riding club was the last show in our area with a qualifier for it. No pressure!
So we arrived, and Dolly was in a good mood (she always is when OH comes along - she luuuuuurves him
) so fingers crossed, off daughter went. She entered beginners WH (age 12 and under) and did a lovely small course of workers jumps, but on a weird black sandy surface was slipping about a bit. Really nice judge then made each rider do their show after jumping, so they didn't have to wait around (and it was a small arena) - daughter picked up the wrong canter lead, so but was still placed 4th out of 8, so was a happy bunny with that. THEN the best bit, others above her had already qualified for the champs, so daughter ended up with a card as it was passed down the line That was great, as pressure was off and daughter had got what she came for, very early on!!!Next class was style and performance. Daughter entered the class, to be shocked to be the only child! There were about 6 others in it, all seniors! I thought they would adjust the jump heights but they didn't
daughter jumped the same as the others, which was quite a beefy course with big logs, fences, gates and an embankment to canter up and a steep slope down straight into the next jump. Dolly rocked it, and put another clear round in Came to the placings, and they only went and won it!!!! YEY!!!!!!!! Don't know if judge felt sorry for them as the only junior, but who cares! A lovely (and I mean lovely!) red frilly for Dolly, and of course another qualification card, which daughter happily repaid the favour from the first class and passed it along!Last class was novice workers, and again daughter was only junior in the class! Beefy jumps again, but Dolly put in another clear
They did a cracking show, but some of the others in the class were absolutely stunning. They still managed a 3rd out for 6, which was brill.It was a fab day, and Dolly was simply awesome.
Now for the bad.
Took them to a different SJ riding show comp last Saturday, and Dolly was a horror bag. We had a good few refusals and a bit of napping to the door. She seriously does NOT like this particular arena. Anyway, daughter managed a clear round (with quite a bit of left rein use
away from the door!) and then went into the 65cm class. She had a refusal but managed to get round other than that, which was good given the mood Dolly was in. As only 3 went clear, and there were 4 placings, they ended up jumping off for 4th place. Well daughter flew round like her ass was on fire!!! I was a wreck because I fully expected a stop or her to bomb to the door, and dispatch daughter into "that shed" again!!! But no, they floored it and managed to steal the 4th place.They daughter decided to have a go at the 75cm. She's jumped a metre at home, but never done a 75cm class before. Well we walked the course, and it was HUGE and nasty. Every jump had something nasty with it. I advised her to leave it and go home, but for once, daughter said, nope, let's have a go (this is where mummy is always right, comes into it!). The first refusal was at the same jump as in the 65cm, with much bigger fillers now. So no surprise. Daughter got her over it and then went to the next jump - which had a nasty black solid filler underneath. Now Dolly has jumped this before, so no excuses. She refused, and daughter turned her straight back to it. Dolly then pricked her ears up, and had a steady canter up to it. She then completely slammed on, and buried daughter into the jump.
Daughter managed to bounce her thigh off the nasty filler and landed in a heap. I came in and grabbed Dolly, but then realised daughter wasn't up and running like she usually is. First aiders ran in, and eventually managed to get daughter to her feet. She couldn't bear weight AT ALL on her leg. PANTS.
Long story short, daughter insisted on getting back onto Dolly, so mounted through gritted teeth and we sadly went back to the van. Daughter was in a lot of pain, and I could see the swelling. I was really contemplating her having a fracture in her thigh bone, but thought she wouldn't be able to stand up if that was the case.
Anyway, we got home - warm bath, ibuprofen and then cold compress and elevation. She was back walking around by Saturday night, and not terrible on Sunday morning either! How I wish I could bounce like that!!!
Sunday she was up early and insisted on riding straight away. She soon found out that she couldn't do rising trot, but after a while it did ease up. She was desperate to prove to me that she would be well enough to have her jumping lesson on Monday night. Which she did.....eventually.
It's worth noting here, that Dolly was distinctly "off" on Sunday. Really really grumpy and when daughter popped a jump (to get her head around the falling off saga, and prove she was ok to me) Dolly just bombed it, and really set her neck. I should have looked closer into this, she was not herself.
The costly........
Well she had her jumping lesson, which was awesome. Dolly was back on form, and Daughter had her confidence repaired by her fab instructor. Who's theory was that Dolly could be in season, having an off day or perhaps has put a bit of weight on with the summer grass as wasn't feeling as fit as she should, and therefore not as enthusiastic to jump. Fair enough, good advice and duly noted.
Anyway, today she's come out of the stable lame.
Three years we've had her in August, and this is the first time. DOUBLE PANTS.
I feel marginally better knowing that her pulling such a dirty trick on daughter on Saturday might not be 100% Dolly's fault (it was the dirtiest of dirty stops and really could have seriously injured daughter) but still devastated that I could have missed something.
I should have listened to her on Sunday. I KNEW she wasn't happy, but she did look fine on Monday night.
I really wish it was possible to cram a lifetime of knowledge into a novice owners brain (I've just said this to Honey08 in an email but it does sum up how I feel). Frustrated that despite trying my best to learn as much as I can, it's no substitute for an experienced eye.
Anyway, I've a few theories. She was shod last week - I'd like that checking. She's pulled a muscle jumping last night (most likely, I think) - the best scenario, as hopefully will mend soon with no lasting damage. Or, of course, laminitis, which we all know she's a good candidate for.
It's a foreleg, and I believe there's swelling around the fetlock (not seen her yet as I'm at work).
So, everyone. If you got this far - WOW! You're really dedicated! Have some really sour fizzy haribos and lucozade - they go GREAT together!
And send me some good luck, and hugs for Dolly.
Here's the photos from the working hunter day.....
Getting ready....
A rare photo with me, that I actually quite like....
A log!
Uphills and down dales!
My favourite.
Sorry the quality is pants - stills taken from video.
Thanks for reading all! xxx
x
(vibes for both)
) if I'd have had that fall!!! Will update on Dolly later x
