Hello- remember me?! Looong update!

little_pink_piggies

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Hello all! Sorry haven’t been on here for a while- took myself off here last June because of a few nasty comments/PMs but after the thread the other day thought I’d come & give a little (long) update- I’ll try to come on here a bit more but if you want my FB which is always up to date (best form of procrastination known to student) drop me a PM. Also, this is going to be a super long boring post
Firstly Nora- remember her?! After many attempts we’ve admitted defeat in getting her sound, so we decided to use her as an incubator and breed from her. It took 3 attempts (and then she twinned- typical Nora!) but she’s now got a Classic Primitive baby fermenting inside her
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Hoping that crossed with CP (who’s got Holstein in him for good feet aswell as the Prim Rising TB line) we could have something smart- It’s due on my bday in June :)

Onto Arth- and this is going to be looong so you have permission to scroll through it ;) We managed our first adv in July, but he started to tie up xc & jumped into the last water without the power to get & picked up 20pens. He was incredible tho, made it feel like childsplay- mentally just out of this world. The bad news is that the tying up isn’t fixable, he some genetic condition where he has too many mitochondria, and they’re shrivelled up and clumped together. His dam used to tie up & they got her to the point of about to go 3* before they gave up and bred out of her- none of his siblings got past PN though so I obviously had the best one! His blood results are being emailed around globally; the vets are all fascinated by him having not seen anything like it really before- we always did know he was one in a million! I’m trying to keep him going SJ and hoping that when he’s not so fit he’ll cope. It’s strange, on the days it happens he’s just a bit depressed, if you didn’t know him you’d say he has a slight sprain behind, but if you ignore it it spreads throughout his body. It’s only the AST the rises, never the CK. I’m so gutted about it, and it topped off a really shitty 2010 (some of you will know about that!) but I’ve been so lucky to have the time I’ve had with him- when I look back at the pics/vids of me as a 16yo and him as a young novice horse both all over the place, we’ve come so far in 3 yrs and I don’t think they come more special than him. He’s so careful and all he wants to do is please me; he knows my car now & when he sees it pull onto the yard he starts bashing his door and whickering until I go and give him some attention- King Arthur! I’ve had so much fun on him, he was double clear around Barbury 2* this year (probably the only time he didn’t tie up) and took me around my first adv, he’s totally irreplaceable and because I don’t know how much time I’ve got left with him/how long this will be manageable for I’m just loving playing with him hacking out and at home- tho I do get a bit choked up when he jumps a double of 1m25 skinnies on a ridiculous angle like it’s nothing! He’s already qualified for 1m15 amateur second rounds and won £40 BSJA in two shows mind. Lots & lots of pics and some vids too if you're interested:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFkwQ-oFXqA Barbury SJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSYLixgxN2s Local 1m30 class last summer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ua76cTr_Cc Local foxhunter last summer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP9iao_o2_k 1m15 Amateur qualifier last week

Ping, Arths nephew, is coming on nicely- 17hh & all legs though, so taking our time. He did a BE90 in Sept and had a few mistakes on my part SJ & XC but there’s just something about him that makes me drool! Will get him out and do a few PNs this year, but have been warned about not doing anything mid season/too much etc. Pics and vids of him:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WBRnud3iPg – Leyland court SJ

Tom, an ISH who was on a yard I worked at last year is a newbie. He’s v cheeky & has been with a SJer so his flatworks needed a bit of a revamp but it’s getting there & he was lacking confidence xc (would just randomly go “I can’t do it” at early simple fences) but the last time we took him hunter trialling was around W Wilts PN course, and he reared up with anticipation in the start box and then tanked around (Thomas the tank!)… Despite his cheeky side (understatement) he always wants to work with you and is generally so sweet. Some pics and vids of him:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmSyeclFlSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhB0fGGLu4I – playing around jumping

Bobbie Love has come on a huge amount- picked up 20BD points in 3 outings and never out of the top 3! He’s so much more chilled and confident now- would have won petplan areas if I hadn’t forgotten to drop my whip (blonde!). He’s having a holiday in the field while the nights are too dark to ride with uni, but then the plan is to tackle some elementaries and find him a nice dressage home. He’s been v rewarding & is a totally different shape now- actually uses himself. Hacking out has made the world of difference to him too. Amazing what some time and just being nice to them does. Some pics:
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And lastly my latest addition- What can I say apart from I can’t believe my luck! Still getting used to having a schoolmaster, he must be the most forgiving horse in existence! He’s such a dude, so laid back and keeps going totally oblivious to my misses and lack of balance. I find his canter difficult to collect as he’s built to extend and gallop, and taking over from a pro as good as Lucy is really daunting but like I say, luckily he’s got a really good temperament! At Summerhouse I had a parallel down towards the end where I fired him, but they let me go back in at the end of the day and school around the course which did us both the world of good and the following weekend at Pencoed I felt much more together with him. In the NCs he tapped the second part of a double (he has a massive stride and I was a bit infront of his shoulders rather than keeping him on his hocks and sitting up myself), and in the 1m10 and foxhunter classes I had the first fence down- it was the same in both classes and muggins here just saw the same duff stride. In the foxhunter he jumped so much better when it was bigger, he makes it feel like a BN though, and I do feel like a pea on a drum! SO nice to ride though. Some pics/vids (he’s acquired some slightly racist mascots in his stable I’m afraid!)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSXflC5jr7g – schooling at SHouse, only had him a week here…
Sorry for the endlessly long boring post! Just thought I’d give a 6mnth update in one go ;) Unis going well though I’m struggling a bit with my confidence riding (what’s new)- I feel really out of balance all the time. I came top of the year in the labs out of all the medical engineers and 5th/300 of all the engineers- basically because the boys can’t be bothered to use proper English & writing reports for EWW has honed my ability to write, and write, and write… I get my exam results back from the autumn semester this week, but they’ve renewed my academic (ha!) scholarship, that means I haven’t dropped below 2:1 (hopefully). Can’t wait to move out of halls and in with my friends, though last Thurs we did bring back a 15m drain pipe (traffic cones are for amateurs) so I’m not sure what state our house will be in after a few months- we’re all the type of people who have one really good night out (think wandering back in at 6am) a week, rather than 3 or 4 average nights- good times!

Hope everyone’s well, and that all the ponies are fit and raring to go this season :D
Just a little vid of the guys playing in the snow over the winter too, cos its cute!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQb8GHB0fGI
 
Wow! I managed to read ALL of that, some of the vids wouldnt open for me,but with your lovely youngsters and the new 'been there,done that' machine,I'm sure you are looking forward to the new season....
Good luck!
Oh and,go easy on the showjumping flatwork comments...;-))
 
I've just manaeged to read the lot ;) and look forward to being able to see the vids/pics!

Sounds a very eventful year, and so sorry to hear Arth isn't repairable. I was keeping upto date with his progress on F.Book, but seem to have lost touch recently. He really is a dude, so I hope you have much time left enjoying each other around the SJ's!

Bobby love has turned into a real success story, so a HUGE well done there!!

Re. the new pony....WOW! what an oppurtunity! Enjoy, you will have some fantastic experiences and results, I am very very sure... !

Look forward to future updates :)
 
A lovely update and so nice to hear someone so positive and ambitious while remaining so grounded! Good luck with uni - I dont know how you manage to juggle it all! Have a fabulous season and I hope you continue to write some HHO reports for us to see your progress with the babies/newbies xx
 
I've always loved Arth everytime you have posted vids/pics of him, sorry to hear he has a few problems but what a wonderful time he has had with you!
 
Read all of that and love the pictures (at work so can't watch the vids discreetly!).

I hardly ever post but I used to love reading your posts and all about Arthur especially. I love the way you describe him as he sounds amazing - like a flawed genius!

I'm sorry to hear that you had such an awful 2010 for whatever reason and I hope 2011 is a great year for you and the ponies. You are a fab rider and I'm sure you will have loads of success both with the youngsters and your lovely new "Pro" horse.

Best of luck for the season and please keep posting because I love reading your reports and looking at the pretty pictures :)
 
^^^^^^ what she said.

Arthur was/is definitley one of my fav HHO horses, so was pleased you have posted an update, just said to he is not fixable, but lucky him to have had such fun and still out enjoying the SJ!

The rest of your crew are looking really good too and wow to your new schoolmaster!

Well done for managing the horses and uni oh and the social life - very impressive and definitley skills that will set you up for life :)
 
They are all very gorgeous! Im sorry to hear about arth those photos of him are pretty amazing. I hope all works out well with the new one and the youngsters look fab, Good luck for the rest of the season :)
 
Good to see i am not the only person to have been absent for a while!!!

Very sorry to hear about Arth thou, you're right he is one in a million, great news that you have a new horse thou! all the others are coming along very well, i bet you are looking forward to this season! :D
 
You've had some tough times girl, worse than many, and now you're hopefully going to be having some good times and I wish you all the luck in the world. Even more than luck, I hope you have lots of fun :)
 
I've missed your updates- long term fan of Arth, and you must have been doing something very very right to get him to the stage where he could do all the things he did with you when his siblings never got past PN.

All your others are lovely and your new'un is stunning! I'm impressed at how high Tom could get his back legs in that bucking photo yet keep them so neat!
 
I think you showed me Tom when I was there? If it's the one I think then he sounded too good to miss, and I like those pics of him! I do hope you have come across Bobbie's old rider during some of his successes? And good luck with the new one, like you say daunting to take over from a rider like that BUT you have got on and done it rather than listening to nay-sayers, who would probably have plenty of excuses ready if you turned around and said "well you get on it then". Enjoy!
 
i managed it all...not boring at all :D
sorry to hear about arthur...he was one of my fave HHO horses :( but VERY exciting about the new pony.... loving the mascots :p
 
Nice post! Good luck in 2011 with your gang.
My best friend is a medical engineer, she used to come to my anatomy classes when we were at uni. Very interesting job!
 
Really sorry to hear about Arth but you seem to have a lovely set of horses for this year so I hope it is better than the last :)! But do you have 48hr days or something; doing well at uni and keeping all those horses going ;)!
 
Have been looking forward to this since last weekend :o Sorry to hear you've had a pants 2010 but the new pony should help put a massive smile on your face :D
 
Wow they all the fab, you've done a super job with all of them! Very jealous of how you can juggle the horses, social life and still keep going well with your degree, some people ;)
 
You are a lucky girl, am I right that your new boy is the lovely "Ray" ? I know Lucy thought very highly of him. Real shame about Arth, but at least you got to run Advanced on him, hope you can show jump him for a while. A really nice team of horses for 2011, look forward to hear how they all go.
 
Thanks everyone for the nice comments :)

New boy is indeed the lovely Ray- he's so awesome, the amount of people who've come to see him and when he's stood in the stable say "What's all the fuss about?"... And then they see him move... :) :)
 
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