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Happy New year to you
all!!
2008, what a year, so much has happened, firstly
I will give you a run down of my own horses and
achievements.
Do you remember Trigo the lusso stallion that
was given to me, well I put him forward for
grading this year at the lusso show held at
Hartpury, he did really well and out of the
stallions put forward he received the highest
grading, as you can imagine we were all really
pleased, he has also been out doing dressage
with Joey (more about Joey later) he is doing
quite well and has picked up a few points but
there is still improvement to be had, watching
the Iberian breeds against the warm bloods is
hard as they have a completely different way of
going, but I am hopeful that things will
improve.
Vogue, our little KWPN mare has proved to be
incredibly difficult, she challenged everything
put to her, she wouldn’t settle in her head
carriage, spent a lot of time on her back legs,
but with determination and persistence she is
finally turning the corner, she now has a job in
life and is jumping on a regular basis. In the
last couple months she has jumped her four
double clears British Novice and Discovery and
we are aiming for second rounds, we are also
going to try and qualify her for the amateur
international at Towerlands park at the end of
the year. The problem with Vogue is that she
doesn’t really respect a small fence and is so
nosey looking about, but once they go up she
becomes focused and she can jump, so much so I
am having to learn to sit on her, but that I can
handle.
Jo, my lovely warm blood that I was again given,
that was 7 years ago now, he has been amazing
and in 2008 was a star eventing, he didn’t have
a pole show jumping and was good cross country,
but our time was a problem. However I took him
to Brigstock to do the Novice, it was pretty
big, he did well in the dressage, clear show
jumping and clear cross country with time faults
though, but we still finished a respectful
11th/12th.
With such a good event under out belt we went to
Littledownham with high hopes, but warming up
for the dressage he went a bit strange for a few
moments, but then carried on, we did our worst
dressage and then in the show jumping we had
four fences down…………….that was not normal, he
hadn’t touched a fence all season, so we
withdrew from the x country and took him home,
he wasn’t lame on a trot up and only very
slightly when ridden, so slight we weren’t sure
if he was lame or not.
We took him to the vets where they scanned him,
he had snapped a ligament and fractured his
pastern, I was gutted, he must have done it
warming up for the dressage, the fact that he
tried to jump those fences is testament to his
nature. He has now been on 8 months box rest, we
were given the all clear to start work……………..but
he was very lame, that was a week ago, so we
have now got to decide what we do, he has given
me 7 amazing years and now I have to do the
right thing by him, it upsets me to think about
it.
Jo you’re an amazing horse, my friend and my
teacher, my promise to you is that I will do
what I think is right and fair for you, a horse
that loves life and is hating being in a stable,
even though you have been amazingly well
behaved.
Joey………..she is still with us and has changed
beyond recognition, she is a valued member of
the team, a fantastic rider and has taught Sam
and I how to deal with teenagers I think Joey
will be with us for a few years to come. She
jokes that she will still be with us when she is
50, I think she forgets how much older we are
then her!!
My boys……………they give me so much joy, James and
Jack aren’t into the horses but are so funny and
are great to have a round, they make me smile
and belly laugh (annoying as well. They’re not
perfect)
William has already decided that we are going to
become a father and son team where the horses
are concerned, his knowledge and riding have
come on no end and I look forward to all the
years ahead with all three of them.
Now for business………….talk about a change, we
moved yards and started to have more horses come
in, then quite by accident Jill Day a respected
dressage trainer came to teach Joey on Trigo, I
had known Jill a few years ago, but through
loading problems, but as she was there I also
asked if I could have a lesson, I could see that
she was suspicious of me, but she said yes then
over the weeks we started to chat and I would
show her what I was up to with the horses I had
in, my riding improved no end and what was very
apparent was how similar we were in our
thinking. Before I knew it Sharon Hunt had
called me, Sharon is also trained by Jill,
Sharon had a mare called Amber that was a good
horse but was being slightly problematic, so in
she came, it was the week before the Olympics,
the buzz on the yard was amazing, my boys were
in awe, it was very funny. Thankfully for me and
Jill all went well and we started to get a
stream of sports horses in.
I love working with all types of horse but it
was good to get some recognition from people
that I aspire to, I am no longer being viewed as
someone that only deals in loading problems and
more importantly for me, someone that doesn’t
whisper to horses, it has been a tag that has
done me more harm than good.
I wish you all every success with your horses
whatever your pleasure is and don’t forget you
can read about the horses that come in to be
backed or helped in the Max’s horse blog section
on the forum, you don’t have to be a member to
read them.
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