They say things come in threes, well the past few weeks have been tough, really tough, and I think it’s probably something I need to share.

Picking up an injury this close to Badminton was less than great.  Taking the doctor’s advice and sitting on the edge of the arena watching everyone else do the riding was difficult.  But I’m out the other side and my hand is feeling much better!  With lots of young horses entered at Norton Disney I decided to ask Max (Warburton) to ride them for me, and instead I headed to Aston-le-Walls for their 3-phase schooling with Albie.  It was definitely a case of using it to get my eye back in, and we were grand!!

Adding to the tough few weeks, very sadly one of my girls, Annie, had an accident at home which saw her in hospital for a while.  She had a nasty bang to the head and it’s going to take quite a while to get her back doing what she loves, which is a great loss to the yard.

If that hadn’t quite pushed us to the edge, Max losing Noodles in a freak accident loading onto the lorry certainly did.  He was a horse I’d had for a number of seasons before he moved to Max, and he really was such a lovely boy.  It really hit us hard and even just writing about the last few weeks makes me want to cry.

I’m so grateful to the team I have around me, keeping everything going, and supporting each other over the past few weeks.

As for Albie he’s been kept busy!  He’s had his regular trips to the water treadmill.  It’s nice for him to do a different type of cross-training without me on his back, and it really helps with his condition and fitness.  Most of my horses will have a day off in the field after an event, but with Albie we also do a simple lunge on a headcollar, just to help get him moving and stretching more.

He’s also been for a mini break to Maidwell to spend some time with Nini (French) and Piggy (March).  Nini rode him most days for me, and Pig did some fitness work one day.  He’s come back home feeling AMAZING and it was just what we both needed!!

This weekend we’re off to Norfolk for Burnham Market for the last proper run before the big one.  I’ll be making sure we’ve got all the gears and it’s a great chance to blow the cobwebs away…we’re all just hoping the weather stays nice!