In my last post (https://younghipandhorsey.com/2018/06/11/positive-thoughts/) I said that I has plans for making the most of my last ‘normal’ week with Pea. It didn’t quite go to plan! I really wanted to put all of our progress into practise at a dressage competition so I booked ourselves up for a Prelim test at Rectory Farm. I have always been lucky with Pea, she is generally in good health with the exception of her weight issues. In true typical horse style though, on Tuesday, the day of the dressage competition, this is what I found at the yard..
I’m not going to lie, I was immensely disappointed. I really wanted to be able to say that we had gone out and done something before all my time off started. I am fully aware that horses can carry on with only one eye but if you had a swollen, itchy eye, would you want to go in a trailer to a place where you had never been before and do a dressage test? I wouldn’t. As much as I am becoming more confident and ambitious, my pony’s welfare comes first.
The second grand plan for the week was to have a reunion hack with my old (not old at all) hacking buddy, Rachel. A couple of years ago we were regular hacking buddies, we used to go out for slow and steady hacks in the evening when noone else was around and gossip about our lives whilst enjoying pony time in the sunshine! I’m sure she won’t mind me saying that she wasn’t the most confident rider either so it worked well for us to ride together. Exams and life got in the way for her and she stopped leasing. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy hacking with lots of different people but when I have been working until late and ride out in the evening when noone else is around, I miss the casual pace of our rides. It was a long time coming but this Thursday we managed a reunion ride!
I decided that Thursday’s hack would be my last ride before the operation. I feel like I need to be well rested by Tuesday, I can’t risk hurting myself at this late stage and actually, I have aways been a firm believer that there is more to being involved with horses than riding. I like nothing better than just being with Pea and the other horses at Bourton Vale. I’m not going to be able to sit in the field and just enjoy the view for a while so I have been making the most of it. Doesn’t she look fantastic in her new fly mask?
In other news, Whiskey, the horse who built my confidence from absolutely nothing to something I could work with (https://younghipandhorsey.com/2018/05/13/riding-how-it-all-started/) has returned to the yard after being away as a companion. Just like Pea, she started life as a gypsy pony and seeing them together in the field makes me think of how far they have come and how far I have come! And if Whiskey can cope with having had burns to her chest (from long before we had her) and losing an eye (having had a tumour in it), a little hip replacement should be no problem for me!
The next couple of months is going to be a very different ball game when it comes to me having ‘pony time’. Fingers crossed I can work around the hip precautions and the crutches!
Young Hip and Horsey 
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