Along For The Ride – There’s Snow Place Like Home

If you follow my socials you will know I’ve been hoping for a snow day and today, my dream came true by many inches!

At 3 in the morning (I must have known something was going on) I woke up to see the world was white and by 8 o’clock it was confirmed that work was closed.  Not that I was going to get there anyway!  My other half had taken our 4×4 to go to his job so I was twiddling my thumbs at home trying to work out how to get to the yard. If you know me, or have read Home Is Where The Horse Is, you’ll know that the yard is my favourite place.

My 3 o’clock in the morning plan had been to walk but it was very sensibly pointed out to me that it is a 4 mile drive, would be quite a bit further to walk, snow isn’t easy to walk in AND if I got into trouble no-one would be able to help me.  Let’s not forget the ceramic hip either!

Anyway, I had established that the buses were not running and just as I was contemplating hitch hiking (for the first time in my life) I got a call to say my boyfriend was coming home and the car was mine!

Five of us horsey people made it to the yard and mucked in with the yard owner to help to feed some of the horses.  I can definitely recommend bumping around on the back of a pickup to go up to a far away field and divide and conquer a herd of fluffy, fat gannets with buckets of grain as the best way to start a Friday.

The others all decided to hack out but I really didn’t fancy it.  I’ve watched ‘The Horse Whisperer’ too many times and the image of that horse slipping and falling on the ice under the snow and sliding down the hill haunts me.  I know lots of people hack out in the snow but I just couldn’t get past that worry that something might happen.  I didn’t have a hip replacement so that I could end up in hospital again and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to Pea.

I spent a good couple of hours grooming Pea and trimming her feathers off.  I know the snow will probably be all gone before we know it but I don’t want her to have snow dreadlocks or cold wet feathers.

We then popped into the school so that we could get some kind of ride in.  Pea was slightly put off by the remnants of the snowman that had been made earlier but soon made friends with it..

We plodded round and round the school, trying to churn up a centre line, long changes of rein and 20m circles.  I tried to work on having a forward medium walk and free walk as there wasn’t much else I could do! I hoped to break up the surface enough to school properly but we only managed a bit of trot as it was still just a bit too hard.

I whiled away a few more hours at the yard before succumbing to the call of a warm house and the promise of a chippy tea!

Today’s ride was not a success in terms of working towards our goals (though we did work on our walk) but I had a really lovely day in the best place.  Sometimes pony time is more important than riding!

Did you have a snow day?  What did you get up to?

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Finding ‘The One’ – Horse Buying Tips

Today is exactly three years since I bought Pea so I  thought I’d share my thoughts on finding ‘the one’ (of the equine variety!) Obviously Pea is my first so I feel quite unqualified to talk about this so I’ve consulted some of my favourite internet and real life friends to get their perspectives.

 

In an ideal world.. get to know them!

I was lucky. I had been leasing Pea for a year and a half before I bought her.  I knew her about as well as I possibly could and was sure she was the one for me.  My thoughts about buying her started long before I actually did.

Pea’s internet doppleganger Henry, from Henry Dressage Cob, had a similar story.  His mum Shelley said

‘I weekend loaned him for a while and riding school owner said he looked happy, so one weekend I asked her if you ever did sell him can I have him. That afternoon after having a think and chat with some people, she came to say yes you can have him!’

Buying from a friend or someone you know, having already seen the horse with a different rider, is also a good start.  The best Pony Club ponies get passed from family to family as their riders outgrow them and plenty of competition horses and ponies move on to people who already know them.  Although in different homes, with different riders, horses will act differently, the more you know about a horse, the more likely it is you will be able to make the right choice!

 

In the real world.. conduct a careful search!

If you are not lucky enough to have found a horse through your yard or friends you are likely to have to resort to looking for horses in the wider world!  For advice on this I hand over to Leanne, owner of Bourton Vale Equestrian Centre (my yard) and general horse guru!

‘1. Be realistic. The perfect horse does not exist, but one perfect for you does. Decide what’s most important to you and be prepared to be flexible on the least important.

2. Read adverts thoroughly and prepare questions to ask before wasting your time or the sellers. Listen to the answers and ask for more specific details – “goes around a set of showjumps” could mean literally that.

3. Someone else’s perfect pony might not be yours! The fact that Neddy tows his current owner to the nearest piece of grass at every opportunity might be acceptable to them, but not for you!

4. Research! Facebook is great for this! Ask someone in the pony/riding club/hunting field who might have seen them out and about.

5. Always take someone else with you to view, preferably someone more experienced, but a witness and an outside pair of eyes is always useful. Try the horse in the circumstances you will be riding in – in fields/alone/in company/ on roads, and always ride past home on your return to check for nappy behaviour if that’s on your unacceptable list. Ask to see the horse caught, tacked up, ridden – and look for signs that they might have been ridden or lunged prior to you coming- a freshly washed one might have been having sweatmarks removed!

6. Go back and try again- honest sellers will be as keen as you to make sure you match, dealers to protect their reputation and private to ensure their “darling” isn’t going to be sold on.

7. Get a vetting – but bear in mind point 1 when you get the results.’

 

General considerations..

Be open minded

If you are looking for a 15.2, bay gelding with four white socks and a star and a BE record, you’re likely to be setting yourself up for disappointment or at the very least, a massively restricted search.  Try not to rule out colours and breeds because you never know, you might miss out on ‘the one’ because of it.  Charlotte, from The Forelock Journal, said

‘When Hamish was advertised for loan at our yard I wasn’t actually sure about trying him. He’s a thoroughbred and I’d have classed myself as a nervous rider at the time. He was so calm, kind and patient from the moment I was around him and I just knew I wanted to take him on right away.  He just knows me and I just know him. I can put my finger on what it is, but we have a very special bond.’

Keep in mind the ‘stretch zone’ theory

For a bit more information about this theory have a read of Tips from HOYS but essentially, in my opinion, you want a horse that keeps you in the stretch zone rather than the safe or danger zones.  Pea and I have plenty to work on together and she can certainly keep me on my toes but I knew when I bought her she would never throw anything at me that I wouldn’t be able to cope with.

Don’t sweat the small stuff

When I started riding Pea, people used to ask me when I was going to get a ‘proper horse’.  I still get questions and judgements about the fact that I’m a 5’6 adult with a 14hh pony but I really couldn’t care less.  In my opinion, providing you are not too heavy for your horse, it shouldn’t matter if they are small, tall, fine or chunky providing that they are right for you.  I see far too many teenagers thinking they need a thoroughbred because that is the image they want rather than thinking about what horse is actually right for them – don’t fall into that trap.

When you know, you know

Most loving horse owners won’t be able to quite pin point how they knew their horse was the one for them, they just knew!  Francesca, from Country Frantics, said this about when she tried Buddy (her first horse)

‘I felt confident on him out on a hack straight away and he completely looked after me, it was like I couldn’t be without him now he had entered my life. I bought him 2 weeks later.  He understands me and is the male horse version of me in every way!’

And sometimes they chose you

When Francesca met Adie, her RSPCA rescue horse, he was the one in charge of the decision making

‘When I met him for the first time it was like he chose me, he put so much trust in to me and he couldn’t stop following me and rubbing his head over me.  I knew I had to take him home so I did!’

Thank you to today’s contributors for sharing their experiences and advice. Please check out their links!

Shelley from Henry Dressage Cob

Leanne from Bourton Vale Equestrian Centre

Charlotte from The Forelock Journal

Francesca from Country Frantics

Along For The Ride – Being Braver

On paper yesterday was just another day.  I missed Monday’s ride due to adult commitments (!) so I decided to try to sneak one in on a Thursday.

I swung by the yard after work to get Pea in, then went tutoring and came back an hour and a half later to ride.  It was dark, freezing (literally), I was still mostly in my work clothes and Pea was positively wild.  She hadn’t eaten any of her hay, she had trampled poo everywhere and was circling and stamping around like a bull.

At this point, I could have easily given up on the whole idea of riding and turned her out.  Although I didn’t really want to turn her out either as I knew I would have to go through the shire gelding’s paddock (who has been on box rest for months) and I was worried I might end up panicking and ending up in the mud.

I didn’t give up on the idea.  I gentled the wild beast with the support of some carrot stretches, tacked her up and attempted to face the next hurdle.  When Pea is in a mood she is not a fan of standing still at the mounting block – not great when you’ve got a higher risk of hip dislocation than your average person.  Luckily, she was hoof perfect.

We then got in the school where there were some dodgy distance trotting poles across the track at B – potentially problematic however I decided to use the obstacle to our advantage and practise some five metre loops.  Bend and suppleness are what we need to work on so along with that we did lots of circles and figures of eight.

Pea actually felt amazing.  Maybe it was because I couldn’t see what we really looked like or because I was expecting lots of tension but reminded myself to chill.  I wasn’t the only thing chilling, by the end of our schooling the arena was starting to feel a bit crunchy and I could see the puddles on the yard were already icing over.  My fingers had that burning cold feel and our cool down was more of a freeze down.

When I clicked finish on equilab (the riding tracking app I have recently been using and loving) I realised I had managed nearly 40 minutes of riding without any real struggle with pain (only in my cold fingers). I then had to cope with the sweaty hairy situation that was Pea – she had worked hard!  She had a boxer style rub down with a towel and then I did her stretches again.

I was torn between sticking her cooler on and leaving her in or accepting that I had done the best drying I could, chucking her turn out on and turning her out.  The decision was essentially having a grumpy pony all night vs getting past the shire.

I am proud to say I opted for the later!  Roo, the shire, is a very kind soul but I am embarrassingly nervous of him.  I was very much on crutches when he arrived with us and I think the memory of feeling so vunerable next to him has carried through.  I had been pre warned that he had cantered up behind the last mare to be turned out through his field HOWEVER I managed to get through (without letting him through either gate despite his attempts) and off Pea went to find her friends.

Doing my stable was slightly compromised by the fact I had a wrestle with a bucket of water and lost. Not ideal on an already icy night!

Positives

– I didn’t wimp out of any of the things I was worried about.. and I need not have been worried in the first place! The difference in my confidence compared to previous years is unbelievable – fingers crossed it stays that way!

Learning Points

– Thermals.

– Don’t get Pea stressed out thinking she is staying in all night if she’s not!

– Must get stronger! I should be in charge of buckets, buckets shouldn’t be in charge of me!

– Communication with home would have been better than letting this happen..

January Dressage

Last week I took the plunge and entered a dressage competion. Evenlode RC, who are the ones who host dressage competitions in our fields in the summer, were hosting at Lower Haddon Livery today. I decided to just enter the intro, although we used to do prelim, as since my hip replacement we haven’t really established maintaining a comfortable canter yet!

I didn’t broadcast that I entered because I was worried something was going to go wrong (remember what happened when I tried to do a pre op competition?)

Anyway, today was the day!

The Prep

Last night I gathered together all my show things (most of which have been unused for a year and a half) and gave my boots and tack a thorough clean with Horseman’s (my favourite leather cleaner).

For fear of Pea being a fresh beast, I left her out last night which meant getting to the yard at 7 and shampooing her legs, neck and mane in semi darkness (the wash area has no light!) I’m not going to lie, she was still damp when we warmed up but was looking beautiful by the time I got off!

The Journey

We were adamant that it would take about 45 minutes to get there, it didn’t. It took just over 30 and it was such an easy route.  A plus point since I’m always nervous about travelling Pea.

The Warm Up

After faffing about getting myself ready and tacking up/trying to put off the inevitable, I went to warm up in the outdoor school. As you can see below, Pea was really rather interested in what was going on around the outside of the school. I struggled to get her as forward as I do at home and forget working in a consistent contact! I also had a bun malfunction – hairband, hairnet and scrunchie all came sliding down and I had to get off and redo it!

The Test

The test was in the indoor school. Pea has only been in an indoor school twice and each of those times she wasn’t keen to go in and found the first few minutes rather unnerving. Today was no different except this time I didn’t have the time to sort it out like I did with lessons, I had to pretty much go straight into the test.

Firstly, there were significant pony club kicks required to get through the doorway.  Then, as the woman shut the sliding door, Pea did the most majestic rein back away from it.  We then set off around the outside of the arena, she wasn’t sure about the mirrors or the way the surface was quite compact and basically wanted to stop at each point of the test to have a look at what was going on. Apart from nearly stopping whilst doing a poo down the first centre line and nearly stopping at the door later on (causing me to forget when to transition and consequently being late to walk), I managed to keep her going through the movements though it wasn’t particularly dignified or connected.

Reflection

Really I could have done with entering a second test because I think if we went in again, Pea would have been more comfortable in the arena. I was just so pleased to have done it – it was the first dressage competition we have done away from home and the first since my hip replacement.

The Scoresheet

I got 64.78% and a rosette for coming 3rd out of 4! My comments were as expected, she needs to be softer to the contact, more supple to the bend on both reins and generally more connected. The general comment did say that we were a ‘lovely partnership’ and that we ‘show real promise for the future’ which was amazing. I’m so aware we have got a long way to go even to do a passable prelim test (which I’m hoping to start entering next month) but at least we are showing promise!

Final Thoughts 

It was a great, low key, friendly event today (thank you Evenlode RC) and I feel so proud of Pea for being generally so well behaved in a completely new environment.  Hopefully there will be another competition in February for us to have a go at.

As ever, all the thanks go to my boyfriend for his help – it wasn’t ideal for him to have to sacrifice his Sunday lie in to support me BUT we were right next to Brize Norton so at least he saw some aeroplanes!

One 2019 goal ticked off!

Top Barn Challenge 2019

You know me, I’m a sucker for a challenge so from today, for the next 12 weeks, I will be taking part in the Top Barn Challenge.

Top Barn is a centre in the Cotswolds and each year they set this challenge on Facebook for horse people to commit to dedicating a certain number of hours a week to working with their horses.  The idea is to form a supportive community to help each other to stay motivated.

There are four levels which each have a specification of how many hours a week and how many challenges you need to do to complete it. Bronze is 3 hours a week with no compulsory mini challenges, Silver is 5 hours with 2 mini challenges etc.

I will be aiming for the Bronze challenge (3 hours a week of riding or groundwork) but will also try to do some of the mini challenges from the dressage, hacking and groundwork lists (though they are not part of the Bronze challenge).

I’m going to use this post to keep track of how I’m doing towards the challenge.

Week 1

7.1.19 – 40 minutes total to kick off the challenge, made up of riding, stretching and trying to teach Pea to smile and bow!

11.1.19 – I’ve achieved a mini challenge! After not riding for 3 days, I hacked out alone for 30 minutes. I hate hacking out alone so this was a real success for me.

12.1.19 – 35 minutes schooling session before work this morning. The best way to start the day!

13.1.19 – 50 minutes of riding at a dressage competition today. Back at the yard I did 10 minutes of massage and 15 minutes of stretching with Pea. The desire to reach my 3 hours certainly helped me to spend more quality time out of the saddle today.

Week 1 Summary – 3 hours

Week 2

17.1.19 – 40 minutes schooling and 10 minutes of carrot stretches in baltic weather conditions!

18.1.19 – 30 minutes schooling including some uncomfortable canter.

19.1.19 – 60 minutes in the saddle for a lesson with my instructor.  Had a really productive session today, I had no idea how much it was possible to sweat on such a cold day!

20.1.19 – 65 minutes worth of relaxing hacking today, perfect for a Sunday.

Week 2 Summary – 3 hours 25 minutes

Week 3

25.1.19 – 30 minute schooling session working on becoming more connected, followed by 10 minutes in hand.

26.1.19 – 60 minutes of hacking, 30 minutes schooling, 10 minutes in hand followed by 10 minutes of stretching!  This was a major success for me considering before my hip replacement riding for that long was majorly painful and since my hip replacement I have been slowly building up from ten minutes to an hour max!

27.1.19 – 30 minutes of solo hacking

Week 3 Summary – 3 hours

Week 4

28.1.19 – 45 minute schooling session with two of the kids from the yard.  Pea is so much more forward schooling in company and produced a lovely flashy trot AND we did some canter.  Then I walked her off in hand for 10 minutes.

31.1.19 – 40 minutes of schooling (was actually in the saddle for more like an hour but spent a bit too long chatting to my yard owner!)

1.2.19 – 30 minutes plodding round and round the school trying to churn up the snow to make the arena more rideable for Saturday lessons!

3.2.19 – 35 minutes of plodding around the school AGAIN!  The snow had mostly melted in the arena but some of the school was still quite icey so I only did a few flashed of trot but did quite a lot of work on connection in walk and used some poles to get Pea moving!  I finished the session by walking her in hand for 10 minutes and then doing her stretching routine for another 10.

Week 4 Summary – 3 hours

Week 5

4.2.19 – 30 minutes plodding hack on my own into the village and back. I actually found it more therapeutic than worrying which was wonderful!

8.2.19 – 25 minutes of soggy schooling followed by a 10 minute walk cooling off.

9.2.19 – 40 minutes hacking into the village with my boyfriend walking with us. We had a proper paddle in the river to clean off her legs.

10.2.19 – 90 minutes hacking with the kids from the yard on what is known as the ‘cheese ride’ (because it goes past a dairy farm). We had to deal with cows, sheep, tractors and quads along the way but it was good to go somewhere I haven’t been for a while. We also did 5 minutes of stretching.

Week 5 Summary – 3 hours 20 minutes

Week 6

11.2.19 – 40 minutes of plodding around the village and playing in the river.  A solo ride!

15.2.19 – 25 minutes of the best schooling Pea has ever done!  Then 10 minutes of me trudging round in the dark walking her off!

16.2.19 – 40 minutes of plodding around the village.. on my own.. again!

17.2.19 – 70 minutes of bravely venturing around both villages and splashing in the river followed by 5 minutes of stretching.

Week 6 Summary – 3 hours 10 minutes

Week 7

18.2.19 – 40 minutes of schooling followed by 10 minutes of walking off.

20.2.19 – 60 minutes hacking on my own.

21.2.19 – 70 minutes of hacking on my own in the beautiful sunshine!

22.2.19 – 70 minutes of hacking on my own in the beautiful sunshine AGAIN!  I can’t believe how much I have been riding out on my own recently without any lack of confidence or nerves.

Week 7 Summary – 4 hours 10 minutes

Week 8

25.2.19 – 60 minutes of hacking with another girl from the yard and the horse she rides.

1.3.19 – 45 minutes of fairly dodgy schooling followed by a 10 minute cool down hacking down the track and back.

2.3.19 – 60 minutes of hacking including a canter!  Throughout this challenge my hacking confidence has improved so much and cantering out (on my own) for the first time since my hip replacement was another big step.

3.3.19 – 65 minutes of hacking around the local villages in some serious wind and rain!

Week 8 Summary – 4 hours

Week 9

4.3.19 – 40 minutes of pretty poor schooling split into two 20 minute sessions with a sit and chat in the middle!

8.3.19 – 45 minutes of schooling followed by 10 minutes of in hand cooling off. Some proper cantering today!

9.3.19 – 30 minutes of plodding into the village – a sneaky hack before work.

10.3.19 – 60 minutes of the most terrifying hack ever! I had got up at 5am to hack before a big day of moving house.  The wind was absolutely ridiculous and I honestly thought I was going to either be blown off Pea or fall off when she spooked.  I thought I was going to die!  In previous times I would have turned around and gone home but this time I pushed on which just shows how much my confident has grown.

Week 9 Summary – 3 hours 5 minutes

Week 10

11.3.19 – 10 minutes of stretching for Pea today – I got so involved in a Pony Club rally at the yard that I bailed on riding and spent my time grooming Pea and getting rid of some of her winter fluff instead.

15.3.19 -40 minutes of a truly awful schooling session where nothing seemed to be going right followed by 10 minutes cooling down.

16.3.19 – 60 minutes in the saddle for my lesson.  Pea was working so much better into the contact in trot so we worked on her canter (which didn’t go so well) and her square halts.

17.3.19 – 40 minutes of hacking followed by 15 minutes in the school to practise our square halts and 10 minutes of cooling down.

Week 10 Summary – 3 hours 5 minutes

Week 11

18.3.19 – 40 minutes of schooling.

22.3.19 – 30 minutes of schooling.  I also had a go at picking out Pea’s feet from one side – no problem!

23.3.19 – 60 minutes of hacking in the beautiful spring sunshine!

24.3.19 – 60 minutes of hacking through the villages.

Week 11 Summary – 3 hours 10 minutes

Week 12

28.3.19 – 60 minutes of eventful hacking!  The village that we always hack through was being turned into the set of a film so there were lots of people, unusual objects and noisy tools to hack past then we came across a four horse carriage!

30.3.19 – 60 minutes of hacking – we went back through the village to see how the film set was progressing and there has been lots of turf added to cover the double yellow lines on the road.

31.3.19 – 60 minutes of hacking around the normal route, past all the road closed signs and through the film set for the last time before they keep us well away next week!

Week 12 Summary – 3 hours

19 for 2019 (Facts About Us)

It is a new year and I think it is a good opportunity to introduce myself, Pea and our blog to followers old and new. Here are 19 key pieces of information to get you up to speed!

1. My name is Poppy!
2. I am 27 years old
3. I live in the Cotswolds with my boyfriend and two guinea pigs Peter and Patrick
4. I work in primary education
5. I have UKCC equestrian coaching qualifications (which I don’t currently use) and a horse care diploma (which helps me to look after my precious pony!)
6. I started properly riding 5 years ago after childhood hip problems (Perthes Disease) restricted my activity options when I was younger
7. I now have a ceramic left hip (as of June 2018)
8. My pony’s normal name is Pea but her posh name is Scarlet Sweetpea
9. She is 14hh
10. She is passported as a Welsh Cob but has gypsy origins!
11. She is 13 according to her passport but could be several years either side of that
12. She is barefoot (and always has been so it is not something I have changed)
13. I started riding her at my yard (Bourton Vale Equestrian Centre) 4 and a half years ago and then bought her 3 years ago
14. She lives at the same yard that I bought her from (although we did move for a while) and lives out 24/7
15. My chosen discipline is dressage and we hope to do more of it this year 
16. I started my blog to share my experience of having a hip replacement at 26 and returning to riding afterwards
17. I put out a new blog every weekend
18. I have an Instagram, Facebook page and Twitter feed linked to my blog if you want to see more photos and tales
19. Most of the video footage and photos of both of us were taken by our top supporter, my non horsey boyfriend

2019 Goals!

I’m not generally one for New Year’s Resolutions but I do like to set myself goals (generally with very little time frame restrictions) so here’s some  I intend on working towards in the next year!

Get Strong

The first goal for the year is a bit of a continuation of what I have already been doing and doesn’t really have an end point (so not a SMART target!) but it is to get stronger!  I’m not in the camp of people who want to lose weight or look more ‘insta ready’ but having gone right down to the strength of a marshmallow in July after my hip replacement, I have a whole new appreciation for muscle and core strength.  I know it will help my riding as well as my general continued hip rehab!  The plan is to continue with home physio, do more yoga, more walking and more swimming!

Compete

I can almost hear you reading this and saying ‘come on Poppy, you keep banging on about wanting to compete but you still haven’t done it’.. Well this year is our year. It has been around 17 months since our last real dressage competition (see the picture below) and that is appalling! I now have the transport and the support, just need to rustle up the money and the skills!

Move On

On a more personal note, we hope to move house in the early part of this year. Having already moved ten times since I left my parents’ house in 2010, I am hopeful that we can find somewhere to properly settle in a good location for Pea and both of our work locations AND with space for our guinea pigs and potential future additions to our team.

So there we go! Short, sweet and hopefully achievable!  What are your goals for the year?

5 Things I’m Proud Of (2018)

I’ve decided to join Rhea Freeman’s ‘5 Things I’m Proud Of’ challenge and will be adding one more thing each day until the 31st December!

1 – The Confidence To Make A Change

This started in 2017 when I made the big decision to leave my permanent contract teaching job and follow my dream to a live in job at boarding school stables, but this year (2018) I have made some more major changes.

Firstly, I decided to leave that job in order to return to the Cotswolds for my operation (with no future job lined up!)  Three months into my recovery and feeling much better, I then made the decision to take a HLTA job (rather than try for a full time teaching one) alongside my self employed tutoring.

Both of these big changes have paid off for me so far but I am hoping I don’t have such big decisions to make in 2019!

2 – Getting Out And About

It has certainly been a year of confidence growth!  With a trailer and the commitment of my travelling head lad (boyfriend..) 2018 was meant to be a year for getting out and about with Pea.  The hip replacement put a fairly big brake on this but we still managed to go out for lessons to two different places (in three different arenas).  Riding in different arenas has been great for my confidence, we have now experienced an arena with no fence and been in an indoor arena for the first time ever!

Each time we go out the stress gets less as we establish our routines and roles. I am still nervous about travelling Pea (even though she travels fine) but the more we do it, the more settled I feel. I’m proud of us all for breaking out of our comfort zone.

The intention was to get out to competitions this year too but that wasn’t meant to be.. hopefully we will have more success in 2019!

3 – My Recovery Journey

If you have ever visited my blog before you will know that in June I had a hip replacement.  Quite aside from being proud that I actually did it in the first place (though I made that decision at the end of 2017), I’m proud of how I’ve made it out the other side. 

I’m proud of myself for following the rules of my rehab, for doing my physio exercises, for getting back on my pony and ‘living my life’. 

I’m proud that I am now able to walk tall and (fairly) straight. 

4 – Pea

As you can see in Pea’s Year it has been a big year for Pea. After settling in to life in Malvern she went through the upheaval of moving back to Bourton with no stress or complaints.

After running away from my crutches before my operation, once my hip was done she couldn’t have been more gentle and tolerant of me or the fact that she was being ridden by various tourists!

She responded to each stage of progress with interest and was almost unsure the day I led her out of the stable to get on! She has been pretty much impeccably behaved since, testing me only when I have been ready!

I’m proud of the willingness she has shown when my instructor has ridden her and I’m proud that we are finishing 2018 in a better position than we were at the beginning!

5 – My Blog

If you had asked me at the beginning of 2018 what I would be proud of by the end, the changes, the trailer travel, the operation and Pea would have all been very much on my list, I could never have predicted the fifth thing I’m proud of.

I started my blog with very little expectation or intention but I feel like I have achieved something with it!

• I am proud to have received messages and comments from people who have appreciated me sharing my story (some of whom live in a completely different country!)
• I’m proud to have been shortlisted and given an award in the Equestrian Blogger of the Year competition.
• I’m also proud to be writing again for a purpose other than work!

Happy Half Birthday Hip!

The 19th December was my new hip’s official six month birthday!

It has had a busy time

• 2 nights in hospital
• 2 weeks with a dressing on
• 2 weeks of no showers
• 3 weeks off work
• 6 weeks of anti embolism socks
• 6 weeks off driving
• 2 months of crutch support
• 10 weeks off riding
• 3.5 months OF riding
• 7 physio sessions

If you feel like revisiting the journey so far.. My Hip Story

But where am I now?

Life In General

I’m fully settled into my new job, though desperately pleased it is the Christmas holidays.  I have been ill twice in the last couple of weeks and I think it is my body telling me that it needs a rest – the three weeks off I had after my operation don’t exactly count as a rest and you have to wind back about a year before that to get to the last time I had any proper time off.

Riding

Because I have been under the weather and I’ve been away house sitting, I have given Pea a bit of time off however riding has got so much better.  Feeling both thighs ache after a ‘proper’ ride is amazing – although my left leg still doesn’t work like my right (and both are negatively affected by the way my pelvis is tilted and twisted in the saddle) they are at least both doing something!

I have managed to canter a little bit more this month.  Although I think my trot work is now as good, if not better than it was before my operation, my canter work is behind.  I find it uncomfortable, I’m struggling to sit and keep Pea going.  In fairness, she’s not exactly done much cantering in the last 6 months so she needs strengthening too.  We will get there!  We could do with cantering out so that I can get my bum out of the saddle and she can just go.  I’m making it an aim for the Christmas holidays.  As you can see.. we are seriously lacking skills.

Hip Matters

I actually stopped paying much attention to my scar for a while but recently I’ve been back on the yoga and conscious of how my muscles are shaping up.  As a consequence of this, my eyes have been opened to the fact that I essentially have a big chunk missing from my left bum cheek!  I knew that scars pull the skin in tight but I guess due to the squishy nature of the area, my extended scar dent is something else!  You can actually see it when I’m wearing trousers!  It’s fine, I’m not going to get all funny about it but I have been wondering if it will change or always be that way.  It is very hard to show in pictures but I’ve tried – brace your eyes, here’s some bare flesh!

There isn’t much to report in terms of my range of movement and strength as things are moving very slowly forwards/outwards/upwards!  I am still frustrated that when I cross my legs, my left knee sticks in the air.. it does make yoga interesting.  I think I just need to keep going.  I keep reading about people having more flexibility straight after their operations than they did before, it has been quite the opposite for me.  In fact, I had a para dressage assessment last year and was given a classification due to my restricted movement – does that mean I would still qualify if I was reassessed?

Now that I am being more ambitious with what I am doing, I do have times when my hip twinges, probably because I have moved it in a way it shouldn’t be moved.  I can’t quite classify what ways those are but I’m sure over time I will be able to see more of a pattern.

Aside from the flesh dents, rigidity and flashes of alarm I’m still very pleased with my hip – I am more comfortable walking, sitting and sleeping than I ever was.  I am so much less stiff than I was before.

Here’s to the next 6 months!

Safety First

This week, the very best horsewoman I know got injured by a horse on the ground. It just hit home to me what a dangerous game we all play in the horse world. There is still a massive stigma around wearing safety equipment and I just don’t get it. So here we go, here’s what I think and here’s what I use.

Hats

These days generally you’re frowned upon if you don’t wear a proper hat whilst riding but there are still Pateys worn out hunting and top hats worn in dressage. I was shocked to read in Charlotte Dujardin’s book that she only started wearing a crash hat after a bad incident.  When you think about high profile accidents like Jonty Evans’ fall it doesn’t bear thinking of what would have happened if he wasn’t wearing a hat.

What I want to preach but don’t necessarily practise is that really you should wear a hat when doing ANYTHING with horses.  Leading in and out from the field can be dangerous enough let alone administering first aid.

Obviously a hat only does a good job if it is fitted correctly, up to standard, undamaged and done up (whoops to my picture).  Noone wants to have to buy a new one too often but if you drop it or fall on your head you really should.

I have a Gatehouse HS1 which has served me well for a good few years as an all-rounder but I’d love to either get a Charles Owen or win the lottery and get a Samshield for the future.

Body Protectors

There is a reason all jockeys have to wear body protectors to race and eventers must wear them in the cross country phase!  Anything that reduces the risk of serious injury sounds good to me!

I go through phases with whether I wear mine or not.  I always use one when I’m jumping and on fun rides but I don’t do much of that anymore.  Sometimes I wear mine when hacking, particularly if things are likely to get exciting or if Pea is feeling a bit fresh.  My body protector sometimes acts as a safety blanket too, if I am feeling nervous about riding, for whatever reason, I feel more confident when wearing it.

I am the only adult at my yard who wears one but I don’t care.  Lots of people say they aren’t comfortable but they are a lot more comfortable than being in hospital, take it from me!  Again, a body protector will only do its job if it is correctly fitted to you.

I have an old Racesafe and would thoroughly recommend one to anyone because all the foam pieces mould to your body and are much more comfortable than some other designs.  I will certainly need to upgrade to a new one for when I’ve built up enough stamina for going on fun rides and potentially riding other horses!

High Vis.

‘Be safe, be seen’ is quite a widely adopted hacking adage these days but you still see riders out on the road without it.  I just don’t understand it!  A high vis tabard is not expensive, nor is it particularly fashionable (although you can certainly get more fashionable ones) but it if it saves the life of you, your horse and others then it is a million percent worth wearing as a minimum!

I like to go to town with high vis (even though I never hack out in limited visibility and I’m always back at the yard before dark).  I have pink and yellow Equisafety waistcoats (which have massively useful zip pockets) as standard.  I also have a fantastic pink coat which I was given so I’m not sure where it came from which is great for the winter (and school trips).  My flashing LED breastplate also came from Equisafety – although I don’t use it often, it is quite a fun but functional addition to Pea’s hacking wardrobe.

So there we go.  A lecture from Poppy.  But seriously, safe IS cool.