October 2011
(Click Here for November Blog)
29 October
I
n my current world of not much happening there was huge excitement today (remember
the smallest thing currently can excite me) when I had to do an interview for BBC
Radio Cornwall. As some of you may know Jacko my companion pony (aka Houdini) is
actually a rescue pony from SWEP (South West Equine Protection). SWEP are currently
full at their re-
The interview seemed to go ok,it is always awful listening to yourself back and I
certainly didn't like it! Sarnie who is out with Jacko had her nose firmly out of
joint that I was stood in HER field talking about Jacko -
26th October
Medical update -
I am currently at the stage of throwing everything I can at the leg to help it heal. I have consulted Roger Meacock http://www.naturalhealingsolutions.co.uk/main/page_treatments_summary.html who has sent me some Quinton Plasma tailored to my injury and I will also be having a treatment with his SCENAR therapy. Whilst I will follow the conventional methods to the letter these treatments may help the healing process and if they don't they certainly won't harm it!
One of the worst things I have to do at the moment is inject myself every night in the stomach with a blood thinner to prevent me getting any blood clots. I have injected the horses many times before but to do yourself is not pleasant and I certainly don't give the injection with the same force!
For those of you that hasn't noticed Pippa has now done her first blog and Sarnie is preparing hers!
22nd October
Just added some more course pictures, with the season drawing to a close and only hopefully Aldon left to add I have links to pictures from 74 different venues and 135 different courses. Thank you to everyone that has taken pictures and forwarded them to me and if a course local to you isn't featured then maybe you can find time next year (begs shamelessly) to take some pictures!
I am pleased to say my leg is fairly pain free and last night I had my first decent nights sleep. I am mobile around the house having mastered stairs and can get in and out the car ok so have been to see the girls. Typically Mary has now been kicked, so having had the vet out for her flu jab and teeth the next day he was recalled to see if she needed any stitches on the inside of her forearm. Steve (Otty) was happy to leave it alone worried that to stitch would seal infection in and with it open it can be kept clean and drain properly. Having had a quick look this morning I doubt it will cause any long term problems or leave much of a mark.
When the doctors gave the initial prognosis of at least a year off my reaction was that both Mary and Pippa would have to be sold as they can't spend a year eating grass doing nothing. Hopefully we are now looking at less time so for the moment all will stay and have a holiday until I am better able to get a more accurate timescale. All I know at present is it is 6 weeks on crutches, no weight bearing and 6 weeks more on crutches starting to weight bear. That will be around 3 months before I can drive again. The consultant was going to check with a hip expert a what stage I can realistically start riding. I have an appointment to see him on the 4 November so really hoping I may get a better idea then.
Finally for now (expect frequent boring updates!) I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has offered help and support since my accident. I have been overwhelmed by the kindness of everyone.
20th October -
Having been pleased to finish the season on a good note things have gone dramatically
downhill resulting in a hospital stay and a significant unknown time not riding!
It was a simple accident with some very serious consequences!
The accident involved Mary but it could have equally been the other two, I don't want her to get a bad reputation because of it as she remains a lovely horse, but she is a baby. I rode her for the first time on Sunday, lunged her then got on and walked and trotted around the small block where she was hesitant in places but didn't put a foot out of place. Monday I repeated the exercise however problems came leaving the yard. The yard entrance goes out onto a narrow road and as I walked out onto the road a car was coming down so I turned back to the entrance and waited for it to come by, this happened a second and a third time confusing Mary who is only just backed. The 4th time of asking she whipped round which horses have done to me many times over the years, this time for some reason I lost my balance and hit the road. I knew straight away I was hurt and in fact couldn't get up. I was rather hoping the hi viz jacket would save me from being run over, typically after traffic causing our mishap no car came by for 5 minutes!
Eventually a man stopped asking if I had fallen off (hat, chaps and stick may have given it away that I had been riding?) and helped me to the yard entrance. I was then helped to the yard and an ambulance called as I couldn't put the foot to the floor. In the meantime Mum arrived from work (having broken a few speed limits I believe) to see what damage had been done and follow the ambulance to the nearest hospital. The paramedics were great although I probably wouldn't have let the driver loose in a horse lorry as he could have done with being a bit smoother!
Neither the doctor when I arrived or the paramedics believed I had broken anything
as prodding of my pelvis and leg all left me relatively pain free, having broken
bones before I was fairly confident something wasn't working quite right! The x rays
unfortunately proved me right and I had fractured my hip. This basically means the
ball at the top of the leg bone had broken away from the main bone. What I didn't
realise and soon came to frighten me was what a serious injury it was. There are
a number of ways of repairing it and in the elderly a hip replacement is used, in
young people (for these purposes I am young) this would cause major issues both long
and short term. Both the junior doctor and when I saw him the consultant said there
was a chance I wouldn't be able to ride to the same standard ever and if I could
it may be a year or 2! Well that just about finished me. I emphasised to the consultant
how important riding was to me and we came to understanding that he would do everything
to get me riding as soon as possible but I would also follow any instructions to
the letter. The consultant Mr Butler was actually very good and has recently come
back from a war zone with the army patching troops up. He promised me he would treat
me the same -
So at midnight I was in theatre luckily unaware of the work going on to put me back
together! I came too in recovery a few hours later and was returned to the ward where
I slept though breakfast and wasn't even too disturbed by the blood pressure monitor
checking me every hour. Mr Butler came up to see me later reporting the operation
had gone as well as he could have hoped and the fracture had been reduced quickly,
he had inserted 2 screws and some sort of nut thingy to hold all in place. He was
consulting a hip specialist regarding my riding prognosis and would be checking up
on me in 2 weeks at the fracture clinic. At this point in time I can be riding somewhere
between 3 and 12 months -
I managed to escape hospital within 36 hours of the operation, as soon as it was established I was stable on crutches I was allowed home :) I have to say I couldn't fault the care I had but the food is another story!!
So the nature of this blog will change for a bit although there will be news on my horses and maybe other horsey happenings it is going to focus more on my quest for a speedy recovery. It certainly will be as regular as in the main I will be stuck at home for the next 3 months so you will be hearing plenty from me!
15th October -
Where has the season gone? Sadly Larkhill was the last event for this season and I really wanted to end on a good note. Quite a relaxing event as we didn't start dressage until after 3 so we managed to catch up on some much needed sleep having collected Mary in the middle of Thursday night! (Will catch you up with Mary and her arrival tomorrow).
My first visit to Larkhill and I had been warned not to fall off as horses can disappear, never to be seen again. Walked the course and thought it was lovely had a few questions but not as technical as some we had done. Very open and forward track although a few places where you could easily make a mistake including skinnies at 5ab and a step up to a double of skinny roll tops at 10. See course pictures page for all courses.
Pip was very full of herself and banging in the lorry not appreciating her late start. Lunged her for 20 minutes around lunchtime more for the peace and quiet factor than anything else!! Then went and did something I hate doing and spent money! Having put a hole in my hacking jacket out cubbing and being many years old it was definitely time for an upgrade! Horses in Sport had a very nice jacket at a reasonable price and even better machine washable. The problem was there were none in my size of 12 and the 14 was a little large, I was rather delighted to squeeze in a size 10!!!! Only problem is I can't afford to put any weight on, so no over doing it this winter.
So new jacket on and off to the dressage. It was the dreaded test 111 again. I thought overall it was better than at Dauntsey although she changed again in the right counter canter and the halts weren't established (a problem with teaching rein back) so I was disappointed with a mark of 41.5. I have to say watching it back on the video I can see so much need for improvement and places where the marks were lost. It is frustrating as I feel I should have improved this phase quicker but we now have a winter to work on it.
Anyway I never heard the dressage score until we went cross country as we had a quick turn around to show jumping. The course was relatively straightforward and not the biggest yet clear rounds were not that frequent and in the final tally only about a third went clear. Pip jumped a nice round but although it doesn't show on the video we gave two fences a clout and had luck on our side as they stayed up resulting in a clear round.
So we went to cross country knowing another point was well within our grasp. As I was in the start box the commentator was saying next to start etc etc and then gave my dressage score which rather took the wind out my sails! Started over 4 simple fences before fence 5 a double of slightly off set narrow logs which she really locked onto and jumped great. Unfortunately in the video clip Mum loses us over 5 as we were quite a way from the camera.
Over the far side of the course there were some decent upright rails to a drop which she jumped very well, this was followed by a step up to two skinny roll tops, I fiddled a bit much into the step and lost my line but she was very honest and genuine and gave me no risk of a run out. A few simple ones before the video picked us up again at the brush to the corner where I was a bit defensive and added a stride to be safe, it may have ridden better on 4 strides. The water followed and she jumped well particularly as the setting sun was right in our eyes. A few straightforward fences to finish although we had a bit of a miss at the penultimate and we finished only 3 seconds over the time.
It was her most mature cross country round to date she made it feel very easy. So
another point and although I didn't expect a placing after our rotten dressage score
we were good enough to be 8th. So a great way to finish the season and very excited
about her in 2012.
Thanks to Nick Perry (http://www.nickperryphotography.co.uk/) for the lovely pictures.
13th October
All go, just on the way to pick up Mary who is arriving about Midnight! Hope the poor girl is not too knackered when she gets home. I am going to be tired tomorrow but we leave after lunch for Larkhill with Pippa. Don't do dressage til just after 3 then all finished by 5 on Saturday. Will be a big update when we get back but keep your eye on Facebook for brief updates.
11th October
I am currently going through one of my inadequate stages! I'm working hard before
Larkhill on Saturday to improve Pip's dressage. The problem is I know what I want
to achieve but I seem to lack the co-
The good news is it looks like Mary will be arriving Wednesday or Thursday, can't wait to see her in the flesh, shame we are away for a few days straight after but should be able to focus on her when we get back.
7th October
I am glad that a relatively quiet weekend is in front of me. For some reason I am totally knocker! I am pleased to say Sarnie is much better so will just have a few quiet weeks and probably see Liz after Pau. Frustratingly Mary is still in Ireland with no immediate prospect of a lorry coming to the South West, shame we can't get her on a plane!! Pip is ticking over with Larkhill our last event next weekend, would be sods law that Mary arrives then scuppering our plans!
4th October
We put Sarnie's shoe back on today and although not sound she is looking a lot better so have my fingers firmly crossed that she will be ok in a week or so. I have spoken to Liz Brown who has done most of Sarnie's veterinary work and if she is not right in a couple of weeks or if I have any doubts I will take her up to see her when she gets back from Pau.
In the meantime I am hoping there will be a new equine arrival this week as I have
bought another horse. Mary (I know not the best name but unlucky to change it), she
is a 4 year old bay mare (another one) who has just been backed in Ireland but is
a totally clean slate. She is by the stallion Cavaliere whos father is a full brother
to Cavalier Royal and has some fantastic jumping lines. I have taken a punt and bought
her unseen although I have seen pictures, videos and she has a clean veterinary certificate.
She also comes from the same person (Joanne Fairbrother at Avonmill Equestrian) who
Pippa came to Cornwall from, so a very trusted source. I hope it will be an exciting
horse to watch progress.
We are currently waiting for a lorry to come out of Ireland in this direction to bring her down to Cornwall. Watch this space and I am sure there will be plenty of pictures of the new arrival.
2nd October -
Sorry there has been no updates in my absence but the reception was poor and I seemed to be on the go non stop! I was very lucky to enjoy a morning cubbing on Thursday with the Beaufort Hunt on a lovely hunter Beanie Sturgis lent me. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, it was a pleasure to join them for a morning.
The event got under way and I spent Friday and Saturday acting as health and safety officer as well as helping at the secretary's and scoreboard writing. I enjoy seeing the events from the other side and have admiration for those people that help regularly and do such an excellent job.
Moving onto the important bit our turn came at last on the Sunday. Nice times and great to be stabled on site, the weather was amazing and actually too hot for eventing. Dressage was my least favourite test 111 which we still struggle with. Considering last time at Dauntsey we scored 48 a score of 40 was an improvement. Two major mistakes including a wrong strike off which is unacceptable and an inability to maintain counter canter on the right rein lost us lots of marks.
There was quite a quick turn around to show jumping, the course was bright but didn't jump that well all weekend, with a fair share of poles falling. Pip jumped one of her best rounds so it was really frustrating to roll the final pole on the treble.
Cross country as is always the case at Dauntsey was a decent track. Very similar to what we jumped in July but a few changes including the drop to triple brush was now a drop to a corner and the quarry had a triple brush coming out. Course pictures are here . There was a fair gap between SJing and XC so I hosed Pip down and quickly nipped out to see how the xc was riding. The offset brushes at 8 caused a few falls and there was a lot of run outs at the triple brush coming out the quarry at 10. I looked closely and contemplated the alternative but she is experienced enough now to attempt this.
Set off over first 3 fences, at the rail to big ditch at 5 she saw a crocodile in the bottom of the ditch and rather launched into orbit! Had a nice line through the offset hedges at 8 and over the ditch and rails at 9. We approached the quarry at 10 which had a hanging log in before coming out and turning to the triple brush, unfortunately with the light into dark she just misjudged it catching the top and pecking on landing, I was not in danger of falling but slipped the reins and made the decision to switch to the alternative which wasted time. There were a few big plain fences which she flew before the drop to the corner, it was one of those rare time that I managed to ride the line and striding exactly as I walked! A slight curve and a perfect 4 strides. Over the white rails through the water and over the bounce before setting off for home.
We finished with 9.6 time which seeing the time was very tight and we had taken an
alternative I was very pleased with. She also finished well considering just how
hot the weather was, she made the decent course feel quite small! We finished 14th
in a high class field so another very good day.
| Sarnita |
| Pippa |
| Mary |
| Jacko |
| My Blog |
| Equine Blog |
| Calendar |
| Keratoma Case Study |
| Season Review |
| Archive Blogs |
| Archive Equine Blog |
| Course Pictures A-F |
| Course Pictures G-M |
| Course Pictures M-S |
| Course Pictures T-Z |