Never a dull day
Posted on April 14th, 2013 by Rob WaineAs I sit and write this dare I say, it seems Spring is finally here!!! The clocks have changed and there seems to be a bright yellow thing shining in the sky!!
I feel for the poor eventers who over the past few weeks have had event after event cancelled due to horrendous ground conditions. The one of the eventers I teach was all ready for her first show of the season but fell foul of the awful weather. She’s even muttered about turning to the dark side of dressage for a few weeks!!!! Things must be bad…
So since my last blog life has been a little manic… There never seems to be a dull day!
Last week, Rhodesia, his owner, Lynne, Rosie and I travelled down to the NAF British Dressage Winter Championships at Hartpury College. This was Robbie’s first time staying away from home and he settled so well, almost like he had been doing it for years. With the massive scare of EHV, British Dressage had taken steps with local vets to ensure every horse was given a full health check before being admitted into the stable area. Robbie wasn’t really that sure about someone poking a thermometer up his bum, I don’t blame him either!
On the first evening I worked him in the very busy warm up arena. He was a little tense to begin with, there are never normally that many horses in our arena at home…but after a while settled and worked really well. It was an early night for both him and us as we had to be up for the 6.30am arena walk. A chance to show him the surroundings of the main arena before the big thing! The next morning we arrived to find his lordship had firmly made himself right at home, as he was sprawled out on the floor. I think he wondered what on earth was going on as we were tacking him up……dare I say BEFORE breakfast!!!!
The arena walk went well, Hartpury is quite a scary place, a little like a lion pit with arena seating rising one side, shops on the other and a lorry very conveniently parked in the corner, perfect for the photographers to poke out from behind! All good practice for Olympia in a few years time 😉 😉
Our time was 4.50pm so the rest of the day was spent, polishing, grooming and primping. Then the time came……Warmup was amazing, we were called for the 10 minute box and then in…….and……..Robbie’s eyes were on stalks… babies screaming, people walking right next to the arena, rustling noises. I could feel his little heart pounding away underneath me. We made it around the arena a couple of times after big reassuring pats from me and the bell rang. The first part of the test was tense but then it was almost like he heard his music, recognized it and relaxed. He is such a pleasure to ride; I could stay on him all day. I wasn’t too sure what sort of score we were going to end up on, as tension can be costly. We weren’t that concerned though as the main objective was that he had a great experience for the long road ahead. Our score came through and it was a very respectable 71.11% and gave us 4th place. We were and still are absolutely over the moon. Having only had the ride since the end of November, it has been a bit of a whirlwind. We are all so exciting about the future with this guy… He’s back home now and we will give him a holiday for a few days, chilling in his field and being feed copious amounts of Granny Smith’s apples!!!
Talking of the future!!!! Since my last post I am pleased to announce that I am now sponsored by Protexin Equine Premium. Their products are fantastic and have worked wonders on Rhodesia’s tummy causing him to gain so much condition in such a sort space of time. I am really proud to be associated with such an amazing product and look forward to working with them. You can find more info about them on their facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/Protexin-Equine-Premium/225520744391
or website:
