Things have quietened down a bit since the national championships (thankfully), and it’s back to business as usual for all the other horses on the yard. With 20 horses in on the yard, we have a selection of competition horses, young horses coming through and horses in for schooling, so every day needs careful planning to make sure nothing is missed.
Now is a good time for the top horses to have a bit of down time, allowing me to concentrate on the rest. It’s time to get back to some sort of normality and get things straight at home. That’s taking some doing, considering we have concentrated a lot this year on the Europeans and grand prix.
Gorgeous Jorge
You may remember our new arrival earlier in the year, Fatal Attraction or gorgeous Jorge (picture top) to his friends. He was bought by Charlotte Hogg for me to ride and campaign towards Rio, which seems like such a long way off at the moment.
Jorge is only 6 and at the start of his competitive career, but is already a firm favourite on the yard and really makes me smile. We had our very first little outing last week, only a local show at Field House, but it was lovely to get him out and learn a bit more about him.
He was an angel and the show was a great building block for the future. We took 2 horses from the yard, a 6-year-old and another 10 years his senior. Guess which one was the most well behaved… yes, the 6-year-old!
An annual MOT
We are now packing for squad training this week, which includes our annual review. It will be good to see the team again and get some treatment from the support staff and a good check over. A great MOT for horse and rider. It’s also Jorge’s first big boy squad training, so fingers crossed he takes it all in his stride.
I’ve also moved my retired Beijing horse, Touchdown, back to my trainer’s Angela Weiss’ yard in Nottingham. Touchy was retired due to a keratoma in his hoof that grew back after being removed. He has spent the last 4 years babysitting the babies at home, a very important job. At the moment however he seems to be (I can’t bear to say the word and jinx him) — so lets just say he’s moving very well, and I have had a little sit on him. Fingers crossed…
Sophie
