I have had Alfie for 4 years and have always been proud of
the fact I had never fallen off him, that is until I fell off him two weekends
in a row!!
At the end of Feb, with our first event of the season
looming we decided to head off to Bishop Burton affiliated showjumping for a
final prep. The day was set to be a disaster from the start, while I was
putting Alfie on the lorry my gorgeous little Jack Russell, Maple, decided to
run off chasing a rabbit round the farm and in the process ran straight out of
the wood, onto the road and got hit by a car. I was absolutely devastated when
the man in the car came into the yard to tell me and was so utterly relieved to
find her alive, albeit with a broken leg. We got her straight to the vets to
find she had a bad break but everything else was ok. The leg needed pinning but
hopefully she would be ok. The whole thing was horrible and made me realise
even more just how much I love her.
As Maple was OK and on cage rest for the remainder of the
weekend mum and I decided to head off to Bishop Burton to help take my mind off
it…I should have known this was a bad idea! I took Alfie in the 1.05m class and
having jumped the first 4 fences beautifully; I dithered coming down a distance
causing him to crash through the fence and fling me off against the arena
boards. Fortunately Alfie and I were both OK but my pride was significantly
dented with the long walk out of the arena!! In order to get our confidence
back we decided to go back on the Sunday and Alfie showed what he’s made of by
winning the British Novice. It was a nice sweetener for us and meant I felt
better prepared for Oasby Horse Trials the following week.
One week on we headed off for Oasby feeling positive and
ready. Alfie performed a lovely dressage test leaving us in provisional second
place and then built on this by jumping clear in the showjumping. It was all to
play for going into the cross country phase and with Alfie being so consistent in
this phase I was really excited at the thought of a top 5 finish at our first
event of the season. That is until I managed to get him in too deep the corner
5 from home and come off him…..again!!
It was the first time my air jacket has gone off and I wondered what the
heck it was!! As we were both ok I was allowed to get back on and complete,
which was nice and meant I could make sure he was OK and hadn’t dented his
confidence too much.
Both of these incidents have reminded me that Alfie is not a
machine and he still needs riding properly in order to get the best out of him.
We are now entered at Lincoln this weekend so I am looking forward to the
opportunity to put things right. Hopefully it was a one off and we will be back
on track in no time!
Maple is doing well but is sick to death of having to wear
the cone on her head to stop her licking her stitches. Hopefully she will be
back at full strength and causing havoc soon!
Herbie is going really well, Mum has had some fabulous BD
results with 4 wins out of 4 in her last two outings and he is also jumping
well with me at home. Mum’s increased knowledge of what makes him tick is
meaning she can really help me with him which is great. The plan is to get him
out eventing in April and build towards the Grassroots Regional Finals later in
the year.
For now the plan is to stay firmly in the saddle and enjoy
this lovely Spring weather we are experiencing!
Best Wishes,
Lucinda (and team)
