Some photographs of Grace at home

She is home!

The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful! In fact, I do not think I have been ‘normal’ since November 2007 when this all started. I feel as though I have been on a complete emotional rollercoaster and to a certain extent I am still riding on it.

The good news is that Grace is now home. She travelled perfectly in the horsebox and came off the ramp incredibly quickly at the other end, she seemed so pleased to be home. Since then, Grace has been on complete box rest, with a tiny respite of being tied up outside her box while I muck out and put her bed down. She has been incredibly well behaved, if anything she has been quite quiet and calm. She is on Equine America’s So Kalm which I do think is helping, but I also think the fact she has been in this state since November has made her an old hand at it!

The first part of the recovery is four weeks of box rest which will conclude on 23rd April when I can then start walking her on board. Hopefully, with the help of ACP we will be walking for 20 minutes for a period of three weeks, increasing to 35 minutes by the end. After this, she will return to the surgery for a reassessment where she will hopefully be 100% sound!

The vet came up on Friday to change her bandages for the first time and there is one further change required tomorrow (Tuesday). I will probably continue bandaging her at night with some pads and a dressing over the wounds at night as she lies down a lot and I would like to keep it as clean as possible. However, I will speak to the vet regarding this when he comes out tomorrow.

There was a slight swelling on the right hind when he came on Friday, but the left hind looked really good. I did not get a change to see the incision, but when he comes out tomorrow I am planning on taking some photographs so I can compare these to ones later on in the healing.

Our visit to hospital

After the operation on Thursday, I have been dying to see my girl So I go up at 6.30am, mucked out Hannah and set off for the hour and a half journey to Yorkshire so I could be there for the visiting hours of 9-10am.

It was gorgeous and snowy over there, so I took a few pictures as we left the vets.

As we arrived (I dragged my Mum out of bed) the vet explained she had just had her bandages changed because she had trashed them last night. Grace had been very good having them changed and looked well.

So we walked to where she was stabled through the snow and I couldn't wait to see my girl! I walked into the stable block but I didn't know which one she was in... I clicked her and shouted her name very softly and I heard a huge commotion and then her familiar deep whicker. She went crazy as soon as she heard me and just kept whickering and stretching her neck to see me. I had some polos in my pocket so gave her all of those, lots of scratches and a few tears of joy at seeing her. Even my Mum filled up when she saw Grace's reaction to hearing me!

We did take some pictures, but the battery was dying (plus my Mum was taking them ) so they are a bit rubbish...

Grace is out of surgery

I have been unable to concentrate on anything for the past few days, as all I have been able to think about is my gorgeous girl going through another GA. The questions have been running through my mind day and night making it near impossible to sleep and I have just been completely irrational about everything!

I have been waiting for the phone call all morning as she went in for surgery at 9am... and finally at 12.45pm I received it (cue shaking hands, inability to breathe properly and tears welling up!)

Grace is up and settled! The operation was successful and straight forwards. The nerves were easy to locate and she did well under the general anaesthetic which is good news. This is the best Birthday present I could have wished for and it also feels like fate. We bought her on 20th March and she has now been operated on and come through it exactly a year from then!!!

I'm absolutely devastated!

I took Grace over to Halifax this morning for a scan and lameness work up on the suspensory ligament injury which was diagnosed in November. It was an acute injury, therefore we underwent four sessions of the shock wave therapy and injections into the ligament itself. I took her back five weeks ago and there was a good improvement from the first scan, and I was told I could start walking her under saddle, increasing this time up to 60 minutes before returning for the next scan...

Which brings me to today... Firstly, the specialist asked me to trot her up! No easy task when it is windy and she has not been trotted for months!!! Anyway, off we went, and after some serious bucks and squeeling I got her trotting up for him. She looked pretty sound on the straight, so we took her into the school (after a little shot of ACP) and she was lunged. Immediately I could see she was not quite sound Peter agreed and said that she had improved because originally she had been 3/10 lame on a circle and now she is 1/10. But he wanted to scan it anyway... I watched the scans and could again see a good improvement to the shape of the ligament and the fibre patterns. There were some areas where the patterns were not perfect, but again, an improvement!

As Grace was coming around Peter went through what he could see from the scans. He said she was not as far a long as we would have hoped at this stage, but all horses heal differently. However, he did say that the ligament was still more enlarged than the right one and this could just be the way it would heal... He told me that she could start going out in the field, and then I was to begin introducing small amounts of trot for the next six weeks. If she was still unsound after this time, then we would have to talk about the denerving operation... So, that is how we left it!I loaded Grace (again, she loaded perfectly) and set off for home. However, my brain started whizzing around and I was more upset than I realised. I was devastated that she had not improved much since the previous scan even though I have been really sticking to the plan, and realised that this waiting game is really affecting not just my sanity but also my whole outlook on life!

We pulled into the first services and Peter had very kindly given me his mobile number should I need it... and this was one of those situations! I phoned him and just voiced my concerns. We are getting to the edge of the insurance limit with this one, and 6 more weeks is effectively two more months of waiting and costs (ie. more scans at that point). I told him that I had been thinking about having the operation done now as opposed to six weeks time and he said he thought this was a very wise decision! She may never come sound if we carry on this waiting game, as the ligament is not reducing in size as hoped... and the more I think about it the more I am wondering whether this injury was perhaps not as acute as we seemed to think! So, she is booked in for 20th March (my birthday).

Please everyone keep everything crossed for her that day... to say I am devastated is an understatement. I just cannot stop the tears now the decision has been made, but I cannot bare to think that I will never ride this gorgeous girl again. At least if she has the operation, we have more of a chance of returning to where I always dreamed she would be!

Only three days to go...

I finally got hold of Peter Scholefield and Grace is now booked in for the scan on Tuesday at 11am. I am already starting to worry about it and praying for good news! Originally I was supposed to be driving up to Yorkshire with my husband, but he is unable to come with me now so it will be just Grace and I going up to Shelf!

Please keep your fingers crossed for us...

She is now doing 60 minutes of walking under saddle and feels as though she is settling into a little more now. My husband took some pictures for me, so I hope you can see how well she is looking now.

Week four of walking...

Grace and I are now on our fourth week of walking under saddle. It has been incredibly tough, as one minute she is laid back and the next she is turning herself inside out over something and nothing. I am still not quite sure how I have managed to stay on board all this time; we still have a week or so to go yet too!

I have booked Grace’s next scan for 19th March, I am hoping and praying that there is more good news regarding the ligament because she is certainly feeling well in herself. I know she has lost muscle, but I have never seen her look so well! Her coat is in great condition, she is well covered (usually I have difficulty keeping the weight on her especially in winter) and is full of life. I have been riding her as forwards as I can to try and stop the spooks and explosions, but at the moment every time I put my leg on her she is sinking down on her hocks and teaching herself piaffe, so goodness knows what state the ligament will be in!

Although the scan is not for another two weeks, I am currently trying to contact Peter Scholefield as I am struggling to keep her quiet and walking. She is very eager to get going, and feels as though she is a coiled spring waiting to explode... she is on a calmer, but it does not seem to be doing us much good. I am hoping that we could perhaps bring the scan forwards a week so that we could start some trot work if everything is progressing as it should do. That will be another day for me to worry about! I swear that I am going to take up gold fish!!!

Another small step towards normality

Grace has been doing really well since coming home three weeks ago. It is now 7 weeks since she had colic surgery and just under 6 weeks since she came out of Leahurst Equine Hospital. It has been a real emotional rollercoaster since I had her back because she has been as quiet as a lamb one minute (so I have been worried she is becoming ill again) and then a passaging lunatic the next (which makes me worry about the scar and the ligament).

I have been slowly increasing the amount of time spent walking her in the arena and down the lane. She is not that interested in the grass, and the field have been either incredibly wet or frosty so I have not risked taking her in just in case. In the back of my mind though I have been very concerned about her injury to the left hind suspensory ligament because of how athletic she has been since coming home. Because of this, I could not wait much longer for fear of going crazy, so I booked her in for a scan in Halifax this week.

Grace loaded perfectly and as always she travelled wonderfully. We got there and I felt as though I had been holding my breath for the entire journey... but I would be holding it for a little while longer while they scanned it!

Peter sedated Grace, clipped the areas of her ligament and then started having a look at the left one compared to the right. I tried looking at the images, but I couldn’t really make them out enough to know what was happening in there. Suddenly, Peter said, “Right, can we have the lights back!” My heart sank... it was bad news; the ligament had not healed at all and we were back to square one!

Peter could see the look on my face I think, but never once passed over the details. He explained to me that the ligament had definitely improved and was now much more like the right one which was fantastic news! There is still some inflammation, but he said he was very happy with her progress and normally she would now start her ridden work in walk. He knows about her colic surgery, and while she was sedated he had a really good look and feel of her scar, remarking that it was lovely and neat and healing extremely well.

I asked whether I should start increasing her time of being walked in hand as I didn’t want to do the next stage of the colic surgery as it involves turnout in a paddock and would wreck all the healing her ligament has done. I have spoken to Leahurst, and they said to up her walking and to continue as I was doing, so this is what I had planned. Peter looked at the scar again and said that rather than turning her out he wanted me to do 2 more weeks of walking her in hand (taking us to the end of the first two months colic recovery period) and then get on her and walk her for 30 minutes, increasing gradually over four weeks!!! I cannot believe it... I had pencilled in our first ride on 16th April, but it has now been brought forwards to 17th February. Obviously it is just walking, whereas at the end of the colic recovery the idea is to bring them back into normal work, but the ligament now needs strengthening and Peter would rather have her ridden in a controlled form of exercise than honing around in a paddock!

Needless to say, I am incredibly excited but still know the ligament might need further treatment if the scan in 6 weeks shows no more improvement. But for now, all I wanted was an improvement, and that is exactly what I got (plus the chance to get on my gorgeous girl again!)

Grace is certainly feeling well!

Grace has settled in really well at the new yard. Her appetite has certainly returned, but we did have some issues getting some hard feed into her because she kept turning her nose up at it! Before she went away to Leahurst she was on Dengie’s Healthy Hoof and her supplements (Cortaflex and MSM for her ligament). I do not know whether horse’s brains work in the same way as ours and relate certain tastes to events, but as soon as I put the Healthy Hoof in she was not interested in the slightest. I was a bit worried she was not interested, so also put a bucket of Alfa A in which she wolfed it down.

Gradually I have been swapping her on to the Alfa A and she does seem to be eating it all... I have also added some TopSpec Balancer to her feed so she gets all the vitamins and minerals she needs and she went onto Coligone while she was at the YEC. To encourage her to eat, Dengie suggested trying her with some Alfa Beat too which seems to be helping.

I feel as though I have turned into a completely paranoid owner though. I just hope when she is back fit and well, life might restore to normality. I am meeting myself going backwards at the moment, and seem to be spending far too much time at the yard! Grace has to be walked at least twice for 15-20 minutes and have some grass. We started by walking up and down the drive and getting some grass that way, but she was too busy being nosy to eat. The yard owner offered me a small field where I could hand graze her which has made a real difference. She will now eat constantly for 15 minutes without lifting her head.

Her ligament still needs some exercise though, so I have been taking her for some grass and then walking her for a further 10 minutes on the drive. However, last night this really did not go to plan! Grace started squeeling and bucking to the point where she was doing handstands... I was so worried about her pulling her scar or even worse causing some damage to the internal scarring. She did three bucks in a row and I managed to get her back walking forwards but then she set off again and was passaging at the side of me. I was wincing just thinking about her tummy, but I couldn’t escape the fact that she looked absolutely beautiful!

Her scar was a little warm when I brought her back in, but when my husband Andy checked her an hour later she was munching her haylage and very content... I just had to check she was still ok though!

This morning I was ready for a repeat of last night. Armed with my Richard Maxwell halter we did things a little differently and went straight for some grass rather than walking for a while. She behaved impeccably having the grass, and even leading her back from the field she did not pull or get worked up. I decided to take her into the arena because I am worried that one day I will not be able to hold her on the path and she will get away from me. At least in the arena it is only a 40mx20m area, whereas there are several 20 acre fields she can get in on the lane!

As we walked into the arena she erupted, but I calmly asked her to halt with the pressure halter, step backwards one stride and then we carried on. We walked in the arena for around 10 minutes, and although there were several moments when she felt as though she was going to stress, I just applied the pressure and she halted abruptly. So I was very pleased with her because it was much better than last night. Ideally she should be walked on a hard surface for her ligament, but I am going to speak to Peter Scholefield about taking her in the arena, and also to book her in for the final scan on the ligament.

Although her silliness had me panicking and worried, it made me realise how athletic she really is. If she moves like that four weeks after surgery, what will she be like when she is fit again... I am determined to get her to the highest level she can achieve, no matter what it takes!

She is home!

It has been almost a month since Grace was at home, but this morning Andy and I set off to pick her up! I could not sleep at all last night because I was incredibly excited and was pacing the house at 5am... At least I had time to get some breakfast, a cup of tea and the ride Hannah before we left the yard.

We got to the YEC at 11.30am and Grace went straight to the back of the stable as she always does when she sees her travel boots. We loaded her and she was a bit hesitant again, but got the hang of it eventually. However, she travelled perfectly and did not look fazed at all when I unloaded her at the new yard.

Grace went straight in her stable and started smelling her turnout rug that was on the pole in her stable. As soon as she had established some of the things in there were hers she started wickering for haylage and delved in as soon as Andy put some in for her... Her appetite has certainly returned which is a good sign!

The farrier arrived about forty minutes after we did and she behaved impeccably while he put some new shoes on for her and she stood getting some sun on her back at the same time. I wanted to get some fresh air to her skin because she has come up in little lumps which have now turned into scabs. I remember she had them when she came to me last November and went as soon as she had been clipped. So I think it is something to do with being hairy!

She is now tucked up in her lovely fluffy bed and I cannot wait to see her in the morning. Hearing that distinctive whinny today when I was walking around on the yard just made me feel so grateful that I have her back, I have really missed that noise!

Grace is out of hospital

This week has emotionally been one the worst I have ever experienced. I have been constantly waiting for the phone to ring with bad news, and when it rings and it is good news I just keep crying! It has been a real emotional rollercoaster and not one I wish to ever repeat!

The last few days of her being in hospital brought more improvements, but also some small setbacks. She came out of isolation having tested negative for salmonella, started being walked four times a day and on normal rations. However, when I was planning on picking her up on 23rd December, a vet phoned me to say she had a swollen right hind and left fore which they wanted to keep an eye on. He also said that she had an oedema ‘under’ her scar which I took as meaning it was actually beneath the wound itself.

I rushed over to see her because I was quite worried what all of this meant, but she looked great. Yes, the legs were slightly warm and a bit swollen but nowhere near as bad as I thought they were going to be and the swelling ‘under’ the scar was actually behind it where the bandage had stopped. The surgeon came and spoke to me and said they were pleased with her progress and I could take her out for a walk and some grass.

Mel telephoned me on Christmas Day to say the legs were looking better, but she had developed swellings on her body from the introduction of feed. I quickly explained that this was completely normal for Grace. The good news was that I could pick her up on Boxing Day!

Dad and I got to Leahurst at 12pm and I read all of her discharge notes, asked all the questions I could think of, and then got her ready to travel to the Yorkshire Equine Centre where she will be staying while we go on holiday. I was a bit concerned because she has never travelled or loaded into a horsebox, but I need not have worried. She stood on the ramp for a while until she could work out how to put her back legs on, but she travelled fantastically and unloaded as though she had done it one hundred times before.

I am due to pick her up on 9th January when we come home... I cannot wait to have her back with me!

Update - 17/12/07

I have just had a phone call from the resident vet Mel...

Grace has had a quiet night, but still has diarrhoea which they expected. She is still in isolation, but the good news is that her temperature is down to normal and her heart rate seems to have normalised too. They are going to check her heart just to make sure, but no vet has ever commented or picked up on a heart murmur from her, so it is looking as though it was the pain causing this. She is also slightly anaemic which can also cause the heart murmurs.

They have sent the biopsy off to the lab, but she did say they are not expecting to find anything nasty... she also said that although she is being tested for salmonella, the fact her temperature is low is a good sign, and her white cells have come up a bit since the last test.

She is also a bit brighter this morning, but still very quiet. They are going to try her with a few handfuls of haylage, and anything that they can get her to eat so are also suggesting something like Readigrass.

Grace has undergone colic surgery

As if we have not been through enough this year, on Thursday afternoon Grace started being really quiet, not eating and her eyes went dull. I checked on her before I left and she had started pawing so I phoned the vet immediately. John Gilliver was on call, and he examined her. She had a high temperature, a slightly raised heart rate but no real increased gut movement.

He gave her a shot of antibiotics and bute and arranged to come back the following morning.

I got down to the yard early and she did not seem any better and was pawing again... so John gave her another shot of antibiotics, bute and a shot of buscopan too. Her temperature had come down though, and her heart rate was normal.

Later in the day she had gone downhill again... the vet came back out, gave her another shot of buscopan and she seemed to perk up a little and started eating some little bits of hay which was an encouraging sign. However, she gradually went more and more downhill and on Saturday morning she was referred to Leahurst veterinary hospital.

The hospital ran lots of tests and everything pointed towards colic. I left her there being monitored carefully, and did not hear from them until this afternoon. I received a phone call at 2.30pm saying that she had improved through the night, but this morning was much lower than she had been, and was lay flat out at lunch time when the resident checked on her again. They did another rectal and couldn’t get their arm past the elbow due to the small colon being so very distended. They asked whether I would consent to her having surgery, which of course I did, and then the waiting began.

At 6.30pm I received a phone call from the resident, Mel, and she said that Grace was awake and up... however, she had had a very tough time through the anaesthetic and there had been a few complications. They did not find any impaction as they thought they would do, but the small colon was full of gas which was causing it to distend. They let this gas out, and the good news is that everything was where it should be. However, because she has such bad diarrhoea they have taken some more samples and a biopsy to test for colitis and grass sickness.

It is very much a waiting game now and the next 48 hours are critical for her!

6-8 weeks of box rest begins!

I received a phone call from Peter Scholefield as we were driving back from Halifax on Thursday evening. I wanted to take her some feed up and another rug because the temperature suddenly dropped and she is very sensitive to cold weather.

Peter explained that he no longer thought it was a stifle problem as there was just not enough improvement when nerve blocked. When he moved to the hock, the nerve block improved things by 85% and when he blocked just the suspensory ligament there was a 100% improvement! So, the hocks were scanned, showing clean joints, but when he scanned the ligament he found inflammation and pain at the root of the ligament.

Grace is now on six to eight weeks of box rest, and can start being walked in hand in four weeks time. She is receiving shock wave therapy once a week, and I have bought an Equissage to keep her muscles toned, her joints healthy and her lymphatic system in good working order. Since I started using the Equissage, her back legs have not filled once even though she is stood in 24/7 and is not getting any movement on them.

She is getting a bit stressed about being in, but I am keeping her routine exactly the same so that she can settle a bit more which seems to be working. The Equissage is chilling her out too, although for the first five minutes she stands stiff not daring to move J

The next shock wave therapy treatment will be on Friday, so we are off to Halifax again!

Grace has stayed over in Halifax

This morning, Grace and I (accompanied by my husband Andy) set off to Halifax for an appointment with Peter Scholefield. The traffic was absolutely dreadful at that time in the morning, and we ended up being on the road for almost two hours. I was worried that Grace would be a bit stressed when we got there, but I need not have worried. We unloaded her and apart from being a little figgety to start with, she behaved impeccably.

Peter wanted to see her walked in a straight line and then trotted. He noticed that her left side was dropping ever so slightly, so flexioned both hocks. These were negative thankfully! However, he agreed that there was something there and I was not imagining this strange movement.

Grace was then lunged on both legs and Peter said she was showing lameness on both reins on the left hind and he suspected the stifle. He then nerve blocked this area and believed there to be an improvement, but could then see a slight uneven step every so often on the right hind. At this point Peter told me she would be staying with them over night as he wanted to continue the investigations.

I was really sad to leave her, it is the first time I have left her anywhere since she came to me last year. But Grace was happy as she had lots of haylage and her loving Mum had taken her PJs and her dinner and breakfast just in case!

I phoned the practice this evening and spoke to one of the ladies who work there. She said Grace was eating her tea, quite happy and Peter was hoping to continue his investigations tomorrow morning. He has also nerve blocked her hock (I didn’t really get much information as they were quite busy) and there was some improvement with this too. So, although I still do not have an answer, hopefully by tomorrow I will have some news whether it be good or bad.

A spanner in the works

Grace and I have been having a really successful few weeks and everything has been going to plan. I took her over to Arkenfield for a lesson with Spencer and I could tell immediately that he was not happy with something. He asked me to give her a canter and get her stepping under but when she came back to trot he said he could see something strange going on in her left hind.

Spencer asked me whether I had seen anyone riding her and I said no, so he offered to get on her and ride her for me. As soon as he started trotting her I could see it on the left rein, but there was no evidence of it at all in the walk or canter. The lady who organises the clinics with Spencer recommended a vet over in Halifax who specialises in lameness problems so she is booked to go over to him on Wednesday morning at 8.30am.

Because I have had an operation to remove two lumps from my neck I am having to take it very easy this weekend, but Peter Scholefield wants Grace riding hard until he sees her on Wednesday. Luckily, the lady who looks after the horses for me when I go away is able to ride her for me Saturday, Sunday and Monday. This morning it was very interesting watching someone riding her because it has given me more of an idea what is going on. She started off really showing the unlevel steps in the trot, but Yvonne said she was really leaning on the left leg and was heavy in the left hand (my weaker side). She worked very hard on getting her to move away from that leg and come soft in the left hand, and by the end there were no strange steps in the trot at all. So whatever it is improves with work.

Grace is really improving

It has been quite a while since I last posted on this Blog as I seem to have been incredibly busy doing not much at all! However, I am now determined to keep this up to date because it is lovely reading how far we have come in 12 short months.

Since the Area Festival at Richmond, Grace and I have not really been out competing that much as she went quite badly lame after tripping coming out of the school. After three days of no improvement (and no change) I took her down to the vets and they mentioned that she could have damaged one of the tendons or ligaments within her foot because of the severity of the lameness, the lack of change and the fact that hoof tests were proving negative. So, we went away for a few days and awaited the farrier to come out as her feet had really grown and the shoe on the lame foot was now loose.

Unfortunately, the farrier was having van trouble and could not come on the day, so I ended up telephoning the vets and booking her in with a farrier there so we could then book her in for a lameness workup which would include nerve blocks and xrays.

As soon as her shoes were redone, she was much sounder almost immediately. The following days just showed such a big improvement that I decided to cancel the lameness workup and concluded that when she tripped she moved the shoe and it was then rubbing her and causing her pain. The farrier who shod her at the vets agreed with this as he found a small corn starting to form where the shoe was sitting. She is now to be shod every five weeks as opposed to every six weeks, and touch wood we have not had any lameness since!

I have been having regular lessons with Jo again since she came sound, and also two with Spencer Wilton over at Arkenfield. Between the two of them, we have really started to see a change in Grace’s performance both at home and at the shows. Her canter has improved so much that we now get comments saying, “Some lovely canter” and “Working well in the canter” whereas before I was being told she needed more ‘jump’.

Last weekend we travelled over to Manor Grange Stud in Yorkshire (where the pictures were taken) to compete in P12 and N21 (I think)! Grace travelled really well but was a bit sharp in the warm up as it was quite a spooky venue. She felt quite tense at the beginning, but by the time we went into the Prelim class she had started to relax and felt a little softer through the back. She came out with 68% and 5th place which I was really pleased with at a new venue. We had quite a wait in between the classes, so when it came to warming up for the Novice she felt a lot happier and more relaxed. In the test we had two mistakes which were largely caused by me... I didn’t check her enough in the medium trot so she broke into canter, and she was about to shy in the medium walk so I put my leg on harder than intended and she broke into canter!

I was amazed when she came out with 67.9% and second place!!!

Following on from this, I booked in to do the two Novice classes at Cockshot Dressage. However, just before my lesson with Spencer I realised N37 had a rein back in which Grace had not been taught. Spencer worked really hard with Grace and I to get the rein back started, but he did say that I should not expect it to happen at the competition as she was only just learning it. The following day though, Grace had is cracked and as I put the aids on we went backwards, but couldn’t stop!!!

I did not really do much rein back through the week because she was starting to rein back whenever I asked for halt... like a child who has learned a naughty word she would not stop doing it! So when we were warming up for the first Novice at Cockshot I didn’t even ask for it once.

N22 W went really well... She really worked, and as we finished the test the judge jumped out of the car (panic set in; where did I go wrong???) and said, “She has really come on!” So I left the arena with a HUGE grin, which became even bigger when I discovered she had been placed 1st in the restricted section and overall!

We then warmed up for N37 and I quickly put one or two rein backs in before we went in. The test felt a bit more laboured than the first, but I do think it is a more ‘elementary’ type novice so I did not expect her to do as well as she did. Her counter canter felt really smooth, the rein back just happened, and her medium canter work has just come all of a sudden! We ended up on 65% which I was thrilled with (I had said that if she did well in N37 I would try some elementary tests before Christmas!) and even more thrilled when I found out she had come 2nd in the restricted and overall! There were some stunning horses in the open section too going on to do the Elementary, so I was quite shocked she had been placed above them!

Our next outing is at Aintree International doing the Prelim Qualifier and the Novice Qualifier... I need a 1st in the Novice to get to the Regionals (a pipe dream) and a 1st or 2nd in the Prelim!

We are through in the Novice too!!!

I received an email this week from BD to say Grace had not only qualified in the Preliminary class at the Winter Championships, but also in Novice as she gained 4th place in the Novice Restricted! I was completely astounded as never in my wildest dreams did I imagine she would qualify in the Novice class. I had hoped for a placing in the Preliminary, but gaining second in that was a dream come true!

I have not stopped smiling since I read the email, and have reread it several times just to make myself believe it is true!

Petplan Area Festival at Richmond - we are through to the Winter Championships

Quite a lot has happened since the last post. I had a lesson with Spencer and we spent the time getting Grace to stretch down because she came back into work a bit tense and stressy. Following this, we went over to Croft Top to compete in the Prelim (P17) and Novice (N33). She did two lovely tests, and more importantly I remembered them too as it was the first time I did not have a reader in a long arena!

She came 2nd in the Prelim with 66%, her highest affiliated percentage and then did a safe Novice and ended up with 63%. The judge’s comments were all very fair, they both said she was on her shoulders too much and not finding her own balance enough. This was exactly how I felt she was going.

I explained all of this to Jo when I went for a lesson on the Sunday, and we did a few exercises which really seemed to get her sitting back on her hocks and off my hands. All week I worked really hard on what we had been doing, but she came into season on the Wednesday and was just spooking at everything and felt like a steam train on my hands. To be honest, I went to my lesson on Friday quite down about how she was going. Because of this, we did not get very much out of it as I persisted in looking down at my hands and therefore not giving her the chance to get off her shoulders. Jo gave me a really good shouting at, which I deserved and helped get my act together in a way teachers used to at school.

After the lesson I was determined to look up at the Areas if it killed me. We set off at 9.30am and arrived at Richmond just after 11.30am. Grace travelled really well, and was incredibly relaxed at the show ground, munching on her haynet outside the trailer while I found out where we would warm up, ride the test and where the toilets were.

As soon as I got on Grace I could tell she was a bit ‘hot’ so I warmed her up with the exercises Jo had given us in the lesson the day before. These all worked straight away, and within 15 minutes I felt she was working the best she had ever worked. I did lots of walking around long and low because it was so warm, but this method seemed to suit her. We went in to the P16 test, and I felt very confident in her ability to do a lovely test. She spooked a little at the two judges’ cars but then did not get a chance to look at anything else as they tooted the horn as we passed. I took a deep breath and trotted her towards A.

I felt the test went really well. Grace was listening to me all the way around and her canter was very ‘up’, more so than I had ever felt it before. I came out with a huge grin on my face (partly because I had remembered the test too) and walked her around in the collecting ring to cool her off. I was second to last in the class, so they started reading out the people needed for the prize giving. There was no mention of my name, so a little disappointed I walked her back to the trailer. I was just about to take my saddle off when I realised Andy had the tack keys, but Mum had walked over with me so she set off to find him. Suddenly, I heard “Rider 84, R.McNair and Graceful Addiction” over the tannoy so I jumped back on and trotted off to the arena. As I got there, still frantically buttoning up my jacket, I did not know where I had been placed. When I found out I had come 2nd I just burst into tears and hugged Grace’s neck. We got 69.5%, and one judge gave us 72.3%!!!

Slowly, I began to realise Grace and I had qualified for the Winter Championships at Hartpury in April... I could not believe it, and I still cannot stop smiling every time I think about it. I am just so proud of her and am amazed at how far she has come since I started riding her in November.

Grace stood quietly in the trailer while me, Andy, Kevan, Sue, Mum and Dad (oh and Tia) had coffees, teas, lemon drizzle cake, Settle’s custards, vanilla slices and sandwiches. In fact, we forgot she was in there she was that quiet.

When it came to warming up for the Novice I decided to only give her 30 minutes because it was still warm. Unfortunately, the class was running 30 minutes behind so she was getting a bit tired by the time we went in for the Novice class. She did a really nice test; it felt the best Novice test I have ridden her in. She had one error where she did two flying changes in the right medium canter, but other than that she was listening, was jumping into her transitions and the counter canter felt great. She came out with 64.3% and was lying joint 4th in the Novice when we left, but it had not been split into Restricted and Open at that point.

After such a successful weekend, she deserved a few days off work. Unfortunately, on Monday afternoon she sliced her shoulder open in the field. She had two stitches (typical, she had to have a call out on Bank Holiday Monday) and has been in for two days. She is not lame so can still be ridden, and this afternoon she had a few hours out in the field because it was such a nice day.

Our next competition is in a few weeks time... until then we have a few lessons to keep us occupied and a learning day with Richard Maxwell too!

Abscess, abscess, abscess

The picture was of Grace competing BD at Arkenfield just before she went lame that weekend. She came a very respectable 4th with 65%, but I did feel she did not work as well as she could do. However, it all became apparent on the Sunday when I got back from the Richard Maxwell Forum Weekend. She came in from the field absolutely hopping lame, and when I brought her out for the vet on Monday morning she could barely put any weight on it.

She was off work for just over two weeks with an abscess, and because of it I am now an absolute expert at polticing. Hannah has never suffered with an abscess (touch wood) so I was not one hundred percent sure that I was doing it right, but they all stayed on and I kept the opening incredibly clean.

The farrier came up the following Tuesday to put her shoe back on as he knew I had the Petplan Area Festival at Myerscough, but she was still quite footy when I trotted her up on the Tuesday night. However, Wednesday morning she looked level and sound, so I got on her that night and was very conscious of her paces as I was convinced she would still be unlevel when worked. She was completely sound, and so far she has stayed sound now for four schooling sessions that have gradually asked a bit more of her.

On Wednesday night when I rode her, some of the girls from the yard were hacking out. We had just finished schooling, and they asked whether I would like to go. I just though, “Why not?” and set off with them around the Street. It was a lovely night, the weather was beautiful and Grace really did me proud. She led the entire way around and only had a very small spook at some rubber matting that had been left on the floor. Several motorbikes went passed us, and although I felt her tense a little, I asked her to walk on and she complied.

Spurred on by this success, yesterday morning (Saturday) I was having a bit of a battle schooling her because there was a digger at the other side of the fence and she was being a complete prat. She was sweated up, snorting and very ‘up’. Rather than cool her down in the school where she would have continued to get herself stressed out, I decided to walk her to the end of Slacks Lane where there are only 6 houses or so and hardly any traffic. Before I knew it we were at the end of the lane, turned onto the main road and trotted a little while to get her listening to the leg. She was very stressed out, but motorbikes went passed us and she listened! I was absolutely thrilled with her and feel a lot more confident in taking her out now.

We have a very busy week ahead of us. On Tuesday we have a lesson over at Arkenfield, then a BD competition (P17 and N33) on Saturday and a lesson with Jo Graham on Sunday morning. This is all in preparation for 25th August we have the Petplan Area Festival over at Richmond, North Yorkshire. The top four horses for each section go through to the finals, so we have a lot of work to do before then!