The flood over our road
Not much happening down my way but I have had some fantastic news and plans are in place for a very exciting start to the new eventing season despite my top horse being out.
Tasmania has really turned on the weather for us equestrians over the past few weeks... and by 'turned on' I mean it has turned the water tap to full and then forgot about it. Rain, rain, rain and wait! What's that? MORE RAIN!
We have had some pretty major flooding in my end of the state with Launceston experiencing once in every 100 years floods! Thankfully for us, we live on a substantial sandy hill and we were just stuck at home due to water over our road in quite a few places. Only one horse was caught out in a low paddock but with a bit of teeth gritting and mane grabbing we got him out of the waist deep water without a hitch... It was a bit scary for a while there though. Swimming in murky flood waters in the dark at 6.30am with a distraught horse isn't exactly my preferred method of exercise
The worst damage we received was an entire section of the road ending up in our paddock (including the asphalt!) but many lost their entire livelihoods. Hundreds of livestock were washed downriver and many are still being swept up on beaches along the coast but amazingly many survived, are being sorted and delivered back to their respective owners still. Sadly there were a few tragic human deaths which is a sharp reminder of how deadly floodwater can be. The main message is do not EVER attempt to drive through floodwater as there is no way of knowing what is under the murky water... No matter how 'off road' your ute is!
Due to the wild weather I haven't got as much riding in as I would like so I have only been to one competition which was a little show in the Midlands called Campbell Town Show. I believe it might be one of the longest running shows in Australia? I took two horses along, Will and Gemma and both went well! Gemma lost her mojo a bit in the 80cm but went super in the 95 championship to go clear in the first round and only a rail or two in the jump off but she has improved out of sight jumping wise and will be really flash as her jump develops.
Making the most of the cold weather at the Ben Lomund Ski Resort
Will jumped well in the 1.05cm speed, just four penalties which was completely my fault (the eventer is a bit out of practice riding speed rounds!!), but then jumped a great clear first round in the 1.15cm Championship, but we got one time fault. However we still placed third in an experienced field of straight show jumpers which isn't bad for a horse that has been well known for taking a few rails!
An exciting statistic for Will since he has come back into work with me since his injury and Bethany riding him is that he has only taken a total of two rails out of the last seven sho jumping rounds he has done. We might make a clean jumper out of him yet!
The game plan now is to get him ready for the next trip over the strait for Friends of Werribee and the Victorian Horse Trials in late August/early Sept. What classes I do will highly depend on how we go in the next few months but after a fantastic boot camp with Lucy (Lucy Bennett super coach), I am feeling very confident about my options. Unfortunately there will be no events on in Tasmania in the lead up to this trip so I will have to make do with Dressage, SJ and XC schooling wherever I can
But a better view from the beautiful place we are at on our holiday!
Casually yachting around the Whitsundays!
So while there isn't much happening now, there is a lot in the works. Now it is holiday time! And I can assure you I am enjoying that IMMENSELY! Then it is knuckle down time and I need to try and pull together a team of horses ready for my next trip. Exciting stuff!
And my awesome, amazing, exciting news is that Sizzle’s injury isn't nearly as bad as first thought!!! So still no Adelaide but a much shorter recovery and a much less chance of re doing it!! Happy dance!!
Until next time,
Alice 
Smashy back in work and loving the Sportz-Vibe from Horseware Australia
