This isn’t a news flash for those who know me well, but I am a very good procrastinator. I SHOULD be packing for our annual trek to Leeton for the Easter ballooning get together. We spend every morning launching and chasing the balloons over the countryside, come back to base and drink champagne and eat bacon and eggs. It’s a perfect holiday (unless like me you really crave a sleep in!) I have to pack for us all, and kit us out for the Easter Parade that we are involved in. The theme is cowboys and Indians, so I am currently being shot at by all three kids wielding two guns each. The mornings are fresh at the moment, and the grass will be wet, so I’ve got to sort out waterproof boots for the kids whose feet have all grown since winter. You’d think I’d not leave all this sort of stuff to the last minute, but as I mentioned before, I’d at least get a ribbon in the procrastinator awards.
School holidays are currently being enjoyed. This describes the feelings experienced by the children rather than myself. I’ve done at least two loads of washing every day, and I am feeling like a waitress on permanent duty. They must be going through a growing phase as it seems like we’ve barely finished breakfast before “I’m hungry” gets called out. We’ve been to see Babe, Fantastic Mr Fox and next week we’re going to the Lego movie. I’ve also walked through those golden arches more often than I ever wanted to.
On the horse front, things are a little quiet after Albury. Even after going really well at Berrima I’d decided to drop back to prelim as I’d had a less than pleasant time there in 2013. We managed clear and under time XC at Berrima and had one rail due to rider guidance system slightly malfunctioned (I underestimated how tight the turn from one to two was!) so I was really pleased with that performance.
Sadly the same can’t be said about Albury. I even had a dressage lesson leading up to the event, and was really happy with how my test went. How come whenever I am happy with the test the judge isn’t? What’s with that! So I was third last or something, and given this year we’d been at least mid field after dressage in the prenovice I was rather disappointed. This feeling of disappointment was set to linger after the Showjumping. The course had nine jumps, and Astro decided that one was enough, as I flew over the jump and landed on the other side of two, while he sort of landed in the middle of the oxer and then reversed. I sat there in the very wet sand feeling more than annoyed. I was furious. And what’s worse, I thought the sand would wash out easily. It seems that it doesn’t. I sought approval from the TD to ride XC the following day as I wasn’t about to drive home after that pathetic attempt.
The course rode well, which is just as well as I’d given him a bit of a tune up before the first jump reminding him that I was the boss. The mantra “ride him like you hate him” wasn’t all that particularly challenging that day! It’s probably ride him like you stole him, but that seemed more fitting in the circumstances. Amusingly, the TD approached me after the finish to tell me I’d missed the jump 17. I didn’t really care as I figured you can’t get eliminated twice, but I also think I’d jumped the prenovice brush out of the water, not the prelim one, meaning I’d possibly also got eliminated twice in one phase? So needless to say, Albury was a flop.
Astro is now enjoying being a real horse at the moment, eating grass all day and all night if it so suits him. In the week leading up to Albury, Johns foot began to swell up and by the Friday was red, inflamed and had a hideous purple head to it. Turned out he’d been bitten by a spider, so make sure you check your boots before putting them on. He bravely drove to the event in his slippers and spent the majority of the event resting. Once we returned home, he returned to hospital where they ended up operating on it to get rid of the infection. Friends helped out with feeding, but driving up to the agistment centre twice a day was getting a little tricky, but I decided that turning him out was the best thing to do. So hopefully he comes back into work with a whole new work ethic! I think he’s only having a short break as Wagga and Camden are soonish.
In the meantime, NCHTA held a clinic with Peter Gillis and we are having one with Sam Lyle at the end of May. So it seems there is always something for me to do to avoid the endless job of housework!
