A bit more water needed? Noooo ..................
Each month I think what the heck I can write about. It’s not like anything REALLY exciting happens all that often, but there’s a bit of this and a bit of that, and that all tends to come together and seems to be mildly interesting for some of you to read! So thanks for hearing me out.
Since I last blogged, NCHTA held a clinic with Sam Lyle. I managed to get out there on the ride on mower and tidy up a few jumps, so that we could actually see some of them – Equestrian Park is a public park, and the 60 or so kangaroos that I see there most mornings are fighting a losing battle. As usual, I went into panic attack mode once the showjumps are over 1 metre (how I compete over a 105cm course I have no idea) but I really need to get my head right, as I’m quite happy to pop over the odd 2 or 3* XC jump… If anyone has any tips as to how to get over this slightly quirky fear – please say! Funnily enough, while preparing the water jump for the clinic, I mentioned to Ben Smith (NCHTA’s hardworking course designer and generally awesome guy) that there needed to be more water in the jump as there wasn’t much under the 2/3* drop. He commented “No one’s going to jump that”. You guessed it – I did.
The cake design improves each year
Our not-so-little Ben turned 9 a few weeks ago, and he asked for a sleepover party with some of his mates…. GREAT idea. Five 8 and 9 year olds, comparing smelly arm pits and farts. All the boys (and Mack) slept out in the spare room, and I think little sleep was had. Luckily it was a public holiday on the Monday so they had an extra day to recover. Ben seems to rotate between rockets and jet fighters as cakes, so my cake decorating skills are improving with practise. I went on the school excursion with Abby and her class last week. Let me tell you that the noise of 60 excited kids on a bus is extraordinary, and by lunch time I was searching through my handbag for Panadol. Hats off to all teachers out there – how you cope day in, day out with that many treasures is beyond me!
We’ve had a fair bit of rain lately and poor Astro is standing in mud most of the time. I’ve nicknamed him the potato. I read somewhere that riders should take great care in brushing their horse and for them to be presented well at all times. But frankly – trying to brush wet mud off a horse and out of their tail when it’s minus 2 deg at 5:45am isn’t my idea of fun. That person must have a nanny to look after their kids! And I’ve also finally worked out that it’s actually easier to just get out of bed the minute your alarm goes off, and not check the outside temperature or anything like that. If you do, you’ll never get out of the house (well at least in Canberra winters anyway!) These cold mornings certainly do test your devotion to horses. I’m a bit of a princess these days, sometimes my hand and feet are so cold I want to cry. I better stop bagging out the Canberra winter as NCHTA are holding an Eventer Trial next month. This is a lot of fun; eventing without the dressage, how perfect is that?
Like most of us eventing junkies, I have subscribed to FEITV so I can follow some of the eventing in Europe. We watched the XC at Luhmulen, and were excitedly watch Burto go XC, and much to all our dismay we saw him fall off in the water. Laura spent the next 2 days worried that he’d got wet and his clothes were dirty. It wasn’t until much later that the terrible news started coming out of social media, and like everyone, I’ve been very saddened by the passing of two riders and a horse. It certainly did make me stop and think about how lucky I am. I hope and wish you all stay safe too.
This week, John and I will be driving up to Denman to compete in the Pre-novice class. It’s going to be interesting given how few jumps I’ve practised over since the clinic with Sam. I’m also hoping to manage to organise things so that I can go kid free. Watch this space!
