This was to be the furthest we got at Adelaide ...
A few hours ago I was driving down my driveway for the first time in a month, returning home from yet another interstate ‘adventure’. Blog writing proved to be impossible across the Nullabor with far more entertaining things to do (counting things, playing ‘I-Spy’, over-taking road trains and listening to Ben Leahy’s singing) but without further a-do, the gooseneck can remain fully packed whilst I start from the start …
Just 5 ½ weeks ago we had our final event for the year in WA – Brigadoon CNC. I had Just Corona in the 2* class as a final run before Adelaide and was very happy with his sub-50 test in the International arena – a good practice run for some ‘atmosphere’ before Adelaide. The course at Brigadoon had quite a few changes in it and a fair bit of work had been done – particularly at the water jump where we had an entirely new combination for the 2*. I was very impressed by the track that the WA Promotions committee had given us as it flowed a lot better than previous tracks at the small area of the State Equestrian Centre, and the footing was near perfect despite torrential rains we had on dressage day, and then cross country morning. Fortunately I managed to stay dry and Just Corona gave me a great ride around the cross country, but managed to come off the course with a nasty over-reach on his off fore. Utter panic and disbelief surrounded me when I noticed the little puddles of blood from ‘Trumpet’s’ hoof and with one stern, disappointing look (shared with Mum) I knew we were both thinking “three weeks till Adelaide”.
The necessary treatment was given and four days later I was having a ride on Trumpet who felt fantastic. Just in time for our Jon Pitts clinic organised by High Performance WA. I had a super lesson with Jon who gave me some detailed and ‘1%’ type tips to help improve my position in the saddle.
On Saturday the 10th I headed up to Gidgegannup H&PC to coach the Trakehners Australia cross country clinic for the second time this year. It was a really great day with perfect weather for riding and Gidgegannup had all the fence types I needed in able to give my riders a challenge. I was also very happy to see most riders come back from the first clinic to have lessons, as it gave me the opportunity to see how much these riders and horses had improved over the five months. Thank you to the Trakehners Australia association for giving me the opportunity to coach with them, I enjoy it very much and look forward to more successful clinics in 2013.
The following six days were spent preparing and packing for the trip east, as we were to leave on Friday the 16th November. Alongside myself and Just Corona was Ben Leahy and Le Directeur, long time friend and also competitor in the CCI 2* at Adelaide. My partner Aaron also came along for the drive and was appointed chief ‘entertainer’ (which I’m not entirely sure he achieved by eating endless pies and playing Subway Surf on the iPad…). Trumpet and Ollie travelled well together and although they became a little attached on the drive they were great to handle in every way and were no hassle at all. The travel across wasn’t all fun, games and singing as I still had to manage Trumpet’s hoof and give him the necessary treatment. Bearing in mind we were now so close to the competition period that there wasn’t a lot I could do in the means of pain relief but Trumpet was certainly improving every day. He now had a bar shoe on the hoof and had a lot of the heel cut away to prevent any bruising from pinching on the solid part of the hoof. A very public thank you needs to be given to my absolutely incredible farrier Robert Smith who did all he could to increase the heeling of the hoof as fast as possible and to Oakford Equine Hospital – my fantastic vets Michael and Paula who did the same (and tolerated having myself and/or mum there about six times in a fortnight!).
We arrived at Hahndorf, SA at mid-afternoon Sunday where we were blessed to stay at Kirby Park for a few nights to settle in and give the horses a paddock after travelling about 3000kms. A huge THANK YOU to Megan for your hospitality.
Just Corona and partner Aaron at Adelaide going for a walk
Photo - Marlene Battedou
I gave Trumpet a few light rides over the next few days and knew that it would be a matter of either just scraping through and getting there or just missing out. People say with these things that you have a gut feeling. The positivity from everyone around me (the above – Michael, Paula, Robert, Mum, the Grays and the Brownes, Margaret Jones, Ben and my Aaron) was enough to keep a little bit of ‘hope’ going however as I turned to face the Trot Up committee that coming Thursday I just knew in my heart that it wasn’t going to happen for me, not this year. It still devastates me to write that we had to withdraw Trumpet from the biggest event of the year but these things happen and I am a firm believer in that it ‘wasn’t meant to be’. My Adelaide 2012 was spent doing the 4 S’s - socialising, supporting, shopping, and I won’t lie – of course a night of drowning in my sorrows. Despite being seriously jealous on cross country day that I wasn’t riding, I still had a lot of fun, made some great memories, met some new friends that I think I will now have for the rest of my life, as well as rekindled old friendships.
On Monday morning we crawled out of bed to do the last of our packing, have a ‘Redbull’ and say our goodbyes before making the journey to Victoria with the aim of competing at Camperdown CCI in two weeks. The journey was supposed to take us 10 hours … well it didn’t. It started off relatively smooth sailing as I did the first leg of the trip, then Ben did a little then we had our first stop at Nhill where we got the horses off and let them have some grass. Despite some yawns along the road everyone was in great spirits and enjoying the drive and the horses looked fantastic. An hour or so later I was driving through Horsham enjoying my own thoughts (everyone else was asleep). I briefly checked my phone maps to see that we had 4.5 hours left of driving to go. We reached the next town and Aude (a good friend and known by most in the ‘horsey world’ who was helping us out grooming and travelling for the eastern states events) took over driving for a while. Down the road some time later I re-checked my phone map to see how long we had to go … it shouldn’t be long now. My phone stated nearly six hours to go. That couldn’t be right! How could it be longer to go than before? For a few minutes I thought the iPhone was playing silly buggers with me and had lost reception or something had gone wrong. I soon got everyone to check their own maps. But to all of our horror, the phones were right, nearly six hours to go – we had been driving in the wrong direction! This was quite possibly the worst feeling ever. A car load of very tired people and a gooseneck with two very tired and restless horses and we had driven half way to NSW instead of Victoria. I was so mad at myself especially considering I was the one driving when we went through Horsham, which was where we were meant to turn off! We did the only thing possible – turned around and started the journey back. Soon after this it started pouring with rain. Aude was still driving and I know she will even admit it – she probably isn’t the most fantastic driver at the best of times, let alone in the pouring rain, in a strange new car (that takes a bit of getting used to because its so big) and towing a long gooseneck down foreign roads. Without trying to tread on toes I quickly kicked poor Aude out of the driver's seat (when she then admitted that she wasn’t really feeling comfortable driving anyway!) and Ben took over for a while.
We were all very tired and not in good moods at all so it was a real test of personalities for the next few hours but THANKFULLY we all remain very close friends, although I’d happily never re-live that six or so hours of my life again. 14 ½ hours after we left Adelaide city we arrived at Wandin Park and spent the next hour getting the horses settled and doing a quick set up before crashing on our beds. And the alarms were definitely not set the following morning!
Aaron, Ben, Aude and myself (travel buddies) heading out for a night in town
It was at times like these that I realised we truly had two very special horses on board. Trumpet and Ollie, who must’ve been absolutely exhausted and just completely over being stuck on a gooseneck, dying for something to eat and drink, not sure where they were in these new surroundings, both behaved better than we could’ve ever expected. Aside from Trump being a little crazy for a week which I think was a combination of the fact that he had been stuck in a box at Adelaide, not given a run out on cross country (which he was very confused about) and the lush green grass at Wandin Park, we had some great rides. Dressage schooling, show jumping lesson with Jamie Coman, cross country schooling and a gallop up the hills was all in our program for the next week and a half. Trumpet was feeling better than ever and jumping really well. His hoof was now basically healed and he was totally sound again so I was very happy. We had a great time in Victoria and made a bit of a holiday of it – shopping in the city, sightseeing, movies, more shopping (which the boys were thrilled about), went out for a friend's birthday on a Thursday night (Happy Birthday Liv!) and then Friday night the same (you too Sam!) and finally the Saturday we celebrated Aaron's 21st birthday. We packed about three weeks worth of holidaying into just 1.5 weeks and still managed to give our horses solid daily workouts – personally I think a great effort! It was then time for Aaron to go back home to work and reality, I dropped him off at the airport and later on that week picked up Mum who was coming over to help at Camperdown and then drive home with Ben and I.
It was Wednesday that we packed up our things and made the journey to Camperdown, this time paying VERY CLOSE attention to the roads and the signs to assure us that we were heading in the right direction! A huge thankyou to John and Angela Anker for their hospitality in allowing us to stay at the beautiful Wandin Park for some time, it was the perfect area to be in to allow us to have a bit of a holiday, yet continue working our horses in the best possible conditions.
Just Corona having a flat work ride at Camperdown
It was my first time competing at Camperdown and I had a great time. I had Just Corona in the CIC 3* with the hope of achieving a qualifier but things didn’t quite go to plan in that respect. Trumpet flew over all of the biggest and scariest fences on course, to then get caught out at a tricky line of skinnies at the water jump. After a run out at the B and then a run out in the opposite direction at the C I decided that it wasn’t our day and walked him home on a long rein. To be completely honest, in a strange way I was still reasonably happy with our efforts, he had done a great dressage test the previous day, and for my horse who usually gets a little ‘insecure’ over the bigger fences as he isn’t the most scopiest horse in the world, to fly over them the way he did, that was a great feeling! I can’t really blame him for not being locked onto the skinny fences as we had had a serious lack of training over these obstacles for a long time due to his hoof. A positive end to the event was friend and co-traveller Ben Leahy winning the CIC 3* on Ollie, well done Ben, very well deserved and at least one of us came home with a rug!
Just Corona getting excited for his run in the cross country at Camperdown
Photo - Brendan Leahy
It was then time to make the journey back home to the west. We left Sunday night after presentations to have a quick seven hour sleep at Megan’s again in Adelaide and then on to Ceduna for Monday night, Kalgoorlie for Tuesday night, then home Wednesday. 3500kms of driving later, both horses arrived home safe and sound, both looking in fantastic condition and not even really ready for a break, but that’s what they’re getting for a month or two.
I will rest and unpack for tomorrow but from then on it’s all full steam ahead as I have two young horses that are ready to commence work over the summer, as well as bringing Daisy back into light work to tune up her dressage skills. I go back to work for a week next week and will probably teach a little up until Christmas before having a nice holiday around then and for New Years, and will probably do a little water skiing and beach riding. As I’m writing it’s actually raining outside which is a rare occurrence for Perth in December and I’m a bit worried that I have bought that horrendous Victorian weather home with me but fingers crossed the sun shines this weekend.
Til next time!
