Courtesy of Harriet’s sponsor Timothy Foxx www.timothyfoxx.co.uk
HAPPY HOLIDAYS..
As I am writing this, I am looking at my horses from my kitchen window that are turned out and on holiday in a 20 acre field with a few cows for company.
The last event of the season for me was LMEQ. This was Littleton Manor’s first ever event and I was extremely excited because they are great supporters of mine. I took Rosie to do the BE100 for last run so she ended with confidence.
Matt and Kate Tarrant had done the most wonderful job with the event making it super organised and everyone from the car park stewards through to the jumping stewards were so friendly. It was overall a very sociable weekend and a wonderful way to end the season. To top it off Rosie put in a great performance and got a top 10 placing. I also got to meet up with some other wonderful sponsors MDR and Equi-Streamz – always great fun to see them!!!
So as the season comes to a close it’s a time when all event riders look back and reflect on how well their horses have gone, what went well, what could have been better, what they are going to change, most horses get turned out on a holiday.
My season didn’t go quite how I planned it. Danny went lame tweaking a suspensory mid season, which curtailed out advanced and 3* plans and Arabella was off form throughout (although we now know the reason) but three of my horses really exceeded my expectations, these where Rosie, Boo and Hector. They progressed in leaps and bounds this season.
As the horses got turned out for their holiday, I went on a short 5 day break to Turkey with one of my best girlfriends we were hoping for lots of sun and to come back with a cracking tan, instead it rained for 4 days straight and only sunny for the last day we were there, so we made the most of that day and probably didn’t put enough sun cream and we came home looking a bit like lobsters.
When I arrived home I had two schooling liveries in ready for me to get cracking with. So no time to recover from the holiday and it was time to get back to work! I don’t do sitting around…
Arabella has been in and out of hospital for the past month with an abscess going through her abdomen, as I type this the prognosis is better than it has been over the last month and we are all keeping fingers crossed. Poor Arabella is expected to have a few more spells in hospital yet before she is though this. She is one amazing resilient horse who just wants to please. When I think of what she has been going through it is heartbreaking.
My next plan of action is to have a re group with Tina and talk about the season and start planning for next season. I will look at each aim for each horse then work out when I need to bring them back into work and start getting them fit.
From now to that point of bringing them back in I will be riding for other people schooling their horses for them, there will be lots of tidying and organising, stables will get cleaned and disinfected, the tackroon cleaned and organized, the lorry gets a complete clean out and our lives just get a little more on an even keel again. And not to mention and hunting and shooting season has started….
I would like to thank all my Sponsors and Owners, without these guys it really would not be possible. They give me an unbelievable supportive network around me and they all make Team Upton the best team!
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