I really hate this time of the year - Christmas is done with and the New Year is fast approaching quicker than anybody likes. The weather is dull and most horses and owners are fed up with riding in the rain or having to deal with limited turn out because of trying to work around the weather.
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas anyway and got thoroughly spoilt - I certainly did. The boyfriend, Mark clearly listened to all my constant hints over the past few weeks that I would
love a nice pair of Hunter wellies as I was presented with a gorgeous 'Violet' pair on Christmas day. Thank you Mark! I am also all set to go Eventing now after getting a race-safe body protector from Dad, which fits like a glove. It is amazing how comfy they are compared to others I have had. My Grandma added the icing on cake by spoiling me with a lovely Charles Owen dressage and showing hat. For those that remember, I blogged about it a couple of weeks ago. Although, I think my Mum has the right idea - we agreed that in-stead of a main present for Christmas day I would get a few little bits and we would then hit the Joules sale after Boxing Day so I could get the stunning Tweed Jacket I have had my eye on for a while but not been able to afford!
This past year has definitely flown by, its scary. In 2 weeks time I'll be 22 and it doesn't seem two minutes ago we were all singing the night away on my 21st! In the New Year I'm no longer working long days on Monday and Tuesdays due to my new freelance writing job, so I am able to work my hours around Ceaser and get ridden earlier on in the day which is much better! I have always dreamed of having a job that enables me to work around my horses and competing - although this one isn't full time it is perfect for now, especially whilst I am also still studying.
Ceaser is currently working really well in his double bridle. I think he is realising now he cannot just tank me round the arena at 50MPH when I ask for a medium canter. I have been getting Mark to take photos every few days or so when I'm schooling in my dressage equipment and you can already see a huge difference in his paces.
I keep getting asked why I bother showing throughout the summer and why I don't just concentrate on all the dressage qualifiers and championships. I think I would really like to and having qualified for the Petplan Nationals it would be lovely to go - but Ceaser enjoys his showing and that would mean giving up on doing the ridden veteran classes, which he excels in. Olympia is our dream and it would be lovely to continue to try and get there. Unfortunately this year it really wasn't an option after Ceaser being poorly in April, it set us back a good couple of weeks and we missed all the local qualifiers. However, I am not one to give up and I am hoping our recent success, both in showing and dressage continues in 2013.
Although 2012 has been a testing year for me, it has also opened my eyes up to so many things and been one of the best years for me. I haven't had one bad competition result or been to any show that I have come away feeling disappointed from. If I remember rightly the only show we all came away laughing from was one back early in February when I was told I was being put Reserve Champion and not Champion because the judge "didn't want to take Ceaser home". She proceeded to tell me he "moved the best, went the best and was turned out the best, but..." she wanted "to take the other home more". I didn't realise showing was judged like a 'Which dog would you like to take home' class, but nevertheless it provided a few giggles and I still gained the qualification card I had gone for, so it wasn't a complete wasted day out.
There was also the dressage competition back in the Spring when I had done both classes, managed to stay on a very hyperactive and forward Ceaser, gain two qualifications for the PetPlan Nationals but then somehow injured my arm in the car-park by stopping Ceaser from being kicked by a liveries pony. It was quite funny and whilst I could have sobbed the whole way home from the pain, I had Mark in one ear and a livery in the other making me giggle and realise how stupid I would sound telling the doctor what I had done. Three weeks off and I was back riding - much sooner than the Doctors had ordered though. The bonus was not being able to do anything for those weeks so whilst I sat with my arm in a sling I could watch others muck out for me.
April 2012 was the worst month for me by far. I have never spoken much about what happened that awful day and to be honest I don't want to, but I owe so much to my lovely vets, Alan Heath Equine, who quite frankly saved my boys life. I was away at university handing in some final projects when I had a phone call from the yard manager telling me it looked like Ceaser had bad mud fever and probably needed the vet as his front legs were rather swollen. Without hesitation I phoned the vet and was told they would be there around 3/4ish. Sitting at university that day was absolutely awful but I knew I was being silly and he would be fine. However I had a horrible dreaded feeling that I needed to get home. At 4 I tried to phone Mum, the Yard manager, the Vet ...anyone, but none would answer. It was then I knew something was wrong and raced to get home. My fears were confirmed when Mum phoned and told me just to get home, quick.
When I arrived home - only an hour and 15 minutes after leaving Leicester I learnt that the vets had given Ceaser antibiotics intravenously for cellulitis and unbeknown to us he was allergic to that type of antibiotics which caused him to have an anaphylactic shock. For those that know much about things like this, you will know anaphylactic shocks are life threatening and unless you get a drug into them within seconds to counteract the drug they are allergic to then it is a killer. My vet was absolutely fantastic and on her last attempt managed to get the correct drug in to Ceaser. He was then put on a saline drip and given other medication such as steroids. It was touch and go for a couple of hours and I was told to expect the worst and know that he had only a 50/50 chance of survival. Thankfully though he was and is a fighter and pulled through. For three days after this he was on colic alert as a shock like that can cause all sorts of complications. The hardest for me was seeing him laying flat out in his stable simply exhausted from what had happened. My initial reaction was to get him up and off the floor but my vets told me to leave him to sleep. Me and Mark slept with him all night until at 5am the next morning he suddenly jumped up, whinnied and at that point we knew he was going to be fine.
It was very difficult for me to comprehend that after such an ordeal like that he would ever compete again. I made my vets come back and do all sorts of tests on him to check no fluid from the shock had got into his lungs or caused any secondary problems. It was such a relief when just after 10 days from that horrible day he was given a clean bill of health and just a month later we were back competing. I don't think my vets appreciated texts like "some grey snot has fallen out his nose - is this bad?" or "I've googled his symptoms and google says he has equine rabies" when I first started to ride him again but nevertheless they were absolutely fantastic with me and spent hours telling me was fine and to stop worrying! Things we do for our horses eh?
Although I don't wish this had happened, it did make me realise all over again that we can't and shouldn't take our equines for granted - or any pets for that matter. The first time I got back on him I sobbed my heart out, then laughed, then sobbed again - it was such a relief to be back where I belong.
Anyway, enough of that. He is fine and since being poorly is better than ever. We have discussed that he potentially had a virus in the weeks leading up to the shock and the cause was simply his low immune system not being able to take the antibiotics. I owe lots of thanks to all involved with Ceaser's recovery and to those who shared the hourly through the night checks with me for 10 days.
Our aims for 2013 have pretty much been discussed earlier on in this blog, but as I mentioned above it would be lovely to get to Olympia in the Veteran final. Whether or not this will happen is anyones guess but I definitely going to give it my all. I am also hoping to get another ride for dressage that will stay as my dressage ride. Who knows though? As I learnt before, one split second can change your life. I think as well as Olympia I would love to compete at the PetPlan Nationals and maybe Trailblazers. This year I qualified for both but with graduating and my dissertation taking so much time up I decided I needed to concentrate on university. I have gained a couple more sponsors for 2013 to support my dressage and competing so I am really looking forward to what the New Year brings.
I am hoping that in September I will graduate with my Masters in Sports Journalism. It was such an achievement for me to graduate with an Honours Degree in Journalism and following the buzz the graduation ceremony gave me I decided to carry on and do my Masters. I must admit it has been much easier so far with studying much closer to home. One of the things I found difficult during my degree was how far I was away from the horses. Its nice to go to university now, come home and relax with the horses.
In terms of my blog, my aims for 2013 are pretty much the same as last year. In just 11 months my blog views have hit the 17,000 mark which is way beyond anything that I expected. I remember when I set it up back in January 2012, I didn't expect to be where I am now, nor getting job offers because of the success of it! Lots of very kind companies have allowed me to do product reviews for them which has been fantastic. On several occasions I have also been asked to guest blog for different companies which I hope to continue to do in 2013. I enjoy writing and whilst I used to think of myself as just an Equestrian Journalist I am now finding my feet in other areas which has been very different but proving to be successful.
I am now on the "list" for several magazines as a freelancer which gives me that excited feeling of not knowing where I could be going in 2013. This year I found myself at places like the Pony Club Championships which I had a great time at. In-fact at the Geoff and Oliver Edge of Glory Tour I bumped into some Pony Club Mums I had interviewed and we had a good catch up about how their children had done. It was such a lovely feeling that they instantly recognised me and took the time to ask how my career was going.
We also have some high hopes and aims for our yard in 2013. A meeting is being held soon to see how to take it further in 2013 and all the time we are thinking how to improve. We really are the best in our area for facilities, prices and more.
Our riding school is doing exceptionally well at the moment, especially with us having a brilliant new instructor. I am pestering Dad for an Indoor menage at the moment, as well as my 3.5 tonne horse box. It would make life so much easier as its rather annoying getting wet jodhpurs from riding in the rain. I am sure if I said it would benefit the riding school he would agree - watch this space!!
Well, this blog has gone on far too long now, but after reading through it I am rather excited at how much 2013 is going to bring for me. I have some fantastic new sponsors set up for the New Year and some brilliant opportunities and doors opening in both my journalism career and my riding.
Here's to a successful and happy New Year....
- Qualify for another PetPlan Area Festival. This time at both Prelim and Novice.
