Just a spoon full of sugar.....

OK so as promised this is a quick little update on Romy as we eagerly await the Dressage National Championships in Ireland later this month. I thought this day would never come but ROMY SMASHED THE 70% BARRIER recently and he did it at advanced medium, no less. So proud of my gorgeous big gent and I was a bit teary about it too because he’s come so far this year, in the face of adversity. 

The show was at our relatively local GORGEOUS venue, Redhills. The sun was shining, we had fabulous, encouraging, smiling judges and as always the team who work the 12 hours days at Redhills were friendly, smiley and encouraging too. It makes such a huge difference when you get a positive vibe with constructive comments from the judges, even if the score isn’t great. But this time we got good comments from both judges and they were accompanied with two good scores of 68% and 70% and first place (insert smug face). We also managed to get a training session with Judy Reynolds in and we looked at changes, which were fine, but STRAIGHT changes which leave a lot to be desired so I’m practicing them down the centre line now! A few clips of our second test are below. Clever donkey.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0fovYYCaDK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

So it’s all set us up well for nationals now. I know there will be quite a few professionals in my class because we’re now in the category 3 (or gold category if you’re BD) due to the level, which is a pity as we’re a true amateur combination, but all I can do is my best and hope that Romy is feeling up to it on the day. If we finish top 6 in the company of so many professionals I’ll be over the moon. I TRY not to let the competitive streak in me take over, I really do...I know it’s the getting there that counts, blah blah blah. But I want a jaysis frilly to take home and frame! 

Earlier in the month Romy was showing a little off so I got him checked and low and behold he had a small tear in his shoulder muscle which had resulted in some scar tissue forming in the area. I’ve been treating it with daily massage and he has an arc equine but we also tried something a little different this time. A lady at my yard has a cryonic neurocryostimulation device. Taken from the website (www.esms.ie), carbon dioxide at -78°C and 50 bar pressure enable a drop in cutaneous temperature from 32°C to 4°C within 30 seconds. 

Physiological effects include;

• The technique acts on the body's enzymes, vascular and lymphatic systems, and stimulates the cutaneous receptors

• Relieves pain immediately

• Stops inflammation

• Drains haematomas and oedema due to its vasomotor effect

• Triggers immediate muscular relaxation

I must admit the initial swelling reduced pretty much overnight and with a few more treatments, along with the other treatments mentioned above, Romy is feeling tip top again and ready to flick his toes in all directions! 

If anyone would like to find out more info on treatment in Ireland you can visit www.facebook.com/esms.ie/

As an added prep for nationals I’ve been considering a few energy supplements to give him a little boost. Three days of tests are a lot for my big man who wouldn’t ordinarily have two days schooling in a row so I’ve decided to give this product a go to see if it aids his energy and recovery https://www.globalmedics.be/animal-healthcare/en/product/hemachol/ . Without going into the nitty gritty of it too much, the minerals should help transport oxygen around his blood and the vitamins should help increase energy and accelerate recovery. It might help Romy find his wings ;-) 

Here’s hoping my next post heralds more good news for my overgrown chocolate Labrador of a horse! 

V & R x 

Over the Moon(a) for Luna

And then there were two! 

I've been thinking a lot about getting a second horse, partly to take the pressure of Romy slightly and partly to keep me in the saddle when he has well deserved breaks throughout the year. I had considered quite a few horses but none of them were right for some reason or another. It brought me back to the time when I was buying my first ever dressage horse (see the first posts in this blog!). There was one horse in particular who I already envisioned stabled beside Romy. I had started to slyly purchase some new matchy matchy sets before the horse even had been through the vetting. So no, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and you can't teach an old....wait....a slightly middle aged Victoria a lesson either. 

And then, just like that (with a bit of help from my friend, Glass O'Malbec) I had agreed to buy a horse, unseen and unbroken from a seller in the UK. She was a gangly ginger who trotted like she was on air. And nooooo, I don’t want people to think it was a flippant decision made off the back of a fuzzy feeling from the wine, it was something I had been thinking about for a long time and she just came along at the right time. So it all moved pretty quickly, and before I knew it I was responsible for feeding 5 mouths (two big fluffies, two small fluffies and me). My fluffy family is ever growing, and something tells me I’m not quite done. 

Luna is a ~16.2 three year old by Valdez (Houston) out of a Westpoint elite mare. Her family tree has a lot of fancy schmancy names in there, not least the world famous Jazz who I think she probably gets her looks from...the big tangerine! She bounded off the lorry to our yard just outside of Dublin and I must admit I felt like I had cartoon googly eyes popping out of my head at the sight of her skinny, immature body but I was promptly told ‘Don’t worry Victoria...you’re a feeder, she’s gonna be juuuuust fiiiiine’ so I ate myself some cake and chilled out.

Her first couple of months with me have been really lovely and developing a bond with her before she is backed has been a real pleasure. I have to admit, having people around me who had experience with starting youngsters made a huge difference because I was definitely a bit blind to a few things. In fact, I remember mumbling to myself ‘I need to buy a book about babies’ when I first held her leadrope after she came off the lorry. I don’t really have a clue but I have a support team around me, not least Sina, Lucy and Kevin at Greenogue who were really helpful and offered constructive advice such as ‘you should long rein before you lunge (who knew!)’ (after I proudly declared 'TODAY I TAUGHT LUNA HOW TO LUNGE') and ‘maybe don’t use your PS of Sweden bridle the first time you try to put a bridle on her...babies break things’.

I made a promise to myself that I won’t back her until her fourth year because I’ve seen too many horses have issues from being backed and pushed far too young so I’ll wait until next year and then hopefully she’ll be a little more mature and ready to start flicking her toes in all the right directions! So she spent a month with me, learning how to be groomed, how to be bridled, lead to the field, walked over poles, long reined (kinda), and get used to something going under her belly and my GOLLY was she a little dote about it all. Day 2 I thought to myself ‘what have I done’ after she nearly skinned me alive pulling away on the leadrope but that day I also learnt to NEVER lead a youngster without gloves. We’ve both been learning and by day 3 I was back believing in my little tangerine. After that month I turned her away to grow and mature and while I was actually much sadder saying goodbye to her than I expected to be(she’s literally ten minutes down the road from Romy) I was also happy for her to be part of this new herd and proud of myself for doing what I believe to be the right thing for her.

Luna, my little girl who loves a cuddle and a scratch on the head, I can’t WAIT to see what the future holds for us, even if Romy was wholly unimpressed with you (the only horse I’ve ever seen him to turn away from...it’s like he knew).

I’ll post again soon about a recent competition I did with Romy. *SPOLIER ALERT* he took home the red!

Till then

V & R & L

x