It has been an incredibly frustrating time for all involved and I must say an enormous thank you again to all my helpers and supporters. The team at home have been brilliant in keeping the horses and yard going and in one piece, and my small but loyal squad of owners could not have been more understanding. The horse are all looking fantastic and dying to get out and about again. My sister Kate has come out of semi retirement to help with their fittening work and is also helping out with my rehab as she is training to be a sports massage therapist. Combined with her already obtained Mary Bromily Equine massage cert she is an invaluable asset to our yard. Mark Smith has also been down to jump the horses which was great, they all went exceptionally well which was a credit again to the the team for all their hard work.

We have a new member to our back up staff after the departure of Ginny Scott who headed back to city life in Glasgow. Maria Vanatoa, who is a friend of our existing Estonian member of staff Jaanika, joined us at the beginning of July and will be taking over the reins of a few of our young horses as well as having the fun and challenge of taking Rare Hero ( Jock) to some events in the second half of this season. Maria has ridden at 1* level in Estonia and has great ambition so is a super addition to the team especially at the present time.

I am really starting to get itchy feet with not being able to be more productive during the day, but on the positive it has given me the chance to get a good few jobs done that are always left to the bottom of the pile.I had hoped to get away to Ireland for a few days, but a plaster and inability to drive put a stop to that idea.. better for the purse strings and liver I’m sure though…! One project I am really excited about is embarking on the process of becoming an accredited trainer with BE. In order to do this you have to go through the UKCC levels, which are government run coaching courses covering sports as a whole, each individual sport having its own system and approach relevant to them however.  I have been lucky enough to get accepted onto level 2, attending one of the 4 training days up at Easterton Arena, near Perth which is run by Ann Hunt and her daughter Kathryn. It concentrated more on the coaching of the rider rather than the technical aspects of training the horse and was highly thought provoking. At the end of the day, after a casual conversation regarding vaulting and mutual friends, I was allowed the opportunity of riding their international vaulting horse which was brilliant and highlighted some of the weaker aspects of my riding. Particularly evident having had 6 weeks off was the lack of core stability, but the relevance of the classical dressage position in basic vaulting was much greater then I appreciated.. I know what work I need to be doing for the next weeks/months.

Following this training day and a wee taster, I got in touch with Helen Rogerson who runs a Borders Vaulting Group for Disabled riders, as well as training able bodied internationals at the Lauderdale Vaulters Group, she also has a daughter Ann, who vaults internationally. At one session, it was amazing to see the smiles on the faces of some severly disabled children, cantering round on the back of a 17hh horse. Physiotherapists are now fully appreciating of riding for a variety of different physical and mental problems. The Scots are particularly good at this incredible sport, and having had a trial run, I have a new found respect for their abilities to perform gymnastics on horseback. I am booked in for another lesson next week as it allows me to ride not putting pressure on my troublesome tendon and really concentrate on my position rather than what the horse is doing.. I can highly recommend having a go to anyone, it great fun and very interesting.

Not being able to drive has meant that  I have been at the mercy of my Mother taxi’ing me about, for which I am truly grateful.. I have however been down some roads that I didn’t know existed having been in the Borders for 5 years now.. notably this amazing view from the top of Talla Reservoir.. taken at 10.20pm on route home from a visit to some friends, it was quite spectacular,.

So at last, we are thinking a little more positively, I have entered up some of the horses for the new events at Burgham and Hopetoun, then on to Scone, Hendersyde and Blair. A notable return to the team on the equine front has been in the form of Philip and Iona Kerr’s Arctic Soul, who having a a bit of time off in the spring has come back in really good order and looking great. We are hopeful of a run at Blair for him, which is set to be an amazing event with the Young Riders there… we could also see a potential squad place for the Elliot’s Cherry Law, who has moved on to Scottish young rider Danial Scott. They had a great run at Burgie so fingers crossed. Also moved on is Fiddlewood who has gone to Matthew Wright to campaign. He has been placed 3 out of 3 so far and now looks to have a qualification to Gatcombe for the Novice Chamionships which is great after the blip we had, it looks like he is well back on track. We also have new youngster in the form of the Mactaggert’s Vinny Roe gelding Caballito, originally, and still possibly destined for the racecourse, he has joined the team for some education and a crack at the YEH classes.

A final word must go to my great friend and international rider for NZ Lucy Jackson, who also came off the other day and has managed to break her ankle in three places. It was an innocuous fall off a young horse, landing on her feet after a jump whilst xc schooling. My heart truly went out to her as she was due to have the amazing experience of riding at the Test Event at Greenwich Park this week, and then also in the invitational CIC***O at Aachen… absolutely gutting.. at least I can say I genuinely know how she feels.

Maria is entered with the youngsters at an unafiliated show this weekend at Titlingotn Arena, then there might be an outing to some BS next weekend before Burgham, fingers crossed the next report will include some show or eventing news…

After a distinct leave of absence, the diary is back with a brief catch up of ongoings at NBR Eventing. I cant help but feel that this year is a bit of a slow starter.Where do I start…?

 It was a late start to the season, with the first run for Jerry OI, Max, N (HC) and Noel in the N, at a superbly run Belton Horse Trials. We had been working quite hard on our show jumping with Mark Smith throughout Feb and March, which really paid off when all three horses jumped lovely double clears. Max would have won the novice had he not been HC, Noel despite not having been to an event for over 10 months felt like he had never been away, and Jerry, though his jumping was great, was decidedly on his toes for his test which left him less than competitive!

 Following this prep run, we had the most fantastic result with Jerry at Burnham Market in April when he won the advanced, beating some seriously big names… this was a thoroughly unexpected result but the whole team were delighted and it was a welcome spring boost after what had been another very tough winter. Noel did a great dressage and showjumping but was withdrawn due to the hard enough ground. Wattie was very fresh in the dressage, had an unlucky rail, and then was a little distracted on the xc to have 20 pens.. a bit of homework to do there… At the same time though, as with horses you are up one min and down the next, and the down was our lovely horse Arctic Soul having a slight issue which meant that he was to be out of action for a few months.

On from Burnham to Scone, and our best result came with Mary Grant’s Fiddlewood pulling out the stops to finish 2nd in a Novice class, thereby qualifying him for a NRF.Max had a good run in the ON to finish 5th and set him up for his first intermediate at Auchinleck the following weekend. Watts Burn had a good double clear in his last PN, to finish 4th.

Auchinleck provided the best going of the season so far, so it was lovely to allow Max a free rein and he simply ate up the xc feeling very classy. A slightly green test and one down left him a bit down the order in 9th but Mum (his owner) and I were delighted with his step up. Noel was good in both his test and the SJ, but was over the top for the  xc having flown round the previous week, added to loosing a shoe on course, he ran through the bridle a bit resulting in a couple of mistakes. Wattie coped well with the novice test, but was a bit flat in the sj for 2 off, and then was going superbly across the country until the pilot decided the stride into the corner was a bit open and tried to add another, Wattie sensibly took his own decision and ran out, but on representation jumped it beautifully and finished full of confidence.

We had a weekend off from eventing after Auchinleck, and took out the young horses to our local PC show. This is more exciting than most events as there are lots of horses, but mostly 12.2hh ponies galloping about causing chaos and getting up to general mischief. Winger, who was aiming for the YEH class at Bramham, coped admirably, andthough getting eliminated from the first round of showjumping, regained his composure to then jump 3 clear rounds after that. It was excellent education, learning to stand, have patience, and be on the lorry etc . He is maturing into a really classy young horse, and though a touch smaller than most of the horses here , he is beautifully athletic and has a fantastic jump.

So on to Floors, where we had 5 running. The Elliot’s Cherry Law  and Jerry in the OI, Max NRF, Wattie and Noel in the Novice. We had 2 on Saturday, Noel and Wattie. Noel warmed up a little head strong for his dressage, and was the same throughout his test, so I was particularly delighted to score the first sub 20 score of the season at 19.5. Wattie had also come on alot and scored a brilliant 27.5. Wattie jumped an excellent clear in the show jumping, as was Noel until the last combination when he took exception to something and ran out at the last second, which was beyond frustrating. Noel ran 1st on the xc, and although jumping a little high at times, was going well until the trakenher when he ducked out again, sending me crashing into the bottom of the ditch.Thank goodness for airbags as I was absolutely fine, barring my ankle which had obviously stopped me from going over the fence. Despite my best efforts to convince everyone that I was ok.. as I had other horses to ride… I ended up in A and E having x rays which confirmed a fracture to the fibula.

So here we are, 3 weeks on and in plaster from the knee down. We missed Bramham which was gutting, Jerry had been on wicked form leading up to it and I really believe he could have been right up there with them. After a week down south catching up with friends, I managed to hitch a lift up to Bramham, and watched a fantastic competition unfold. Ian Stark’s course rewarded bold and forward thinking horses and riders, surprisingly the U25 section having much fewer problems than the seniors, perhaps due to the experience of the horses they were on or maybe due to the confidence of youth..!There were some class rounds, Sarah Cohen on Treason, Caroline Powell on Grace Macrae’s Porthill Rusty Nail, a partnership of only a few weeks, and also Olivia Haddow’s Cool Dancer, who she has taken up through the grades and is now relishing the big time…  Max has sadly missed all his opportunities for qualifying for the Novice Championships at Gatcombe, but as Scone runs the same weekend, and is much closer, hopefully we will manage a lorry full for the young horse and senior classes there.

I am back to the Orthopedic Consultant a week today, and meantime am working hard on the exercises my Physio at Borders Physiotherapy Clinic has given me. I cant wait to get back to taking some serious exercise again…

The team here have been fantastic keeping everything going for me. Mum is doing everything from Mucking out to being a taxi service. Ginny Scott has been doing a great job at bringing Spike back into work and keeping the lid on a very exuberant 4yo, Carine Gevart has been twice a week to keep the dressage work going,Jannika is doing sterling work in the yard, and above all my owner’s have been amazingly supportive and patient. A huge thank you to all of my support team, its time like this when you value loyalty beyond anything else. Roll on a much better and consistent second half of the season.

As soon as the snow had finally all gone towards the middle of January, I headed off to Cormayeur in Northern Italy for a week’s skiing which was fantastic, if not slightly bad timing what with now having to get on with the horses. Nevertheless, it was great fun and a much needed break. I only had one serious crash where I hit my head again.. ( having already landed upside down in the sand off a rather exuberant youngster the previous week..) and realised why the majority of skiers were now wearing helmets. The team at home did a brilliant job keeping everyone ticking over so it was all systems go on return, with some added super glue for good measure.

Our first outing this month was over to the west country to Mark Smith’s yard for a night to ride and compete Fiddlewood for the first time this year as he was due to be coming back with me for the season. All was going perfectly to plan, and almost ahead of schedule until turning off the motorway, round the first roundabout, and then nothing.. the accelorator had gone and there was oil pouring out from the bottom of the truck.. not good.. thankfully we were only a mile from Mark’s so he kindly came out to tow us back to his yard with his lorry.. in the process, breaking his power steering cable..not good take two..The weekend did however get a little better when Mistral jumped super well for a 6th in the 1.05, and a 2nd in the newcomers. We ended up having to get a lift home with a horse transporter, and the lorry came back on a low loader.

The lorry all fixed, we headed off to SNEC on Sunday with Spike and Max who were both thoroughly over excited to be allowed out. I cant say that riding a fresh TB horse in a small indoor warm up with horses coming at you from all directions is much fun, but in the ring, Spike settled much better to jump a good DC in the 1.05 for an 8th place and the just the one down in the newcomers. Max and I had a slight rush of blood to the head in the 1.05 seeing some particularly impressive xc strides in the jump off (my ringside supporters and trainer were not overly amused when I came out) but it was great fun and he finished 4th… 2 in the top 8 out of a class of about 40.. I though we did well to keep the eventers side up! He also just had the one down in the newcomers, but  fitness and concentration is still a little wayward at he moment so plenty to work on at home.

Caring Cevaert was here for dressage lessons this morning and is now booked in weekly until the start of the season. We had some good sessions but sometimes I felt like it was like riding an untuned radio on Jerry, you know there is good reception there somewhere but it all just still felt a bit fuzzy. It really has been monumentally frustrating with their lack of progress this winter. I know there will be plenty of people and horses in the some boat this spring, but there is little we can do about it now except not to rush or force things to happen too quickly.

Mum has gone away on her holidays now, so we are flat out at the yard, 12 in and lots going on. We are looking forward to a xc schooling day with Ian Stark at Floors on Thursday and then our Hunt Ball on Sat.

The following week sees a full weekend jumping at Kingsbarn and hopefully some more xc schooling slotted in as the first event at Gatcombe and the start of the silly season looms ever nearer. Entries for Jerry, Max, Spike and Noel are in, I don’t know where time is going to at the mo….

The horses remakably are being very tolerant with their extended holiday.I had written off up until the New Year, but it is now looking as though we may not be out for the first few events due to the constant freeze/thaw issues that are thwarting our efforts of any regular work programmes. It was looking moderately hopeful at the start of last week with 3 consecutive days of exercise, however this was short lived, and again, thank goodness for our covered walker that is keeping things ticking over, as the yard and local roads have returned to resemble skating rinks, and the arena frozen solid.. If anyone has any bright ideas of how to prevent this, we would be most grateful to hear from you.

On a very sad note, we have been devastated to loose our lovely young horse Inishmhor this winter through a freak accident whilst turned out in the arena here at home. A seemingly innocuous looking injury turned out to be career and ultimately life ending for him and we were devestated that he lost his fight on Christmas eve. He was such a genuinely lovely person with super talent. Two outstanding performances came on the first and last times I rode him competitively. At Bramham, in the BYEH qualifier when he had been over from Ireland about 6 weeks, only just rebroken and were over 4 hours late arriving due to a lorry malfunction. After just 20 mins out of the box at his first proper show, he went in last to head the field on a huge score, giving the most exemplary performance in an electric atmosphere, and secondly, when battling bravely through the horrendous conditions at Osberton in the Young Horse Championships round what was a really strong track for the day it was,and earning some huge admiration on the way… I  was so looking forwards to seeing him progress through the ranks and go on to great things in 2011. I hope he is now enjoying life in the fields in the sky with our superstar boys Malachy and Ed.

We are trying to remain in positive frames of mind however, and have been busy re registering and looking through competiton plans, should things go according to plan, our season will see us again travelling the length and bredth of the country, and possibly some Irish Trips thrown in aswell.. exciting times… We are also looking forward to the return of the lovely novice horse Fidlewood, to ride for his owner’s, Cameron and Mary Grant. He has been busy polishing his skill in the showjumping area for the last 10 months so I will be under great pressure to keep up the good work!

Ironically, I am heading off on holiday in the next week, to go skiing… you would have thought I would have gone for the sun option, but the lack of adrenalin is taking its toll! Here is to returning in one piece, as an injury to the jockey would be less than helpful. I am hugely looking forward to a break from the routine,a few Vin Chaud’s and no horses for a full week. I leave the yard in the capable hands of Mum, Mick and our lovely new Estonian girl, Yannika Tomingas, who is studying Business at Edinburgh Uni and helping us out in her spare time.

Roll on some better weather… PLEASE!!

Early November, we took Max and Mistral to the Scottish National Equestrian Center(SNEC) for some showjumping. Mistral was out for the first time in 18 months and was very jolly but amazingly managed to contain himsef for the most part jumping well in 2 classes for a couple of clears. Max also jumped two double clears but was intentionally non competitive, this having been the first time out since Blair Castle.

Full of enthusiasm, we headed out the following weekend to Rowallan. We piled in Jerry, Wattie, Inish and Spike, travelling up the day before to have some lessons with Mark Smith. The boys were all excellent considering none of them had been out for at least 6 weeks, Wattie was the star, jumping 2 double clears and finishing 2nd twice. Spike had a rail in the first class, then jumped beautifully in the 1.10m open finishing 3rd, Inish was in need of the outing, and popped round the British Novice twice jumping much more confidently the second time in. Jerry was also on good form, baring a small blip in his warm up class he then went in and jumped a very polished clear in the Foxhunter, feeling very professional.

Following jumping, we dashed home to get the glad rags on for the BE Scotland Ball held at the Dunblane Hydro, and organised by recently re-elected BE Board member Les Smith. It is always an excellent night, and this year was no exception. We had a fantastic table with Owners Mary and Cameron Grant, Mark and his girlfriend, showjumper Sarah Curran, fellow eventer Alison Newton and her partner, Mum, our new livery Katie Turner and her boyfriend David Reddihough and two wholly non horsey gentlemen( who may or may not have been put off for good!) to complete our 12..  I had the added pleasure of picking up the prize for Scottish Points winner 2010 riding Mum’s lovely horse Stonedge, and the trophy for the Scottish Novice Championships. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and only felt a little bit fragile the following morning…

We have had the excitement of a couple of new additions to the yard, one as a result of our faith in our spies in the Emerald Isle,which is very atheltic 3yo gelding by Olympic Lux and out of a Balinvella mare, eligible for the Burghley bonus 2011,and now officially named as Willunga. The other is from a private yard, by Shannodale Sarco and out of an ISH mare, Harry’s Girl, and named Burra Brook. Both of these names come from very good Australian wines.. as was “Trig Point”…we hope this bodes well for there future…! Our only problem now is that we cant actually get on and do much with either of them, imagine having new toys sitting in front of you and not being able to play with them! Both seem very nice individuals, with confident and enthusiastic personalities, excellent movement and jump. I am really looking forward to cracking on with them both when the weather breaks. The pictures posted are the befor shots… keep checking back to see them developing in to the handsome youngster we hope they will turn out to be!!

Good friend Niki Pack and I also travelled out to the inaugural Performance Sale that was held at Monart Equestrian Center and run jointly with Goresbridge Sales. It was a really interesting day and worked very well, with several top riders and dealers in attendance. There was a display from all the horses on the flat and over show jumps in the morning, and in the afternoon they all went across the country, unfortunatly in the most horrendous weather Ireland could muster. In the evening there was a delicious gala dinner for the auction. It was a great success with several horse being sold across the pond in both directions.

Since the end of November, we have be slightly twiddling our thumbs, mostly clearing snow from the yard to avoid inches thick ice and trying to keep the horses entertained and healthy.  The arena is out of action with about 2 foot of snow on it, and we are having to dig out the covered walker most days.. Turn out has been possible on the odd day which the horses have been loving, but it makes for  a terrifying spectator sport, with temperature dipping to -20 some nights, it make for fairly treacherous conditions for exercising horses all round.

Trying to keep on a positive note, we have been looking at the calender for the 2011 season and have several exciting plans afoot, should we ever manage to get the team up and running again…. In the meantime we will be looking forward to a family Christmas, and Hogmanay Borders style with plenty of festive cheer to keep the cold at bay….!

The competitive year closed with The NBR Eventing point total having reached 116, the first time through 100 points for some time, and also a first Advanced and 3* for six years. We hope for many more in 2011. There were also 65 Foundation points collected throughout the season showing the strength in depth of the lovely young horses we have in the yard. A few of the highlights include Watts Burn heading the line up a Burghley in the 5yo class, Stonedge winning the Scottish Novice Championship’s and Trig Point winning at 2* level and completing Blenheim.

We have also had a great time with our amazingly supportive owners, Janey Roncoroni, Philip Kerr, Iona Kerr, Lorna McWilliam, Harry Phillips, and Peter and Rhona Elliot, without which we could not compete and be part of a Sport we are all so fond of. Most importantly the horses have finished the season very well and sound so we will be looking to make sure this continues into next year and the years to come.

Very excitingly, we have had the go-ahead,following a routein scan, from our fantastic vet Sarah Simpson to start jumping our lovely French horse Mistral De Blondel. He suffered a tear to the superficial flexor tendon in his off fore early last year and underwent stem cell treatment at the Clyde Vet Group from Andrew McDiarmid. Following 18 months rehab, he is sound, fit and raring to go so with luck now he will be out competing next year after some winter showjumping and dressage.

We already have the first 3yo in to back for next year’s young horse programme and are in the middle of an office/tack room conversion with broadband being installed to make work on line possible from the yard. We also have two new part liveries, Katie Turner, who works full time for Smiths Gore and will be competing at BE 90 and 100 next year, and Wendy Milnes who has recently moved up to the area with her family…. so with 12 horses in and no full time help due to Rae Brown’s departure, it is all hands on deck.. we are as busy as ever!

As last year’s Winter was so diabolical,  our plan is to keep the horses in light to medium work and compete at the indoor shows to iron out and keep on top of the area’s I feel need work.. I am looking forward to not doing studs and battling with ground conditions.. as well as some lighter enertainment in the form of a shopping trip to Ireland, the Event Horse Owners Association dinner, the Scottish BE Ball, catching up with some long lost friends, and a few day’s hunting to name a few!

From arrival, the Elliot’s Cherry Law was on fiery form and enjoying being out again, her last event being the CCI** at Blair. Unfortunately she was not in the right mind set to do a beautiful fluid test and we just about survived the experience with quite allot of bouncing around in the canter work! Her lovely picture making her look like butter wouldn’t melt! This enthusiasm was put to good use for the xc though and she flew round the course really proving herself at this level. The weather had been pretty inclement throughout the week and the ground on the xc had taken quite a battering. Although the fields had held up really well, the tracks through the trees went from bad to worse and I was for once glad to have an early draw. There was a herculean effort by the organising teamto move the CCI** showjumping on the Sunday morning which was hugely appreciated by all the competitors but sadly the CIC* 6 yo Championship ended up being abandoned, a decision taken jointly by competitors and organisers alike. Blossom show-jumped really well but had one unlucky fence just rubbing it off behind.

Inishmhor competed on the Friday in the worst of the weather and coped amazingly well with atrocious conditions, He did a lovely test to be just off the leaders, Ruth Edge occupying most of the top slots with her 3 horses. By the time he show-jumped, the ground had gone to a quagmire and he did well to only have one down. The cross country was beautifully presented and it was a real shame it poured with rain for the whole day. We had a small lack of communication in to the 4th,  a simple chair type fence, when I failed to get the instructions through in time, but he then went on to jump all the more difficult questions with ease and finished full of confidence.

It was a damp end to the season but we returned home with sound fit horses which is always the most important thing. Blossom goes back to her owners for her holidays and Inish will have an easy few weeks befor a little show-jumping through the winter.

Now back home there is loads of work to catch up on, painting and tidying the yard, repairing and sorting kit and with our full time member of staff Rae Brown leaving at the end of September, there is no rest for the wicked!

We fitted in a really interesting jumping lesson with Roland Fernyhough on the Wednesday between wedding dress fittings/collections and make up trials. Niki was riding a horse Tagus Creek, who she bought from NBR Eventing as a 4yo and was also sourced through Shaun and Sally Parkyn in Ireland at the time we found Stonedge. He too was aiming for the CIC* and was fitting in some last minute fine tuning.

Mum and Philip arrived on the Friday evening to watch Spike’s dressage on the Saturday and he coped well in a big arena for the first time but getting distracted at times in movements which headed towards the xc field. This resulted in a middle of the road 54, a fair bit off the leaders, including Pippa Funnell on a stunning “Billy” horse, Burghley finalist from last year and aiming for Lion d’Angers qualifications.

The showjumping didn’t go according to plan at all and spike was unsettled and distracted going into the area, subsequently having the first 3 fences down, after this he seemed to switch on to the job, but unfortunately the damage had been done and this dropped him way down the list.. Niki on the other hand jumped a beautiful clear round on “Theo”.

It was a lovely Gatcombe track for the CIC* and the ground was in great nick, so we had a good run round, without the pedal to the floor and completed for a qualifying score. Though not coming home with a rosette, I feel Spike learnt alot and will have come on a huge amount for the experience.  We headed home with the Jerry and Spike post Gatcombe and they both had an easy week whilst I headed back south for Niki and Rich’s wedding the following weekend. It was the most fantastic happy day and the weather was superb, they headed off on honeymoon to Greece, whilst I went home to pack up and head back down to Osberton with Cherry Law and Inishmhor.