I can’t believe that my last blog post was almost 4 months ago! Where has the time go? It’s amazing how much can change in such a short space of time. I write these little blogs not because I expect people to read them, but because it also serves as a bit of a journal for me to process my feelings and keep track of where I am at!
You’re probably thinking – is she going to bang on about mental health again? Well, yes I am. But I am also going to touch on what Blake and I have been up to! It’s been great on the mental health front, I won’t lie. It’s almost as if the second the colder months disappear, taking with them the cloudy and wet days, my brain magically decides to function like a ‘normal’ person again. I also think that as I become more established and confident in myself and my ability, I am setting boundaries and making decisions that I wouldn’t necessarily have before now. Again, great for the ol’ mental health! Anyway, I am not here to brag – here’s a cheeky little round-up of our lives over the last 4 months…
Shortly after my last blog entry, I was very lucky to receive some products from HorzeHoods in exchange for some content. Now, I am no model, nor do I deem myself an influencer (with my whopping 1.2k followers lol). However, I am so pleased that I got to work with a brilliant company and the clothes they sell are just incredible! I was gifted the 3 in 1 coat and it really complements the figure, keeps you warm and most importantly keeps you dry! Anyway, I am not here to sell you the product, but I am going to drop the link to the promo video we made!
Shortly after this, I was also asked to star in a video for Posturide which was really exciting!
Petplan Area Festival
Next up we had the Petplan Winter Area Festival at Moreton EC. Wow, what a day! I was reminded of how much support and love we have around us now when not 1, but 6 people travelled a 4-hour round trip just to show their support! I cannot tell you how grateful I felt. After being wet-wiped within an inch of my life by 2 people on either side, it was time to do the test. The last time I’d competed at an AF I got 59%, my lowest score ever, so the expectation was low. However, I have also been training with a new instructor and this, coupled with my much stronger relationship with Blake, meant that we achieved an extremely respectable 66.43%, with one judge even giving us 68%. Now, although this was not a winning score, I honestly could not have asked for more. Blakey gave me everything and we worked together to produce what is hands-down the best test we have done to date! You can actually watch it on video here!
Mystery Illness
Towards the end of March, after an evening hack, I noticed Blake was really lethargic and then he refused to eat his dinner. A thermometer up the bum and a temperature of over 40 degrees confirmed my suspicions. Blakey was not well. Cue emergency vet visit, IV bute, blood tests, a few days of rest and a lot of TLC. His temperature lasted a couple of days but quickly subsided. We still don’t know what caused it but it was likely a bit of a viral infection that luckily cleared up on its own without the need for antibiotics.
Ricardo Lessons
I am not exaggerating when I say that having a lesson with Ricardo Wallenstein at Southey Farm changed my perspective massively. I have been on the verge of giving up, truth be told. The dressage world seems to attract a lot of nasty and, quite frankly, abusive people. Jabbing with spurs every single stride, overtight nosebands and pulling on the bit with huge force seems to be the norm. As a vegan myself. riding horses doesn’t exactly align with my moral compass anyway. But alas, I digress. Ricardo reminded me that dressage is about displaying the relationship you have with your horse and working in harmony together. Well, that is exactly what we did at Petplan, all without a flash or spurs and without yanking on his mouth. That felt good. We worked on exercises to help Blake come forward into the contact more and there was a huge improvement!
dYes he’s overbent in this picture, but he is going to be until he develops the right muscles for self-carriage. There’s a difference between this and sustaines hyperflection 😉
A Cheeky Trip
Now this might be the most flattering image I will ever post of myself on my website, To save me the agony of typing it all out I am just going to copy and paste from my Facebook, because chances are no one would’ve read this far anyway!
Full CT scan showed no broken bones but significant soft tissue damage and I have concussion.
Want to see a video? I am afraid I don’t have the fall but I do have the aftermath…
It's not all doom and gloom...
So after feeling sorry for myself for a couple of weeks, I ditched the crutches and decided to get back on the literal horse. I convinced Jesse to take both the boys XC – with me riding Blake to get him warmed-up and then Jesse jumping him. I’ll admit, I was so not physically up for this, but mentally, I was there! Blake surpassed all expectations and even popped a couple of cheeky 80 fences – you can watch the vlog here .
We had another Ricardo lesson which was just as amazing, and again left us feeling inspired to continue. Blake’s skin and condition is looking amazing again thanks to Global Herbs, Biteback Produts and Lowton Equine Rehabilitation – and of course all our other supporters! We truly have the best team aroud us at the moment and I can’t wait to get back out competing again.
That brings us to now, I am currently sat debating when our next outting will be – keeping in mind that we have a very small window to qualify in now. So yeah, that’s me. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! Genuienly, thank you for reading. I do hope you enjoyed the chapter 😉
Love,
Paige
