Petplan Equine
Sponsored Rider - Rachael

January to March Update

January and February were the usual winter months for us here. Winter weather combined with early darkness meant the boys weren’t doing as much as I would have liked, but they were all ticking over nicely. As the nights got better, the boys all started doing more work.

When March hit this year, so did the worst time of my life so far. Tragically, I lost my partner, the amazing William Wilkinson, to a motorbike accident. His death caused a huge amount of pain, and a sense of loss I had never felt before. And in all honesty, the horses were the last thing on my mind. I would like to thank everyone, including the Petplan team, for the support and kindness I received. My family and friends took care of the horses while I couldn’t, and offered stability and security to myself and them when I had none.

A few weeks on, I am now back in some kind of routine with the boys, and we are taking things one day at a time.

Sleet

Sleet has been maintained with lunge and long line work, with the odd trip to the local arena for some ridden work when I have time in the day. He was coming on nicely, and eventually, we entered our ‘return to work test’ prelim dressage test.

This test would essentially be the make or break moment for him. If he could cope with the work load, and test, I could continue his progression.

On the 31st January, we headed out for our test! Sleet sported a blingy new brow band (if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em) and was very excited to be going out! After a lovely warm up, lots of lateral work, and walking to soften him up, our time came.

‘Enter at A – and head tilt!!’ Every time! There was nothing wrong with this horse other than his ability to irritate me with his habits! We did a reasonable test, with a score of 60% and achieving third place! But more importantly, I was happy with him in the pouring down rain and wind!

In March, Sleet came in very pottery in front, and was pointing his off fore, so, I pulled his shoe off and poulticed it on the advice of my farrier. Two days, and a few bandage changes later, nothing had come of it. I turned him out in a little pen for the day and when I returned in the evening I was faced with this… (please be warned it may be uncomfortable for some people to watch)

What on earth was he doing! I called the vet immediately, explained what he was doing, the whole situation (then had a bit of a meltdown) and demanded someone came out ASAP! I then filmed what he was doing as I find this very helpful as sometimes by the time a vet arrives, they aren’t doing it anymore.

Within 20 minutes the lovely vet Heather (who had featured in our ‘Horse magazine’ article with us) turned up. She was none the wiser regards to the foot, like me, no heat, digital pulse, swelling, lumps bumps, anything! Was pottery all round on trot up still, and very sensitive in his back. We discussed the possibility of ‘tying up’ which he has a track record for, and several bloods were taken to test for various things.

On the Friday, Heather called. All Sleet’s bloods came back normal. Nothing! Not a dot of anything abnormal! So we made an appointment for him to go in and be assessed in relation to back pain and his Kissing Spine.

His KS vet assessed him, and we discussed treatment. He then had a round of shockwave therapy and was advised to have two weeks off. He will have to go back for another session mid-April.

Lord Gale

Lordie has been coming on well, with another walk and trot test under his belt, and a score of 65.21% and a 2nd place (he sported some bling too!). He’s lost that ‘fatty ginger’ look now, and is becoming fitter and muscular because of his work. I’m just happy you can’t see his ribs anymore!

Lordie has also been cross country schooling, which was a nice distraction for me for a day, and I put a video together of it all which can be seen here.

My Little Wing Man

Tristan, the little coloured monster, has also started his education! Although he’s only two and half, being entire, he is starting to test the water, and trying to be that little bit cheeky when it’s not wanted! So, to give him something to think about I have started long lining him.

To say he wasn’t bothered is an understatement. He has always had a good relationship with me, I’ve taken him on walks up the road, done ride and lead with Sleet, and he’s very relaxed in his attitude to new things. He did however not quite understand ‘walk on’, which meant I ended up poking his backside!

On the down side, Tristan’s eyes have not improved, despite our best efforts with the amazing vet Kirstie Pickles. He now has a detached retina in both eyes, and, it’s unclear what he actually can and can’t see.

We have done tests over poles and various footings, and so far, he proves to be very confusing, ‘seeing’ things intermittently. He never seems to bump into or walk into anything though, so at the moment I am not hugely concerned about his welfare in terms of safety.

For anyone unsure about how his eyes look there are plenty of pictures I keep updated on my Facebook page - Rachael Jayne Barker Petplan Equine sponsored rider HYPERLINK: www.facebook.com/Rachael-Jayne-Barker-Petplan-Equine-sponsored-rider-885061211576449/

Kingsclough Masquerade

The lovely Marcus has been busy with his owner Amanda, being very successful in the dressage arena. They qualified in the prelim for the Petplan Equine Area Festival, and then actually knocked themselves out by qualifying in the novice to music.

Other than that things have been quiet as the showing season hasn’t yet begun.

To make sure were ‘super ready’; we attended a HOYS clinic run by the lovely Shelley Perham, and Roger Philpot, at the Unicorn Equestrian Centre. It was a long trip down, and due to my personal circumstances I was feeling exhausted, but it was definitely worth it.

Shelley put us through our paces, literally! We focused not only on Marcus and his way of going, but also on my riding.

Side saddle I have always aimed, and been taught ‘equitation perfection’, for this day that went ‘out the window’ so to speak! My riding equitation style was essentially putting the hand brake on Marcus and not allowing him to lift through the shoulder. I found myself constantly chasing the trot, as I felt I wasn’t travelling enough. Shelly assured me I don’t need to do this, I don’t need to push him anymore and lose our natural rhythm.

We also worked on the gallop, Marcus’ least impressive pace. He always struggles to stretch and go forwards enough. We worked on my position affecting this, lifting him in the shoulder, and then opening that shoulder out forwards in the gallop.

After several attempts, I was pooped! At one point I nearly came out the side door and I can honestly admit I wasn’t strong enough in my core to support what we doing. If I learnt one thing that day, it is that I need to spend more time on my gym ball at home!