Petplan Equine
Sponsored Rider - Juliette

November and December Update

The end of the event season and winter arrives! I managed to fit in a day fence judging at Little Downham horse trials before the end of the season in October. I think it�s important to help when you can as events rely on the generosity and enthusiastic support of the volunteers and it gives riders a useful insight into the effort organisers put in to run these occasions! Not to mention how interesting it is to watch all the different horse/rider combinations in action! We had a tricky �coffin� combination in the BE100 and Novice sections which rode really well on the whole, however it was interesting to watch (and learn from!) those who had problems (including some well-known professionals).

Both of my horses had a well-earned month off during November. Meanwhile I put my spare time to good use by making a few jump fillers, and painting old poles to refresh them ready for next season.

I also am extremely lucky to have an equine veterinary client in the Caribbean, so my annual trip to this beautiful island was taken whilst my horses rested. It is a short and hectic trip where I have to work hard to fit in annual health checks, dentistry and vaccinations plus lameness investigations and minor operations. We were very efficient this year and so I also managed to fit in a ride to the sea on the lovely Chester! As you can imagine I really look forwards to my work trips!

During the �off season� it is also a good time to think about an equine MOT so that any problems can be identified and sorted out before the next season. My horses will have their teeth done (another job for me on my weekend off) and saddles checked by a master saddle fitter. It is a good idea to have them trotted up for a vet (a friend will be enlisted to run with mine) and if there have been any performance issues, these can be investigated if necessary. Then if any rest is needed it hopefully will be over before they are back in action! I tend to use this time to have the lorry checked over and serviced too.

I spent a fun evening at Keysoe in Bedfordshire mid-November for the BE cross country masterclass with Paul Tapner, which provided training motivation, and inspired some of my jump creations! I now possess an arrowhead and water-tray, and I�m keen to try them out! Unfortunately I only have grass to train on at home so it will be a while before conditions are dry enough for me to put them to the test.

The horses returned to work before Christmas, spending several weeks regaining fitness at walk initially then gradually building up to jumping and faster work. The importance of hacking cannot be underestimated in my opinion. As well as strengthening for muscles and bones it teaches horses independence (vital if they are to go cross country alone) and balance on a variety of surfaces and inclines. This is particularly essential for event horses, but all horses should have variety in their training to prevent repetitive strain type injuries and allow whole body conditioning, just like human athletes.

The year was finished off in spectacular style as I headed to Petplan Equine with the other sponsored riders for training to kick start our sponsorship for next year as the announcement was also made that our sponsorship will continue until the end of 2016 - fabulous news! The support of Petplan Equine has been a huge benefit for me, inspiring more competitive outings and enabling me to enter more events than ever. We were treated to an evening at Olympia and world class Dressage in the Kur; a fantastic opportunity to see the experts in action. It was lovely to meet the rest of the sponsored riders too, everyone is so enthusiastic and supportive - a true team!

So as Christmas comes and goes we look forward to next season. I hope to have Boodles at a local dressage competition as a warm up in January, followed by showjumping for both of them in February, and maybe an arena event to get us heading in the right direction before March. I’m really looking forward to a cross country masterclass with Lucinda Green in early March- it will be interesting to see what she makes of Boodles!