January Round Up

Slowly getting back into things with the January round up. It’s been an odd month but we are getting there.

Stormy Rehabilitation

Stormy’s rehab programme has been going well. We are now approaching week 6 since we have started working again. In a week I will be starting pole work and then I will hopefully be riding again in 3 weeks. Which seems mad given how much has gone on recently. Although it will be the 5 month mark of not being ridden by the time I do get back on her. Some of that was my injury but still it’s a long time!

I am finding it all a lot easier now we are starting to be able to work for longer. We have started to go on more walking hacks which I think are much better for her mentally and for me too.

Today was a huge achievement in that, I turned her out for the first time since mid November. That was scary but went without incident. So from now on I will try to get her out a bit to keep a lid on her energy.

Grazing in her field calmly!

Clipping Series on YouTube

With Stormy returning to some sort of work, I have had to start clipping her. I have videoed this and am slowly getting round to editing these and popping them up on our YouTube Channel.

There are going to be three more videos as I take a bit more coat off every couple of weeks. I wouldn’t normally do any sort of clip other a full or hunter. However as I didn’t know how she was going to be, I thought the little by little approach was the best option.

She was very good for her first two clips, stood like a rock with no sedation. Hopefully she is just as good when we get further back! She was not ticklish around her armpits so that was a good sign.

Only Foals & Racehorses Podcast Season 2

I am really pleased with how the latest series of the podcast is being received. Download numbers are good and if you want to see all the episodes head over to the Only Foals and Racehorses Podcast page on here. Alternatively you can head over to iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

Coming up soon

As life is getting back to normal there will be more videos, more blogs. I have so much I want to share. I am also looking at a more detailed focus on my rehabilitation programme. So watch out for news on that.

I will also be popping up a detail piece soon about my work with David Sanders, the Neuromechanics Coach and Rider Reboot. He has been working with me along side the great team at Peter O’Sullevan House to get me back on track after my shoulder operation.

So that’s all from my January Round Up. This year I am going to focus on catching up more and sharing a bit more in smaller pieces about what I am up to.

Introducing Stormy

So here we are finally, I am introducing Stormy as the newest member of Adventures in Black and White. It’s been a tough search and I never thought at the start of this, that I would end up with a Thoroughbred Mare!

Finding Stormy

Stormy’s real name is Cookupastorm, I was lucky enough to find her via Facebook and the National Horseracing Museum‘s page. They have a scheme for retraining racehorses for their next job. Whether that be for the owner/trainer so they can gain experience before starting a ridden career or to find a new home. Stormy, initially was not there to rehome but as is life, plans change.

I had seen her advert and had passed over her but something made me want to go and see her. She was under 2 miles away so it was a little ironic she was on the doorstrp. Especially when I had driven to Manchester to see another horse shortly before that. A few things fell into place and we went to try her on a very cold foggy day and literally fell in love. Sue Molloy and her team at Palace House had done such an amazing job with her. She was already working in a basic outline and had started to jump.

A week later she was being vetted and then she arrived at my yard on Christmas Eve, the perfect Christmas present!

Stormy’s History

Stormy is a 15.2 hh 4 year old ex-racer. She came over from Ireland as a yearling via the Yearling sales. She is by a nice stallion called Camacho and out of a Red Clubs mare. I liked Red Clubs progeny from when I worked on the studs, they all seemed to be nice people. So on paper she had a lot going for her.

I bought her from Anna and Martin Smith of Martin Smith Racing. She had been with them since July 2019 and before that she was at Rebel Racing. Stormy was not the best racehorse. She did manage to win one race but probably did a bit too much as a two year old. Martin Smith is a trainer I have a lot of respect for. He wanted the best for Stormy when it became clear she was not going to be a racehorse any more. I had him marked as a trainer that I would like to approach if I was looking for an ex-racer, as he is very fair on his horses.

The Future with Stormy

My plan for Stormy is to take 2021 really slowly, we have no idea what Covid is going to bring us. I will be focusing still on Dressage as I feel she has a real aptitude for this. Later we will add in some jumping too. For the time being, on veterinary advise we are giving her a break from that. So I plan to do a year of training and low key competing. I am going to have a go at the E-Riders Online Dressage before attempting to go out competing in real life.

As an ex-racehorse, Stormy has a lot to learn. I will discuss in further blogs about the common mis concepts of ex-racers. She understands what is expected of her as racehorse which is different to a riding horse. For example, she did not know what an electric fence was! A small but very important thing.

We will be registering with Retraining of Racehorses come New Year. They have a great support network of training and competitions for ex-racers. It is free to join if you do not want compete or just £10 for a competing membership which is so cheap compared to other associations.

I will update twice a month as to our adventures and please do check out the Facebook and Instagram links for more frequent check-ins.

Strange Times and New Adventures

Welcome to my first blog for the new home of Adventures in Black and White. Now it may seem like an odd time to start up a website dedicated to my journey in Dressage but here goes! With the dreaded Covid-19 putting everything on hold, I have loads of time to concentrate on horses rather than work.

Adventures in Black and White was set up 3 years ago. It began to document the adventures of Oroness and Nickel in their BD escapades on Facebook. Featuring both of the ups and downs has always been important. And plenty has happened in that time, poor Nessie is no longer with us and Nickel has had to retire. So now the adventure continues.

Currently I am looking for a new horse on loan to take over the reins from Nickel. Horse hunting is a very difficult task but I have a very basic brief. The horse must be over 15.2hh, schooling Elementary and preferably have competed at that level too. I am hoping that this is direct enough to attract the right horses. I am not fussy on age or sex as from experience the right horse could be a mare or gelding and the older horses definitely have a lot to offer. So currently I am scouring Facebook, Horsequest, Right Horse Right Home and many others daily. I am always open to suggestions!

Likewise, aside from getting the brief right, I have been preparing myself. I have spent 9 years pretty much riding one horse and this really affects your riding. So this week, now we are allowed to ‘go training’, I have been riding other people’s horses. Fully complying with Social Distancing etc. This has really given me a lift in my riding confidence and helping me form a solid opinion on what I like and I dislike.

The gorgeous Sexy Simon AKA The Iron Factor

So if you enjoyed reading this blog and my ones from the past please leave a comment and have a look at my reviews page for my latest product review.