Big Changes

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, everything has changed. No endurance rides, no school and no socialising. Of course, this is all with good reason, but we cannot ignore that many peoples lives have been turned upside down.

The biggest change in my life is not seeing the ponies regularly; I am on (pretty much) DIY livery and so everyday my mum and I see them, do the yard chores and exercise them. Now, we have merely four hours a week to see our boys and take them for a leg stretch if they need, and it is so strange not looking after them, although I know they are being looked after on our lovely yard.

However, there are some positives...

1. I can see the horses now, even if it is only for a few hours per week

2. I am appreciating the time with them more

3. They get a break, and have time to be horses which as competition horses wouldn't be the case this time of year

4. They are out 24/7 which I have never had the luxury of before, due to other yards we have been at not offering that

A big change to my life is no endurance rides and I've realised now how I live off them! The goals, the training, the social aspect and just looking forward to events, big or small. The largest goal for me was doing some FEI rides this year and I can't put into words how much I was looking forward to being in a race and how much work I had done to get there; my motivation was at a high coming up to my 1* but never the less, my time will come.

Therefore, I am desperately trying to find other goals and other small challenges to achieve so that I feel I am still moving forward. This need for a goal is certainly not the case with everyone, but it is important to me and, for those who do like a goal, I am at the extreme end. They don't need to be massive goals either, just something.

If you follow my facebook page you will know that my most recent goal was (and if you don't, just click the facebook icon and it will direct you to my page), cycling the equivalent of a 1*. I've decided, that instead of the endurance ride I had planned for that month, I will cycle the distance to make up for it, and to be honest cycling resembles riding quite well; I plan a route, I can go at speed and the distance can still be clocked up. Not to mention that bikes don't spook, bikes don't need to pass vet checks and bikes don't need to have TLC after each and every loop so it is a lot less work in that sense.

School is different too, and I don't want to speak too soon but I'm not minding that. We have a clear timetable and live lessons which make sure you are up and working. However the biggest bonus is no commute! I normally have an hour bus journey to and from school everyday, and a much earlier start and finish than most of my peers, so now I am getting more sleep which is always a bonus. I am also lucky that I had no big exams this year, I am in year 10 and so as long as I am able to teach myself the section of my course that I am missing, I shouldn't be too affected.

Enough about me, now the ponies. Duke is doing well, he's loving the break and with lots of 'strapping', as Maggie suggested, he is holding his muscle well. I am occasionally taking him out for a hack around the property as he was due to be 100km fit at this point in time and I am wary of him having too much energy. Luckily, the weather has been good so currently they are out 24/7 and so this has lifted a worry of a 'too much energy' injury. I am keeping things varied too; a bit of natural horsemanship, some mind-boggling pole-work exercises, new routes around the farm and just some quality time with them (including a photoshoot with their new neck-rope!).

Another goal I had with Duke was to ride a Prelim dressage test but I never ended up getting there as by the time I had worked on his canter enough to try one, the endurance season had crept up on us and weekends were spent preparing for that. Now, however, I hoping to tick off this goal virtually by using the Dressage Riders Online facility to enter myself into a competition. Plus, I have plenty of time to practice and film my best rather than having the one shot you normally would at a show.

For Spot, nothing has changed much; he was having a well deserved break after a busy year last season getting our FEI qualifications (pre 60kg minimum weight rule) but I am still using the time I get with him to do some natural horsemanship/ liberty work and it really reminds me just how clever he is. My little goal with Spot is to teach him some new tricks and then once this is all over I plan to start brining him back to work and maybe do some jumping because we both used to love that.

Another new found discovery is webinars. I have attended loads and learned heaps on gastric ulcers, dealing with setbacks (thank you Maggie), what to look for in an endurance horse (Esther Groen) and the list goes on. I am really excited for next Thursday's seminar, pole-work exercises, by the wonderful Bella Fricker.

Thats all for now, and I hope that everyone reading is safe and well. Feel free to comment down below what you have been up to, I'd love to hear.