Hi, I just returned from a run with the dogs. I run around my corn fields, it is very hard to do with weights on and through the wet mud whilst jumping the high wet corn. I am constantly surprised at how fit I am. I can run for long periods of time and don’t seem to sweat anymore. I guess I am fitter than I thought. I love this about my job it keeps me in very good shape.
I was amazed at the tennis on Sunday and no I didn’t do the show. It was rained off. I am wondering about the Kent County at the weekend as it has rained so hard everyday and I don’t see them holding a County Show, but hey, I am going if its on. Sabbers jumps good on grass, as you can see, in fact its her favourite surface.
The tennis was awesome. I enjoy watching it so much/ Much more so than riding, maybe I am just to close to riding and don’t feel the need to watch as much, but boy that tennis was good, Fedrerer won. I noticed he and Djokovic have unbelievable balance. I guess anything at top level comes down to balance. When your basically as good as the other person the only thing that comes between you is balance, the same with showjumping.
For that reason I always train my horses to be able to gallop in balance round corners. When I first got Sabbers she could not even canter in balance, whereas Romeo, Sky and baby Sky have their own natural balance. This is very important for jumping. Also the rider needs super balance as well. When I was watching the area trial I noticed how many top people bad balance and fences were going down, and some with the lighter seat made it look smoother and easier. I am very glad that Lars Sederholm spent so much time on my seat. It has certainly helped Sabbers keep the fences up, instead of touching the horses up which is the most common thing to make a horse careful.
Today I rode Sky High Junior. He was great. I have been a little nervous about this, as I have seen him buck, but I don’t want to send him away, as I know I would do a better job of training a young horse than anyone I know, so I decided I will do it myself. Anyway, I got him tired first but he seemed unaffected by me getting on board and that’s a good start. Tomorrow I wont lunge him so hard and progressively do more schooling than lunging until he is straight forward enough to just jump straight on.
Some good and bad news. My tennis coach has entered me for a tournament which is great news. He thinks I am really quite good now, but I don’t think he realises how nervous I am, and the bad news is my friend Rose died yesterday. I have prayed for her to die as when I saw her Monday I could see she was just deteriorating so there was little point wanting her to stay like that.
How amazing is God. He told me to say goodbye to her last week. I felt this very strongly, so I did, but yesterday I decided to go back one more time as Monday is the only day I can, and rather strangely I felt God say no that it was OK. When my mother told me she died yesterday I thought that was amazing.
Once again I am convinced that Gods timing is perfect. I was so happy about that. How could I be sad knowing that Rose, Chris and Con are all probably talking about me somewhere and I just cant wait myself to see them all again, one day …
