South of England horse trials

Bob was not quite on his usual form today, he was overly lethargic and needed kicking over every show jump. He was better in the xc but we fell foul of the bogey fence! there was a corner on a hard right hand turn immediately after the water jump, ( a recent addition to the course, they already had one water, this is the second one). I have grown to trust bob with corners since our past issues with them, so when I walked the line, I was not unduly worried about this fence...as usual I should have considered whenever im complacent to double the effort....for when I actually rode through the water and made the right handed turn to the corner, Bob was surprised to see a corner in front of him , i had not given him time to observe what he had to do, and he stopped dead, leaving me sulkily turning him for a second attempt. As it was clearly not Bobs day, he stopped again, very out of character for him, and although I blame myself for the first stop, Bob get the blame for the second, he was being rather resistant to stop again....we made it over on our final attempt, and completed the rest of the course without mishap. Yet again the lesson is never ever think something is easy, always look at all the possibilities and walk the line....I didnt not walk through the water to walk the real line to the corner, thats why it came up faster than I anticipated, so remember alwaya take your wellies and walk through the water, particularly if theres an awkward line to take!!!!

Due to Bobs lethargy at South of England horse trials, we have had him blood tested and his heart and lungs checked out, apart from a little wheeze in his left lung, he was fine, some ventiplulmin was administered, and it is assumed that the problem is due to the high temperatures and dust with pollen so early in the season.

We are going to get Bob superfit now, so that he can combat his lethargy by being full of energy, and we have added more oil to his diet to fuel him!

No events for a month, next outing Mattingley horse trials, near Basingstoke in Hampshire with Bob at Novice, Hera at Intro, and Rosa at Pre novice, should be a fun three days! See you there.