Well, I have been back from the frozen continent for about a week now and am getting slowly back into the rhythm of things: work, horses, endurance plans and catching up with all the news and gossip.
My voyage to Antarctica was, as expected, totalling amazing. Ice, whales, penguins, wild seas, albatrosses, icebergs, snow, Cape Horn; just wow! On my return to Cornwall I could not believe how wet and muddy it is. The Antarctic Summer (at least at the edge) has a lot going for it. Okay it did rain and snow and the very sudden winds came from the South Pole and were bone-chilling, but we saw the sun most days! I didn’t feel cold or wet (yes I did wear 3 thermal layers, 2 fleeces, 1 ski jacket and a sailing coat). I have been reliably informed that it rained every day in Cornwall since I left six weeks ago! Back to the horses; they are feral, filthy, fat and furry but they are also healthy and happy horses! You can worry so much about leaving your beloved horses whilst you go on holiday and six weeks is a long time, but THEY DID NOT DIE! I had a brilliant lady looking after them all and, with the help of the range of supplements provided by Feedmark, they are all in excellent condition.
It has, however, now left me with rather a lot of work to do to get them competition fit. Firstly to tackle the mud and hair! Fantom has now been successfully, if not beautifully, scalped and after strategic washing, looks almost presentable. The same cannot be said of Chiara who determinedly resists any attempt to reduce her level of hair. Today was an all-out assault on Dilmun’s tangles as he had his first ride since his winter break. I decided to ride him bareback as it was only for 10 minutes and really didn’t seem worth putting the saddle on. It was a little slippery but all went well until I got off and discovered that he has started losing his hair big time, my jodhpurs having attracted a large portion of it. At least I won’t have to ruin my clippers in attempting to clip him! Today was also a bit of a tidy up day, sweeping out the tack room, washing boots and towels which was quite a pleasant relaxing job until I saw my bridles! How did they get so dirty? No, they haven’t been used which means I must have left them like that! Joy oh joy a tack cleaning session was a must and thank goodness they now look ready to rock and roll.
One slightly unfortunate thing though with being ‘out of the loop’ is that I missed the deadline to express my interest in being considered for WEG this year. Another slight downside from my expedition is that I managed to pick up an injury when I jumped off a rock to avoid some penguin poo and aggravated an old injury. Physio starts this week and I am confident that I can recommence my own fitness training in a couple of weeks’ time. However, this has meant that I have had to put back competition schedules for all the horses by about a month with the first International competition now probably being at Royal Windsor in May. Since my return both Fantom and Chiara have done a week’s walking with a little trotting and both are extremely keen to do more.
Next week will involve upping the trotting slightly and reinforcing some of the schooling they did at the beginning of the year. I had expected the ancient Wizard to be ridden a bit in my absence but sadly this was not the case and I will have to scout around for a jockey for him to keep him happy. I have to confess that since returning from Antarctica, I have enjoyed keeping up with the Winter Olympics and in particular following Lizzy Yarnold’s fantastic success through the eyes of her mother, a dedicated endurance rider. Much respect, Lizzy! I think being away for quite a long spell has helped concentrate my mind and reinforce the goals I have set for myself and my horses. There is nothing like stepping back a little to put things into perspective.