Is it only me that is fed up of this rain…is it ever going to end?! The weather forced the cancellation of the Southdowns’ Ride, so we made the long trip up to Nottingham, to Haywood Oaks. The change meant a night away from home but Layla was desperate for a ride, and I really wanted her to have a run before Kings Forest – which is two weeks away. The good thing about taking Layla away from home is that she is so easy, she travels like a ‘pro’ having been across different countries for competitions. She is also not bothered what stable she has as long as there is plenty of food! We were entered in the 64km class, and my ride plan was to hopefully complete at a speed that was appropriate for the going. It rained the whole night and day and as a result the going could only be described as ‘mud soup’!
It was hard to keep a continuous speed up, but we managed what we could. The first loop was a distance of 40km, and we presented to the vet gate in under 2mins; Layla’s pulse was 50bpm and she had A’s and 1’s for everything – perfect! Following the vet gate; where we let Layla eat (lots!), cleaned her off and kept her warm, we set off for the second loop of 24km. The going was more churned up due to the volume of horses that had been through it, however, it was easier to ride as I knew where we could make up speed and where going slowly was the only option.
We finished the ride with a speed of12kph and presented within 5mins due to the weather. Layla showed her experience and her pulse was 41bpm – despite all my worrying, she received A’s and 1’s again from the vets. This was a great result, despite the horrendous weather and going. Layla will now have 5 days of holiday to recover and then a couple of days walking exercise before she returns to full work ahead of Kings Forest. As always none of this would be possible without my friends, family and sponsors. Layla is fuelled by Feedmark’s Performance supplement Stamina and Endurance, and her mood swings are kept at bay by Hormonease – I wouldn’t choose any other supplements for my horses!