An update from India Thomson

First things first I need to apologise for taking quite so long to write this after my last blog.  I spent three and half weeks on the sidelines whilst my hand recovered which was quite a frustrating time!  Breaking my hand couldn't have come at a more annoying time really as all the horses were on such good form and it seems to have taken a while for us all to get back in the swing of things, and now with the ground firming up it's proving tricky trying to prepare them well and find some good ground to run on.  Our recent events have had some good points and some annoying blips, such is the way with horses!   Mr B had a great first run back with a double clear round the novice at Rockingham and gave me a brilliant ride cross country, feeling full of beans and towing me into every fence. We then went to Little Downham for a Novice regional final and he sadly had a minor mid life crisis in the show jumping,  The advanced cross country ran past the ring and the warm up and sadly it seemed to blow his brain slightly and he was very difficult to ride in the ring.  Even more annoying was that he wasn't quite sound when we got home, cue more delays in trying to get back to form.  After some enforced rest he went to Purston Manor for the Intermediate Novice and did an average test with nothing wrong but admittedly lacking a bit of sparkle which sadly the judges seemed to dislike fairly, when they announced a score of 43 as I was going round the show jumping I nearly lost my way, poor Mr B!  He jumped a lovely clear show jumping which was a relief after his Little Downham antics.  He gave me a good ride cross country but was certainly holding a bit in reserve on the firmer ground and wasn't eating up the distances like he does on good ground.  There was a double into water on a long two strides and landing short over the first part I kicked for two and he was too far off the second part and didn't have much of an option other than to stop, in hindsight I should have held for three when he landed so short.  I have now taken up rain dancing as my new hobby and have to wait patiently for some decent ground for him.   Purston Manor was a bit of a frustrating day really as not only did Mr B have a stop cross country but Rebel was storming round the novice and giving me an awesome ride, he was really bold and very straight on his lines until we came to the fourth last fence which was a double again on an undulating long two strides and the second part was a skinny plastic box.  He backed off coming into the first part and exactly the same thing happened as with Mr B, I kicked for two and he got there on two and a half and stopped!  I couldn't believe it, different fences, different horses but the same result, to say I was mildly irritated with myself was an understatement, sack the jockey!  Positive of the day was Rebel lying third after the dressage in a strong section, he has really improved on the flat and has become much more established which is rewarding when it's reflected in the marks. Rebel and Dora both picked up a rosette at Little Downham which was nice!  Dora has been steadily improving and has really impressed with her improved cross country.  She stormed round a bold Rockingham 100 and gave me a great spin round a more technical track at Little Downham.  She did the 100 plus at Purston Manor and having stabled the night before next door to a field with two foals in she was definitely more in broodmare mode than eventing mode in the dressage,  I think her mind was elsewhere!  Annoyingly she had the first fence down showjumping which marred an otherwise really good round and she jumped well over the slightly bigger fences.  Dora got the best of the ground cross country being on the Saturday and she thoroughly enjoyed it, pulling all the way and feeling very confident.  She is now off for summer holiday duties and teaching her owner's daughter the ropes before coming back to me for the autumn where she will hopefully step up to a Novice level.   Ramesses B made his debut at Little Downham and was such a good boy!  He took everything in his stride and was so good cross country answering all the questions and gave me a great feel, he finished just outside the top ten after a steadier round.  He then consolidated that with a double clear at Stratford Hills.  Again we are waiting for a bit of rain so we can crack on with him.  I was asked to be a guinea pig rider in a demo with John Ledingham and Richard Davison at the Pony Club A test reunion and took Ramesses for that.  It was a great experience for him and a great opportunity to have a lesson with such a well respected and knowledgeable trainer, if slightly daunting riding in front of quite such a knowledgeable audience!  It was a fascinating day, meeting such incredible people from all different backgrounds, hearing their tales and successes.  One lady who passed her A test in the 1940s spoke after dinner and was so inspiring, between she and her father they had bred the winners of over 600 races amongst various other wonderful stories, she ought to write a book! Away from eventing I had a great weekend away in Ireland after Tina Hazlem was asked to Judge the confirmation of the ridden hunters at the County Armagh show and to bring a ride judge with her.  I was slightly concerned about being caught at airport security with a pair of leather boots, spurs and a whip in my bag but luckily managed to avoid any embarrassment there!  It was a brilliant experience, it's not often you get an opportunity to ride 70 plus horses in one day and some were real quality horses you could imagine winning at Dublin, then there were some slightly less quality ones..!  I have to say my body was certainly not used to riding that many horses in one day and my ribs were agony for a couple of days afterwards!  My boyfriend Freddie and Tina's husband Simon came too and had great fun making some very amusing videos of us from the side of the ring as well as sampling lots of Irish cider!  We were looked after superbly, met some great characters and got to see some of the Northern Irish countryside.  The phone has obviously not stopped ringing since my judging debut (haha!) but for now I will continue with my rain dance and keep my fingers crossed for some good ground for the boys and girls, please feel free to join in...!