A Lucky Break?

So as I mentioned in my first post, I have recently (7th June) broken my wrist. How? Well it wasn't from jumping a whopping great hedge, or being flung from a bucking bronco, it simply happened from putting a horse on a horse walker! Like I have done routinely for the past 5 years of my life! The horse span round as soon as I led her onto the walker, resulting in me getting stuck against the wall and her back end colliding with my wrist. My hand bent back and a very loud 'crack' followed suite! 

So for the past 3 weeks, I have been mostly house bound with my arm in plaster. Although I have a bad fracture through my radius (it leads into the joint) and chipped bits of bone off my ulna, the hospital are pretty certain that no operation will be required, as long as it shows that it is healing. Relief! However depressing it is, things happen for a reason and I need to see the positive side (whatever that may be?!) and concentrate on getting my wrist healed so that I can resume working and of course, riding!

Whilst I've been out of action, my horses have been having a quiet time chilling in the field and enjoying the grass and sunshine! Piper is being ridden twice a week by my instructor (Mel, who  also teaches my mum and sister but I've had a few lessons with) just to keep him ticking over and I am trying when possible to give him a loose school/jump. It's just about do-able as he is a good boy on the ground, I just have to lead him from his offside when handling him.

Mel is enjoying riding Piper and gave him a schooling session on Monday (24th) as our hay had been cut off the field, meaning somewhere to actually trot circles and get a canter going. We have a small sand arena, however it's only really suitable for lunging and loose schooling bigger horses. 

Piper was very good throughout the session especially as he hasn't schooled for about 5 weeks. He was a little stuffy, but that's understandable as he's not as fit as he has been, but in spite of that he was forward going and carried himself in a nice outline the majority of the time. Mel did plenty of canter work, starting on his left rein, and the nicest surprise to me, was that he was dropping down on to the bit and still maintaining forwardness.

I have been a little weak in recent times when cantering him (in the arena) as I still seem to ride him as I did 18 months ago, ie. just one lap, usually in the two-point seat and 'nursing' him round because "he's a green ex-racer". I've become oblivious to how much he has really strengthened physically and learnt mentally! This was the first time he has cantered in a consistent outline and he did so comfortably, and on the right rein he was picking up the correct canter lead nicely after initially favouring his outside leg to start with. 

Lots of pats and kisses were given to Piper afterwards and he looked thoroughly pleased with himself. He's being ridden tomorrow and I imagine that he will go for a nice hack. It's his official birthday on Monday (official as in the day he was born, what with TB's being aged on January 1st) and he shares it with my older brother Tim, my young Lurcher Toby and also 2 of our hens Julia and Bridget, so major celebrations are approaching...!

Mel schooling Piper.

Piper's Story (The Final Part)

Although this blog is mainly about Piper, I feel that I owe it to Ghost to write a short tribute about him. I had to make the heart-wrenching decision to have him put to sleep after he had been intermittently lame and after nerve blocks and finally x-rays, we found out that he had a rare benign tumor(keratoma) in his near fore hoof. Almost half his pedal bone had eroded due to this mass and the vet explained to me that he could be operated on, but the operation itself would be a danger (coming round from anesthetic can cause major problems), and Ghost would have to spend months on box rest, a year to 18 months to recover and may still never come right to be ridden. I made the difficult decision immediately because I knew that I couldn't put him through any of that suffering. He was aged 20, he would have been so stressed on box rest, he was prone to weight loss and if the outcome of it all had rendered him a companion, he would have hated it as he thrived on work.

My proud, beautiful horse deserved a dignified end. I could barely put in words the things that he taught me, not just about riding but about life too. His attitude was always positive, his charisma shone through for all to see and everyone that met him adored him. He was my best friend for 5 years, my absolute world. I gave him a happy few weeks out in the field, which was torture in itself for me. I felt like I needed to pinch myself everyday to remember what was going to happen. But on the 6th November 2012 the reality hit me, as I spent time fussing and grooming Ghost for the last time before loading him onto the hunt lorry and kissing him goodbye. He was having the end that I would have opted to give him out of many choices- he wasn't suffering,  he looked a picture of health and he was happy. My last memory is not one that will haunt me but one where I can smile- even through the tears. Everyday he is in my thoughts and always will be, as I write this, I cannot help but cry. I cherish the memories that he gave me yet know that he is still here in spirit, which will always be enough to comfort me, even if just a little...

My dearest friend of all time, Ghost ♥

What with the trauma of losing Ghost, I also faced worries with Piper. He has loved and lost good friends before which I think had affected him, and here I was unintentionally taking away his best friend of 16 months. I wasn't looking for another horse for myself but quite wanted to borrow one that would be happy to keep him company in the 5 acre field. The solution was solved quickly, due to my wonderful previous employer (owner of the stud and Piper) who gave me Starparty, a 9 yr old ex-racehorse & ex-broodmare, as his new companion. The pair instantly hit it off (they must have remembered each other!) and bared the harsh winter conditions together happily. Piper is 'The Boss' which has pushed his confidence to a whole new level, and brought him out of his shell completely, although this is also due to the fact that he is my Number 1 now and completely spoilt!

Star and Piper in the midst of the winter.

Piper came back into work in the New Year feeling fresh and full of vigour! I vowed never to give him another holiday and on some particularly 'exciting' hacks threatened to put him back in training! Once I had got his fitness to a decent level, I took him for a quiet days hunting in March with the Essex and Suffolk, as they met only 15 minutes from home. I had a fantastic ride round on him, he generally behaved well although keen and  quite hot at times but it was just excitement and eagerness! One of the most important attributes in a good hunter is one that will stand patiently at the meet, allowing you to chat, slurp a glass (or two!) of port and stuff your face with sausage rolls and fruit cake. This he passed with flying colours, and he even allowed me to take him up to the trailer to say hello to the hounds, never batting an eyelid! Hunting will definitely be on the agenda next season, I think he's a natural!

This is the final part of Piper's history up until now. I wanted to share some of the highs and lows since I have owned him and give an insight to his background, which will then hopefully make any of my future posts seem clearer! I haven't gone too in-depth into his re-schooling and rehabilitation as I thought the posts were long enough, but that will be mentioned in any prospective posts that I make.

I am now off to start a more up-to-date report...!

                                                                   

Piper's Story (Part 2)

2012 had a few changes in store, as in the May I left my job and moved back home to Suffolk. I kept Piper and Ghost on a lovely, local livery yard and it was perfect in the fact that it was peaceful with only a few liveries(no bitchiness!), a smart arena and lots of bridleways and off-road hacking. Piper's overall condition improved tremendously over the summer, he put on plenty of weight, his coat was glossy and a little more character was peeking through each day, he had obviously appreciated the change! 

Being only a 10 minute hack away from a decent equestrian centre was the perfect excuse to get him to his first show. Only tiny heights to begin with, resulting in a steady clear in the first class and a 'green' 8 faults in our second. Immaculate behaviour is the aim of the game though and that was certainly what I got from him. Smiles all round! Unfortunately in the next few weeks he became a little fresh and cock sure of himself after his first 'public party', which meant lots of unnecessary spooking in the school and out hacking and a less than perfect performance at his next jumping competition(at the same venue, over the same jumps!)backing off the fences and getting us eliminated.

It was pretty frustrating, but in a way I was glad. Piper was gaining confidence - he had a bit of attitude at last! I just had to use it in a positive way and get him working as well as he could. We had a couple of fantastic lessons with a local event rider which were really helpful and brought Piper on in leaps and bounds ,leaving us with plenty to work on - myself included, as all this race riding has left me with a dreadful habit of tipping forward! Riding with slightly longer stirrups beckoned as well as losing the humongous loose ring snaffle that hid half of Piper's face (it was a racing one) and swapping it for a more delicate version with a nice lozenge in the middle.

I was soon happy enough to take my little (well actually quite big) thoroughbred to his first dressage, a simple Intro (walk and trot only) test at a very friendly, local venue. However drama arose when unloading him off the lorry, as he decided to demonstrate how one jumps off the Derby Bank at Hickstead, only managing to get behind me and take me with him in the process. It wasn't the best start before our 'Stressage', especially after noticing large, green grass stains on my breeches, which I tried but failed to scrub off! He produced a reasonable test to gain a good mark of 57% and 4th place. He was behind my leg throughout and cutting corners due to those dreaded, white boards(which also caused a major whip-round before the test!) but it could have been far worse and I was exceptionally pleased with his warm up, where he had produced some of his best work at the time.

That particular 'Stressage' outing obviously brought out my inner 'Dressage Diva' as I even bought a brand new dressage saddle online, -well I couldn't be off a £300 bargain- which fits so nicely that he is supposed to wear it 90% of the time(unless jumping) as GP's and jumping saddles don't fit him too well as a result of his rather large shoulders! 

August and September was general hacking and schooling but we also got out Autumn Hunting a couple of times. To qualify for pointing Piper would most definitely have seen hounds-even if it was literally seeing them- so I wasn't in the least bit worried about how he would react. Just as well, as he was blooming amazing both times! Even though 'cubbing' is taken at a generally steady pace, he was fitter than most of the other horses and we had some great canters across stubble fields, with brakes just about intact!  The feel he gave me was incredible, if nothing else he will make a first class hunter! When out with the East Essex we even jumped rails- first time, with no broken bones! Result! 

As Autumn started to come early, the decision was made to move my two boys 'home' to assure no dangerous commuting in the vile winter weather. Although sorry that I would have to turn Piper away for at least a couple of months, it was just as well. With no facilities and what with me being so busy working on a hunting yard, juggling keeping Piper in work was never going to be much fun. His holiday happened to be for the best anyway, as I tried and struggled, to come to terms with the saddest experience that I have ever faced...

Piper's Story (Part 1)

I will start off admitting that I only really came round to the idea of producing this blog because I have recently broken my wrist! I'm currently unable to work(I work with horses),unable to ride my wonderful horse and unable to do quite a few things that I would like to be doing! As resting is on the agenda and I'm thoroughly missing my usual horsey routine,I decided that writing this blog would be the perfect escape from the boredom of being sat on the sofa-however much I wished for it in the depths of a long,bitterly cold winter! So here goes...

Piper does have a section 'about him' but I wanted to keep it short and sweet.As you will soon guess,I rather like talking (and writing!) about him so I thought that my first post could just be a little(or a lot!) about his background. By reading this first you can find out just how much he's changed physically and mentally and how lucky I was to have known him, and his background previously, which helped lay the foundations for our bond and trust we have in each other.

Piper Hayes is a 16.2hh Irish Thoroughbred born on the 1st July 2001. His mother was a pretty poor racehorse, however, he is by Tiraaz, who was owned and bred by the Aga Khan and won Group races in France before going on to produce some good National Hunt progeny,including top class chaser Finian's Rainbow(winner of 3 Grade 1's including the 2012 Queen Mother Champion Chase) and well-known 'northern' dual-purpose horse Tazbar 

Piper was 3rd to Imperial Commander(2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner amongst other big victories)in his first Irish PTP before going on to break his Maiden tag in his next race.
Piper was soon sold and moved to England,where he was trained in the beautiful county of Gloucestershire and contested in 9 races in total (2 National Hunt Flat races and 5 over hurdles)without any wins but he was always in the first 5 except for his final race at Aintree ,where he was pulled up and found to have Atrial Fibrillation.

Piper was immediately retired and went home to live with his owners on their stud. This is how I came to meet him,aged 16 when I started a weekend job there. I immediately fell in love with him,although he wasn't a particularly stunning horse at the time. He was having the best of care but just didn't have much weight(from the heart condition most probably) and had a pretty sad demeanor. He was my favourite though for the whole 18 months that I worked there and I spent my lunchtimes on a regular basis grooming him and cuddling him-I had great confidence when looking into his blank eyes that there was a real character waiting to come out...

I had always had in my mind that I would like to own him,but I already had my fantastic schoolmaster and Piper was happy enough living out and being a 'nanny' to some of the youngsters. In spite of all that, 18 months after I had left my job at the stud (and 3 years from when I first met him) Piper became mine and travelled from Essex to Wiltshire arriving at about 11.30pm on the 21st July. It was certainly fate...

From the moment I first got on Piper I felt at home.He was rather round and unfit but this meant that we could take things slow and get to know each other again.Nothing phased him;hacking in company,hacking alone,trotting round the school,there were never really any issues,that is,until I started jumping him. He found poles on the ground easy enough and also small cross poles. Out hacking with a friend one day we even popped over a couple of baby hurdles,cue a couple of violent stops from Piper at the beginning.I must admit I was surprised at the time-I expected him to lock on and pull me into it racehorse style but I was forgetting that the poor boy had spent a good three years out of it and obviously lacked confidence.

Just a few weeks later while hacking around the same estate,we decided to pop over an innocuous timber hunt jump. My friends horse stopped the first time,so I turned Piper towards it and squeezed him into canter.His response was quite a shock! 3 large bucks that then led to a sharp jink to the left.You can picture it-him one way,me the other, which resulted in a fracture to my left fibular and 6 weeks of no riding...misery!