And I'm back...

....after a little while!  It's a bit embarrassing just how long it has been since my last post.  Especially when I had undertaken to try and blog more often.  Ooooooops!

Well, the good new is that Lara appears to be ok.  It was touch and go for a while, and there were times when I thought we would lose her.  But she is still with us and looking (and behaving) like her old self.  Fingers still firmly crossed, but she's doing well.  She is back in the summer paddock with her mates and enjoying the sunshine.

I had another fall, off Hunter this time.  It was in the indoor school and he had stumbled in trot which had put me off balance, and then he threw a buck (we think the wind frightened him) and off I came.  His hoof contacted my helmet and I was out cold for a while.  Off to hospital in an ambulance and, 6 weeks later, I am still suffering with concussion.  When I'm ok I'm fine, but I get tired really quickly, almost without warning, and my headaches are monstrous.  I also get emotional - how wussy!!

But we are seeing lots of improvement, and I'm not so easily confused.  My short term memory seems a lot better now, but I can't remember much about the day of,or the week after the accident. There are also big gaps in my memory from before the accident.  Hopefully that'll come back eventually.

I'm now doing a lot of Parelli with Hunter, as I need to know that if he gets frightened, he's not going to freak out.  We have the makings of a fabulous relationship, and he loves being groomed which is lovely for bonding.  He's quick to learn, and my problem is that I need to be a step ahead of him which I'm not most of the time!  We will get there, it'll just take a bit of time.

Sue x

He's ok

After his accident last week, my son is fine thank God.

He's been back to the yard and has ridden again, on Lara of course, but he has been in the field with Shanks. He's riding Lara later. Seems quite comfortable again.

I've been poorly this week - horrible cold, which has manifested itself as a sore throat, swollen glands, stiff neck, sneezing, headache, did I mention the sore throat?

And my husband has been away since Wednesday, collecting the motor-glider. Ferry from Harwich to Esjberg, then driving with the trailer through Denmark and on to Arvika in Sweden, and back again. He's on the ferry now, due to dock at Harwich at 12.00. Then he's driving to the airfield to store it in the hangar, dropping his dad at his house ( went along for company) and then back home.

I need to sort out the photos I took at the cross-country last week before it all went wrong. I have to make CDs of the photos for the girls who rode, and also upload the best ones to my Facebook page, Sue Abbott Equestrian Photography. Also need to put some on my website too www.purelyphotography.co.uk It all takes time tho and I need to go to Tesco, do some washing, clean the bathrooms, Hoover, take younger son to the yard.... And the F1 is on so nothing will be done for the moment!

All Change

Not popped by for a while as it has all changed around here. My last visit was on a Monday, a couple of weeks back I think. I got a call from a job agency during the day for a temp job I had applied for. I had a phone interview that evening, and on the Tuesday I was told I had got the job, and could I start on Wednesday ! So I did and I am there on a 3 month contract. I'm doing project support work in an office about 40 mins drive from here. Not difficult work, but there is loads of it !

So I haven't ridden in a while, but here is a whole other story. My younger son went to do some cross country riding with Bev from the yard and some others. I went along to take photos. He was a bit nervous at the start but soon was having a blast. Then his horse, Shanks, reared and my son fell. But the horse had lost his footing in the mud and fell over backwards onto my son, and he couldn't get his footing to get up quickly, so he ended up rolling on him a couple of times more in the effort to get up. I cannot describe to you what it's like to see your 12 year old son screaming with a panicking horse on top of him. Shanks, bless him, got up and stood still but my son was in agony. He couldn't move his left leg and his ribs and chest hurt. Ambulance was called and the fab paramedic, Mark, was calm and reassuring and the major worry was my son's leg. He gave him gas and air, which my son loved and it helped him so much. Boot off, jodhpurs cut, no visible sign of a break. But into a neck brace and onto a backboard and into the ambulance still sucking on the gas and air. After declaring that he felt "so stoned" he had the mouthpiece taken away from him!! Paramedics, the doctor and nurses were all fantastic, so kind and caring, we really do have the best medical team in the world.

The important thing is that he was xrayed and there were no broken bones. Thank God. He was wearing a body protector which saved his ribs from being broken. There is no doubt about that at all. And a riding hat which prevented any concussion. He is bruised and sore, of course, and he has a hoof print on his ankle. But it could have been so much worse. So much. I thank God that he is ok, that he wasn't out on his own, that Bev was so calm, as was everyone, that the ambulance got there quickly, that the whole medical team was so fantastic, that my son is safe. And that the horse is fine too. It wasn't Shanks' fault. It wasn't my son's fault. It just happened. I am so grateful that the outcome was so good.

It's Easter weekend, so we have a long weekend which is just as well bearing in mind what has happened!

And as for getting the motor glider back from Sweden, that is proving more difficult and complicated due to plenty of circumstances which have cropped up which could not have been factored in at the start.

Kettle's on - coffee I think...