Update on Kingsley and trip to British Dressage National Champs in Stoneleigh

Kingsley is currently treated for concussion to his feet; is on 5 day box rest, will be seen by a very good farrier to discuss ways of keeping him comfortable and will be shod all round. Once all this is done he will be re-assessed. It is not to say there is no other problem than concussion but it's very difficult to address further investigation without eliminating obvious issue.

It's been sad few days and I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the trip to the Champs in such a negative mood. Hitting the road in a very good company does put many things in perspective though and I had a lovely time. My friend's talent in cheering me up and several hours of action watching got me back on a much more positive track.

Horses will always be unpredictable so I guess we just have to be patient and plan things as we go. It's easy to become depressed and frustrated when things go wrong and many a time it seems like nothing can be done. However, there is always some solution to a problem and at least for me it's always more difficult to find one when I am seeing only doom and gloom.

I'm looking forwards to seeing little Kingsley tomorrow and I am keeping everything crossed

he comes back sound and happy from his little rest. If not, there are still options to consider.

It should be a nice day as I am running a Training Day for a very nice rider.

Here are some snippets from the warm up arena at Nationals. I admit I find it way more interesting to watch the action behind the scenes and prefer to observe riders in the warm up than riding actual tests!

Hidden Camera ;)) :