We have had the most perfect weather lately. Just beautiful, which is why this darn flu bug has been so annoying - I'm just getting over it now, so I promise my blogs will be more regular.
We had Jake's leg scanned on Thursday as I was worried about some heat in his off fore, which wasn't coming out, even with cold boots going on every four hours. Sure enough the scan showed that he had damaged his tendon and needs five months off. Such a shame as Chris (Ben's friend) had worked really hard to try and get him fit for Towcester, but thank goodness we didn't run him as he would most certainly have completely broken down and then would probably never have run again. Ben has added complications with his wrist and has to take another 4 weeks off, by the time he would be fit to ride the season would have been over anyway, so Jake has now been roughed off and is taking it steady in the field.
Frog is looking really well and happy in the field, she is actually putting on weight which she failed to do last year, so she will be a proper horse when she comes back next season.
The other four - Dream, Red. Harry, and Dove are all working really well. We have entered Harry, Red and Dream for the Atherstone races tomorrow. We got Dream blood tested to see if she was still 'tying up' and the results came back that she was very nearly almost clear, but could probably do with one more week to be on the safe side as the enzymes were still slightly high but on the way down. We will run her next week all being well.
We walked the course early this afternoon and they have done a wonderful job at watering - we expected it to be like concrete as it has been so warm, but with frosty mornings which can really dry the ground out. Because the ground was so good we have decided to run both Harry and Red. Sadly they will both be in the same race but with Red we just want to see if she still has a breathing problem on better ground, and with Harry all jumping practice is much needed.
They have re-positioned a couple of fences which may cause a problem, so we will watch the first couple of races before deciding whether to declare them or not.
We are off to the village pub tonight where they are holding a supper in aid of the 'Joannes Trust' - I guess Joanne must have died from something but I don't know what - or maybe she is still alive? I will have to find out and be careful not to put my foot in it.