It was Doug's Birthday yesterday so I whisked him away for an afternoon and one night to a lovely hotel in the Cotswolds. The weather was absolutely perfect and we actually sunbathed by the pool - Mid April and got the kit off - Just wonderful.
We were hoping to do a bit of sightseeing this morning but unfortunately we got a phone call from home saying that one of the youngsters had got out and when she was put back she jumped out again, so we had to return to sort it out. She is Velvet Dove's daughter who is clearly going to be as spirited as her mother. Hmmm. What a wonderful prospect...
We have made lots of entries for this weekend but it is rather ground dependent as it has been drying out so quickly. At this stage Glory Hunter, We Never Give Up and Ask Away (Chubby) are going to Kingston Blount. Ask Away is making her debut, she is half sister to Dr K and although not very big is showing a lot of promise at home. On Sunday we are hoping to run Popaway (who has had a wind op), Val D'Auberge, King of Angels and Endofdiscussion at the Atherstone. Popaway needs to have a run to see if the wind op has worked before entering her for Cheltenham as it wouldn't be fair to take her straight there based on her previous disappointing runs. We had Yogi Breisner in on Monday mainly for her benefit as we are concerned about the way she rushes her fences and doesn't get into any sort of rhythm, Unfortunately Joe Docker, her normal pilot couldn't make it so Toby rode her. Yogi could see what the problem was and tried to set the jumps up to make her think about what she was doing - It almost worked too well as she crashed through one fence and fell. Both horse and jockey got up completely unscathed and she then jumped absolutely beautifully, really thinking about what she was doing and not rushing. Toby did a great job. It was a bit of a concern at the time but it is much better if they fall in a controlled environment with a soft landing than fall in a race at top speed which could end in disaster. She is such a brave mare and it didn't bother her in the slightest. Hopefully now she will start relaxing in her races and get into a nice rhythm which will help her get home.
It is a beautiful evening and the dogs are telling me it is time to walk over and check the other youngsters across the river.
We were hoping to do a bit of sightseeing this morning but unfortunately we got a phone call from home saying that one of the youngsters had got out and when she was put back she jumped out again, so we had to return to sort it out. She is Velvet Dove's daughter who is clearly going to be as spirited as her mother. Hmmm. What a wonderful prospect...
We have made lots of entries for this weekend but it is rather ground dependent as it has been drying out so quickly. At this stage Glory Hunter, We Never Give Up and Ask Away (Chubby) are going to Kingston Blount. Ask Away is making her debut, she is half sister to Dr K and although not very big is showing a lot of promise at home. On Sunday we are hoping to run Popaway (who has had a wind op), Val D'Auberge, King of Angels and Endofdiscussion at the Atherstone. Popaway needs to have a run to see if the wind op has worked before entering her for Cheltenham as it wouldn't be fair to take her straight there based on her previous disappointing runs. We had Yogi Breisner in on Monday mainly for her benefit as we are concerned about the way she rushes her fences and doesn't get into any sort of rhythm, Unfortunately Joe Docker, her normal pilot couldn't make it so Toby rode her. Yogi could see what the problem was and tried to set the jumps up to make her think about what she was doing - It almost worked too well as she crashed through one fence and fell. Both horse and jockey got up completely unscathed and she then jumped absolutely beautifully, really thinking about what she was doing and not rushing. Toby did a great job. It was a bit of a concern at the time but it is much better if they fall in a controlled environment with a soft landing than fall in a race at top speed which could end in disaster. She is such a brave mare and it didn't bother her in the slightest. Hopefully now she will start relaxing in her races and get into a nice rhythm which will help her get home.
It is a beautiful evening and the dogs are telling me it is time to walk over and check the other youngsters across the river.
