20th January 2016 Best laid plans......

Well it has not been the start to the year I had planned, as I mentioned in my last blog I had not been feeling well for some weeks and 2days after New year I found myself in hospital with Pneumonia!  At least now I knew why I had been feeling so horrible and was getting the right treatment.
Obviously this has meant that Jacks little Christmas break has been extended for far longer than planned but luckily for me he loves to be out rather than stabled so he is rugged up and staying out even in the snow!  He was only trace clipped so he still has plenty of coat to keep him warm and I had had his shoes removed in November ready for the winter so he needs very little in terms of care.  Our Winter grazing is a huge 16+ acre field so he has more than enough to eat and the yard owner and other liveries are keeping an eye on him and letting me know how he is.
My other half has been down to see him and give him some treats for me and I did venture down myself a couple of times last week and at the weekend to see him and give him a brush and a little TLC.  Unfortunately I think I over did it a bit as Monday I was back at the Drs feeling rubbish and the infection in my lungs had returned so more rest and tablets for me and i'm now banned from the yard until i'm fully better!
As a result I've not got much to write about!
I have had to cancel the eventing training camp we had booked to go on at the end of January as there is just no way either of us will be fit to attend, I've not ridden and Jacks been turned away since mid Dec so it would be slightly unrealistic to attempt 3 days of double lessons, course riding and XC!
I'm gutted as I really think this is just what we both need to really get us back on form and I was so looking forward to it but there will be other times we can go. 
With the amount of time off Jack has ended up having it is going to take a while to get him back up to the fitness levels needed for such intense training so there is now no plan in place for what we will do this spring, I will take things slowly and make sure he is fit and happy in his work again before deciding on what we might be doing.
So in the mean time here are some pics from the competition we did just before I fell ill.
As you can see the jumps are dinky but I was just so pleased with him, first competition in nearly 2 years and to jump double clear and come 2nd was amazing, a little glimpse of what he really is capable of now he isn't in pain.

Hopefully my next blog will be about being back in the saddle!