Weekly round up 23/7/17

First up let's update you on jack!
He is going brilliantly and I'm having to be very careful I don't forget we are still in the fairly early stages of rehab and don't push him too soon!
 As the weather was really hot again at the beginning of the week I took him for a splash down in the river, usually I would have a trot and canter round the field first but the ground was too hard so we only had a little trot then went to cool down.  I spent 20mins on a big circle in the water just walking round, the water kept us both cool while Jack had to work that bit harder to pick his feet up and push through the water.  Our own free version on hydrotherapy!!  After that I took Jack in and out of the water at different places so he was going up and down banks of varying steepness, really getting him pushing from behind and using his back end to push up the slopes.
We also had a wonderful, short but sweet schooling session the next day.  I went late in the evening due to the heat and it was so peaceful, I'm not sure if that made the difference but Jack was so relaxed and worked beautifully for me.  It was hard to stop after 30mins as he felt amazing!  The canter work was especially good and I worked on keeping him straighter as he had a tendency to either fall out left shoulder or push his quarters right.  Spending some time on this made a huge difference and in the canter I could feel him stepping under with his inside hind, really balanced,  soft in the contact and with me, no tension, no resistance, lovely rhythm it was super!!!
Since then jacks had a quiet week as I've been very busy and my other half away, we've managed a bit of hacking just to keep him ticking over.  Next week will be difficult too as my little boy has finished nursery for the summer hols and I'm off work with him for the first week so Jack might get a bit of a break too!  I'm sure he won't mind that!  I will just ride as and when I can.
I took some progress pics of Jack this week so I can compare as we continue through rehab

I'm extremely lucky that my best friend Lucy lets me jump her fab little horse jay, as regular readers know we took him to arena uk for their June show and won the 60cm class.  This time we decided to enter the 70cm as he found 60cm so easy last time!  Again I've not been able to get over to jump him at home before hand but Lucy prepped him by doing some bigger jumps on the lunge at home.  Although he loves jumping he doesn't do that much as Lucy's much more comfortable keeping his feet on the ground when she rides!  He's pretty inexperienced and this would be the biggest course he's jumped but he's so genuine and honest and really tries his hardest so I wasn't worried by our lack of practice.  It was a bit of a rush as they arrived just as the course was opened to walk and I was second to jump so had to walk the course and learn it quick and then warm up asap.  Even more so when the first competitor got eliminated so I had only jumped 2 warm up jumps and had to go in.  I checked my girth as I waited for the bell and then we were off.  Jay felt great and settled into a lovely, forward rhythm from the start.   The timed jump off section started at only fence 5 but I felt Jay was already going forward enough and didn't want to rush him so we kept up a good rhythm and concentrated on leaving up the fences.  He jumped superbly but as the round went on I felt myself slipping further and further to the right!  Bless him Jay just kept jumping for me and as we jumped the final fence for a clear round I was completely hanging off his side!  We later discovered in the rush he'd not got his breastplate on which probably would have helped but it didn't matter we'd jumped clear anyway!  We were both so pleased with him.  It was then a quick tack change so Lucy could go and do her dressage tests.
We came 5th out of 22 and Lucy won both her tests on fantastic scores of 78% so a very good day all round.  Looking at the photos we think Jay is trying to tell us he wants to do 80cm next time!
We now have the ESUK championship in august to get ready for!  Only 60cm though Jay!!

On a bit of an upsetting note I have seen a lot of posts from friends and fellow bloggers on social media and other blogs lately about negativity and nasty comments. 
Until recenty I seem to have been pretty lucky and received very little negativity, however that changed last week. It won't stop me blogging or updating my social media channels but it is upsetting.
As anyone who follows my blog knows I work very hard and do everything in my power to keep Jack happy and healthy.
The aim of my blog is to share my experiences and the knowledge I have gained through successfully rehabilitating Jack from his Kissing Spine surgery.  I want to help fellow horse owners understand kissing spines, how it affects their horses and try to help them avoid the problems we have had.  Not everyone will agree with my approach and that's fine, I share what has worked for me and Jack, what our physio, vets and rehab centre have recommended.  I'm no expert but I have learnt a lot and enjoy sharing our story and I hope that you guys reading it fine it interesting, informative and helpful.  If you have feedback please do share, I love hearing from you all and really appreciate your support!
Thanks for reading
Hannah and Jack xxx