Just another day.

I have a feeling that the quickest way to write about how Caddy is schooling now is simply to say “look at what Tia was doing in March and April”. He is identical :- ) Even to standing on his back legs and lifting his front feet a foot off the floor. After his attempts at evasion he did some lovely walk and some seriously good attempts at shoulder in, where you could feel everything join up and rise underneath the saddle. I only did about half an hour, we already know he’s not strong enough for more. He was much easier than Tia to get to loosen up, all I had to do was keep repeating serpentines, flick him with the whip when he “died on me” and he got the message fairly quickly. We only walked today, he is learning so much in walk he doesn’t need to trot to have a good schooling session. The walk will improve the trot anyway.

Tetley seemed happy on an hour’s hack on the road. He was trotting sound uphill and, I think, on the flat. He sweated a lot but he always does at this time of year when he has a winter coat coming in. And besides that it’s been like summer again here today! What a peculiar year!! In March I was carrying buckets because the waterers were frozen. Never done that in March before. In August I had thick rugs on them because it was so cold. Never done that in August before. And now in late September I have them out with no rugs at all because it is so warm, even at night. Never done that before either! Odd year or what???

Tia’s well. I think she may as well have most of the rest of the week off, I can’t think why she needs to work right now. She’s very happy. Her back feet, after a slow start, are now concaving up really nicely and growing sharp little bars instead of being flat.

I can't let well alonea about Saturday, the sense of injustice is just burning me! I have sent an email to the Technical Advisor to ask him if I listened properly to the explanation of his decision which was given to me by the event organiser. If he says it is, and that my refusal was "technical" and not an actual physical avoidance of the fence by the horse, then I'll follow up and point out to him that a "technical" refusal is only possible, according to the rules, in a combination with lettered elements and not at a fence with a separate number. If, on the other hand, he tells me that the fence judges saw a run-out or a refusal, then I shall never be able to trust a fence judge again, as they certainly couldn't have seen what didn't happen. I can't help wondering if the fact that I saw the girl on the walkie talkie telling the commentator that I'd had a refusal before I had even completed turning my circle has anything to do with it?!?! I knew she was saying I had circled. If I'd known that she was saying I had faulted I would have stopped and argued with her!

C