Back to basics

Aww snow!! great a duvet day !!  

As I mentioned last month we have been battling with the weather, it been bitterly cold and we have even had snow and ice, this means that occasionally the arena has been frozen, it hasn’t stopped Beth’s schooling sessions with Flynn but the weather has just been against me the last few weeks.  It’s more about my spinal injury, circulation and me being outside at the yard. I find sitting for long periods outside makes me cold through to the bone!! And I can’t seem to warm up. We have managed to keep the weekly sessions going for  so long, but have had to admit defeat over the last couple of weeks, which has been a real shame as we were hoping to increase the amount of time in the saddle, to try and get me and Flynn working together a bit more. Beth and me have been perusing the Para dressage training and events diary and are trying to coordinate some sessions. These would be great to attend now as I feel I am ready to take on the next step, venturing out and about as our confidence is growing.

Mud !!

Mud !!

Snow, snow and more snow!!

  This elation and confidence has had a bit of a knock as in the last few weeks the inevitable happened, I fell off!! It was only a matter of time before this happened and I am sort of glad it’s happened. Me and Flynn have come so far in the last 6 months, and I think at times we have to remember how difficult this sport is and how having  a spinal injury is like learning to ride all over again for scratch but it’s so much harder than it was before!!. I think our new confidence got a bit carried away. He heheh. Well lucky for me I didn’t hurt myself?? We actually I am glad I can’t feel it as I am sure it would have hurt. Good job for the lovely arena surface at Beth’s yard the good old carpet and sand took the bounce off!! I was a bit shook up but in true style I got back in the saddle and off we went again.   

Let’s just remind ourselves of some of the facts, Flynn is a 7 year old Connemara and has been ridden as an up and coming event horse with Beth over the last 2 years, his personality is just amazing and so sensitive. That is why Beth saw something special in him and took him to her trainer Carl Hester to assess the ability of him for para dressage. Flynn was born in Ireland and started his life being hunted and ridden hard as a 3yr. old. Beth bought him from Ireland in 2013 and the original idea was to keep him for 12 months and sell him on, but she fell in love with him, this partnership is great to see, he loves Beth and he works so well for her. He is such a softy.  It’s important to remember when he came over from Ireland he was a little whip shy, probably from his early hard hunting days, and to start with he wasn’t a horse that you could ride with a whip. 

So this would be a problem if we can’t ride Flynn with a whip how’s he going to be a para dressage horse?? An learn to accept the whip as my leg aid! This is something we have been getting mixed messages about; we decided that by Beth schooling Flynn with 2 whips was the best way that he would get use to them being waved around by his side. Following one of my sessions with Nick Rodgers SW para coach, he advised that I should be the only one to ride Flynn with whips, so we don’t give him mixed messages, so after Nicks information that’s what we did, only I rode him with the whips, but I honestly think Flynn needs some more whip de-sensitising sessions.

 After watching the Video of me riding Flynn when I fell off, I think Flynn was unsettled by my balance and the whips. It seems that as I become more unbalanced and my position in the seat changed, I was unable to sit up. Once I’d gone too far forward due to having no core strength I couldn’t pull up. I then waved the whips around by Flynn head and pulled on the reins to try and regain my balance, turning him in a very tight circle, which actually made it worse. I think if I could learn from this fall I must next time think I have to drop the whips as soon as I become unbalanced, try to drop the reins and hold onto the Oh crap strap/neck strap and try and sit still even if that means falling on to Flynn’s neck. Then hope Flynn stands still while all this is going on top of him!!

whip desensitising!!  

No one said this was going to be easy, and as I saw the ground getting nearer, I waited for the thud! Well it all seemed to happen slowly until my legs gained momentum and came crashing down… Flynn didn’t do anything wrong and he was so worried and sad, we managed to get back in the wheelchair all very quickly and  wheeled back to the hoist and put back on before I had time to think about it, which was a good thing as I did knock mine and Flynn’s confidence.

So Beth and I have decided to go back to the drawing board with the whip de-sensitising and Beth is now schooling Flynn again with 2 whips, and plenty of waving them around is required, re training on standing still while lots of moving about on top, balancing and gathering reins. I think we have to work on what works for us and we have decided that this will help. By Flynn schooling regularly with Beth while I am unable to ride due to bad weather this will help keep him whip ready!!!

Due to not being in the saddle too much lately I have been doing lots of research. I’ve been watching loads of videos on u-tube of grade 2 para riders. I look at their position in the saddle, whether or not they are wearing leg straps/stirrups and how much they bounce in the seat during trot! The one thing that comes across when riders are interviewed about their horses is it’s not just about the horse’s movement. The horse has to have the perfect disposition in every way and the ability to focus on nothing else when it matters!! It also is about a great deal of trust between the horse and rider. I hope Flynn is going to be able to do all the things required of him, He certainly has the personality and is so sensitive, but at times he can still be quite babyish and wants to chew everything near him, and initially when the leaders are walking by the sides he tries to chew the lead ropes and this is defiantly showing signs of not concentrating when in the para zone!!

I need to remember it’s only been 6 months since I’ve really been having regular lessons and we have had the weather to cope with so we are really looking forward to the spring now and the better weather, as it has started to really get me down. I want to make quicker improvements but I can’t seem to progress what with one thing and another. I’ve also been referred by the Doctor for surgery to my hands; I have been suffering really badly from carpel tunnel syndrome which means that the circulation to my hands is compromised. I’ve been having cortisone injections for 18 months, into my wrists, but they only last about 12 weeks and once it wears off the pain is unbearable, it has got to the stage where it’s really affecting my transfers and independence. So it was something I didn’t want to have to have done but actually I hope it will help, it will again mean time away for at least 6 weeks post procedure and the recovery time will be quite hard, but I hope it will be worth it.

Lucky for me while the weather is not playing ball, I’ve still been able to go to the gym, and am pushing on with my training and I really need to push myself harder now as I can see some weight creeping on which is really hard to manage this being paralysed. I have no tone from the waist down so I am going to have to work really hard now with my core, perhaps more gym sessions and sessions at home too, I need to be more disciplined. I have been in the Frampton fitness gym today with PT Seona, one thing we are really starting to notice is my hip flexors are getting shorter and the pain on stretching me out is getting worse, my legs don’t lie flat anymore and always want to bend up, it’s really difficult for me to feel this discomfort and I would really like my legs to be more supple, even though I stretch them out daily myself. I've been in the equine gym at Hartpury and   I am also hoping to attend the Neurokinex centre more regularly and hope that this will improve all the concerns and stiffness I have. neurokinex.org    

I think all this will improve when the weather does. I am also still reducing my medication and have successfully come off one tablet and am still weening the last one down so hopefully this will help me feel not so foggy at times, as I am sure all the tablets I’ve been taking  over the last 2 years don’t actually help. I don’t seem to have any less pain now than I did when I was on huge doses of pain medication; gabapentin immediately after my accident.  I will always remember the consultant Mr Patel saying to me the only thing that works for nerve pain is distraction, it’s difficult to explain the sort of pain I get but it’s there all the time, sometimes so much worse than others. But the distraction tactic works well!!

As we move towards the end of March I will be starting my conversion and house extension in the next couple of weeks. This is going to be for about 12-16 weeks, it will be a really big upheaval for me and my family but I am really excited about the outcome and looking forward to having areas I can finally access in my house. I am not looking forward to the mess and dust! Well as always with me, you can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs.

     

  

 

   

I met my heroes

I'm in love ❤❤

The two most amazing critical care Drs..

wow GWAA thank you!!!  

Here is a link so you can give generously to this amazing charity, and here my story https://justgiving.com.gwaa 

My morning at GWAA (Great Weston Air ambulance) 

On Friday 17^th February it was arranged with the public relations and marketing team from the Gwaa charity that we would be able to visit the air base and meet the crew who attended my accident on 10^th October 2015. This has taken a little while to arrange as they had to go back over their records, and find out which members of the team were working that day and try and coordinate them being there to meet me. After a lot of sorting it out it was established that 3 critical care doctors were on shift that day!!! Ooooo lucky me!!. One of the team has since left but 2 memebers still work on the air ambulance and one was going to be working that day and one agreed to come in on his day off!

As it was half term I decided to take my daughter Stella as she was on holiday and my niece Jasmine, my dad and sister also attended with me. Both my dad and my sister (Vicky) were with me in the field following my accident as they had been called and as they don’t live too far from the venue where the accident happened they were able to get to me pretty quick.  They really wanted to come and meet the team who helped me on that day.

We pulled up at Filton where the air base is and were met by Becky Garland the GWAA charity PR coordinator. She explained what the visit would entail and showed us in to the air craft hanger. Becky explained before that if the crew get a call out they would have to go, which we fully understood. She said that 2 out of the 3 team members were here and looking forward to meeting me! It was at this point that I got a bit emotional and had a horrible lump in my throat and tears started welling up in my eyes!!  all of a sudden I realised I hadn’t had to think about the accident much and I think I had put it behind me. Probably all the counselling sessions had helped to deal with the trauma of the event and it now feels like something that could have happened to someone else.

When we walked through the door into the control hub all the feelings of anxiety vanished as we were met by the most amazing team of heroes you could ever imagine. I can’t say I recognised any of them!! Ha hah. We were introduced to critical care Dr Ed Valentine, Critical care Dr Greg Cranston both of who were in attendance at my accident. Also there today were critical care paramedics Matt and Dee. We all chatted a lot about the day and what happened and what happened after. Ed and Greg were the most amazing gentlemen. As I found out it was Dr Greg that held my hand and positioned himself in my line of vision all the time, giving me reassurance, it was this act of kindness that I will always remember as when I think back to that eventful day, I remember the extreme amount of pain I was in and someone being very close and reassuring all the time while things were going on around me. I now know what Dr Greg had shown me that this is what you need in times of trauma; I was so frightened he made me feel safe.

 Dr Ed and Dr Greg said that they probably have attended over 400 + call outs since my accident, but they remembered things about that particular day because I was fully conscious throughout the whole time. Normally a lot of accidents they attend either the patient are unconscious or they need to be ventilated due to their injuries. So this was something they remembered, me being awake!!!  They laughed and remembered me telling them how much morphine I had been given when they were talking amongst themselves; they remember me saying “I’ve had 15mg”.  I can’t believe how young they all are to be so senior in their jobs; Both Greg and Ed are consultants in emergency medicine full time at the Royal Gwent hospital in wales and work for GWAA charity on top of their normal hours, absolute heroes!!  

The team really welcomed me and my family and we chatted over coffee, they showed us the map and area they cover, they described what happens when a call comes in via Exeter ambulance call centre and how they triage the priority of the situation and if they should dispatch the helicopter. Every time they start to fly and the helicopter leaves the ground it cost £2000 just to start the engines, it actually costs the charity £3,000,000 per year to keep flying!!! Some support does come from the NHS in the form of all disposables carried on board and for treatment of patients.  The charity funds the lease of the helicopter as this is a more economical way of keeping a fully working helicopter, rather than owning it.

The charity has two permanent employed pilots and always requires a fully qualified paramedic to act as navigator when they get a call out. They work from 07.00-0100 as they don’t fly at night, but they also operate emergency critical care vehicles from this base. While we were there in 2 ½ hours they had 3 calls, where they dispatched the emergency vehicles to local situations. As Dr Greg had come in on his day off, he stayed with us throughout the visit... while Dr Ed valentine and the other members of the team went in and out to incidents.

After finding my place of injury on the map and Stella my daughter working out from the coordinates the estimated time of arrival it would take actually 5 mins to get to me over in Chipping Sodbury.  It takes the team 3 minutes from receiving the call till the helicopter leaves the ground. All in all it probably should only take about 8 minutes from receiving the call to actually finding me and landing in the field at Hollisters that day, it felt a lot longer than 8 minutes, it did feel like I was on the ground for ages though!!!

 Then Dr Greg took us outside to look found the helicopter, this actual one is not the one I went in as its been updated since Oct 2015, but it was really interesting to actually see how small it is and to see how all the kit fits in and god knows where the team sit!! Good job Dr Ed is small….!!!!  We spent ages looking round the helicopter and Stella and Jasmine got to sit inside and get a real feel of how small the space is!! It doesn’t seem possible to fit me on a stretcher, all the equipment and 3 doctors and the pilot. We were allowed to take lots of photographs and ask all sorts of questions, well you know me of course we needed to find out if these amazing gentleman were married ~?? to the job? Ha haha ha. We all had such an amazing morning, and have come away inspired to how we can raise money for such an amazing charity. At the top of this blog is links to the charity page, where you can donate, attend a race, run, walk, bike ride all aid of GWAA. We have decided we want to do a fund raiser, so the children are looking into doing the muddy run in Bath and we are having a committee meeting next week to throw some ideas together. I did suggest I do a parachute jump!! But I hate heights and my children said no!!  

I have agreed to do a case study for the GWAA so they can use my story to raise awareness for the good charity work they do and help raise funds to keep the helicopter flying  

   

January what a busy start to the year

Hello Julia have you had your hair done??? Neigh  looks Nice...

January has been a bit of a slow month, the weather has been really getting me down and the mud!!! I can’t go anywhere in my wheelchair doing the things I love without getting covered in mud. I’ve had to dig out my over-the-top water proof trousers, to keep me clean, but let’s just say it’s not easy getting these on now!!!  As I mentioned last month I was so pleased to get my classification Grade, and I have been researching the dressage tests that I will have to be able to ride, let’s just say it’s the trot thing that’s concerning me… Ha ha  ha 

 I am still waiting for the hoist to be installed near the arena, As I have said before this will make it so much easier for me and also open up the possibilities for Beth Hobbs to welcome other para riders to her yard and individuals who may have difficulty perhaps mounting their horse to be able to come to her yard for teaching. The possibilities are endless and we are just at the beginning of the journey!! It’s very exciting.

Unfortunately my recent RDA session with Nick Rogers South West para coach was cancelled this month, but hopefully this session will be re scheduled soon, and I will look forward to this! I am trying to work with the instructors at the RDA regarding  them coming out to Beth’s yard to see how me and Flynn are getting on and we are also hoping to take Flynn up to the RDA to have some sessions in the indoor school. (This would be great as having an outdoor arena to ride in does make it difficult at times as it’s been so cold and wet recently, all these ideas are in the pipeline so fingers crossed)

I haven’t been successful in securing a dressage saddle yet, but I am still working within the leg up for talent scheme and am still looking at options that would work for me. The best thing this month is the partnership that is growing between me and Flynn. He defiantly has become a lot more forward with me, and accepting my aids and what I am asking of him, even when I do get a little bit excited with the whip... Bless him; he sort of does a little scurry away underneath me! I do find holding the whip difficult and they still twist in my hands, and I end up waiving them about sometimes. But Flynn has got used to seeing the whips and feeling them on his side, considering he was a bit whip shy before I started riding him he is so good now.

On Monday the 29th Jan it was arranged that Julia Mottram my equine physio would come out to the yard to do a ridden session with me and Flynn again. Well Monday morning didn’t go quite according to plan for me and some days just don’t!! I ended up at the vets with my dog Alfie as over the Weekend he managed to cut his lip/gum and after a weekend of muddy walks and lots of licking, by the time I saw it on Monday it looked pretty gunky! Well he had to have his beard trimmed and he was prodded and poked, he was so good. The area was infected so antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for a week for Alfie. The weather was really horrid and was raining and really windy so after a para team discussion about what we should do, we made an executive decision not to ride, this does disappoint me, as I really look forward to my lessons. It’s the only time every week I get out of the confines of my wheelchair and I feel free. You wouldn’t believe how it makes me feel.

We have been making really good progress with the riding so to keep things on a high; we decided using the hoist in the car park to mount in these winds was not a good idea. The wind may easily blow me in the hoist making it difficult to make a safe landing onto Flynn. Sometimes I forget that we must risk assess the situation before deciding to ride. The rain also doesn’t help.  It has been so cold lately that due to my injury I have been suffering with leg spasms also due to the very poor circulation from my waist down, I feel freezing to touch and my legs and feet are like ice which is not good for my muscles to be so cold. I don’t actually feel cold which is quite weird.  I wonder if thermal leggings/jodhpurs and socks would make me more comfortable??   Roll on the warmer weather that’s what I think...

 Julia asked to see Flynn on the lunge, Good job Beth was around as I haven’t ventured into the arena in my wheelchair! Due to the dip down into it. I would probably tip out my wheelchair at that bit. Not sure I would do well lunging, (but it’s something to think about having a go at??) Beth said Flynn doesn’t really like being lunged and he was quite lazy today. Beth had to get the schooling whip and chase after him!!  Julia wanted to see Flynn walk, trot and canter on both reins so she could watch his movements and assess him. 

For today’s session we normally allocate about 60-90 minutes, so he can be treated and we can talk through what Julia does and why it’s necessary and discuss homework and how we can help improve Flynn’s stiffness and maintain the work Julia does with him .Julia suggests regular physiotherapy, check-ups and treatment can improve the comfort, behaviour and performance of the horse. By having regular maintenance physio it improves muscle balance and symmetry. This is something that is proving to be really important for me due to my balance being poor, I think Flynn looks to help me and this probably compromises his symmetry. Once the initial assessment of Flynn’s movements was done, it was back onto the yard for Julia’s verdict and treatment.  

Julia palpated the muscles and landmarks across Flynn’s spine looking for irregularities and signs of dysfunction. Flynn looked to be showing signs of being stiff on the left side, and all up through his neck.  Julia worked through a combination of physiotherapy, massage and trigger point release. Paying particular attention to the myofascial release.  Myofascial release uses sustained hands on pressure into a fascial restriction for several minutes in one area. Myo means muscles and fascia means the connective tissue of the bones, nerves, organs and muscle’s. This treatment benefits Flynn with any inflammation, muscle and nerve pain he might have, by using the heat from the hands to create change, it can help to reduce inflammation, strengthen and elongate tissues, which will help increase power, strength, endurance and metabolic efficiency.

I think Flynn is starting to enjoy his sessions with Julia. And after a while he looked like he’s falling asleep. After the session we debrief and have been given some homework to do of carrot stretches and work on   schooling with lots of bending. I think Beth will have to school Flynn to get him working and bending, and let’s see if she can get him a little suppler.

 Today my daughters horse Spot was going to start sessions with Julia as well.  Beth was worried that spot’s pelvis could have been out of alignment, as she felt unbalanced under the saddle when she had ridden Spot, but lucky for Spot all was ok, and she too enjoyed a physio session. Spot is 22 so she is allowed to be a little stiff. Stella absolutely adores Spot; Riding has really helped Stella come to terms with my accident and how life changing a spinal injury is. The accident has caused a huge ripple effect with so many family and friends being affected. Being around horses again has helped Stella and me come to terms with me being in a wheelchair. (EAT equine assisted therapy is a treatment that uses equine environment or activities in order to promote physical and emotional growth in people suffering from trauma, anxiety and depression) This environment is helping Stella so much.  

 My daughter Stella is really keen to see what Julia’s Job entails and has arranged a week’s work experience and is really looking forward to this later on in the year.  Julia is very knowledgeable and excellent at what she does. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her. The fact that Julia is trained in human physiotherapy and equine allows her to tailor the requirements to you and your horse and set specific achievable goals. Flynn and I can’t wait till our next session; we have so much to work on. Thanks Julia your amazing. 

Lots of things are progressing on the home front, I have taken delivery of a skip to sort out the last 10years of junk that I don’t need in the house anymore and am sorting things out to keep or throw away. Let’s be honest most things can go into to skip as if I haven’t needed them in the last 2 years I don’t need it!!! I am cleaning out the garage and getting rid of the furniture so we can start the big build in early 2018.

OMG where to start!!!

I am extremely appreciative of every single person who over the last 18 months has helped with some form of fund raising. They have all contributed to making my home a more accessible place and keeping my mental health intact. I have worked so hard at keeping it all together all be it sometimes this has proved rather difficult.  I have been able to tile and paint the en-suite, paint and carpet the hall, stairs and landing, build, decorate and floor an office space, Have an amazing holiday which after 25 years of working for the NHS was extremely necessary, and when you think what we have been through as a family, it’s a small price to pay to be together making new memories.

The help from friends and sponsors who have supported my para riding so far it has been fantastic. This  has provide me with a lorry hoist, hat, air jackets,  SW para training coaching sessions, BD classifications applications, Private consultations for spinal reviews and so many more amazing things to come. I can’t wait for the developments during 2018. Let’s just say when the chips are down you certainly know who your friends are!! So much is happening lately that I am here there and everywhere, and with the help from so many amazing friends there is actually no stopping me. Well I think you would agree January has been pretty busy. So let’s make sure this is the best start to the most amazing year as we go into 2018.

Bring it on!!!           

Wow so much to say

Thank  you all for following my Para Riding dream blog over 2017

It’s about time I bought you all up to speed with what’s been happening since I last blogged about our summer antics. To be honest life has become a bit of a whirl wind and half the time I can’t remember what I have done. I think I am even busier than I was before my accident. I am so happy now with the special team of family and friends that I now choose to surround myself with and this makes for great feelings of emotional wellbeing. When I look at how far I have come I know I would not be here today without them all.   

Well I must tell you this story as this is something thing that I found hysterical, Tony probable doesn’t agree!! We had been out for a meal locally with family and friends, Tony who is also in a wheelchair had already once earlier in the evening been picked off the floor and put back in the chair, but after everyone had gone, obviously we had to have “one fort road” (our family joke ha ha ) Which may actually have been more than one!!.. It was about 03.30 am and Tony got on to the stair lift to go up to bed, he went up half way and stopped!!  Ha aha aha. OMG it’s never stopped before, so I was pressing all the buttons, googling what to do but after about 1 hour I said that’s it. I am calling 999. Fire and RESCUE!!! So at 04.30 the fire brigade turn up, picture this??... 

 I have 4 firemen on the stairs and Tony stuck on the stair lift!! I had sobered up quite quickly now, but due to the absolute chaos I forgot to take some photos!  It did take the fire team about 1 hour to actually get Tony down; the difficulty was there was no room to perform the manoeuvre. Tony went up, over, underneath and eventually back in his chair at the bottom of the stairs.  Well we had to end up sleeping on the sofas, as now no-one could go upstairs as the fireman had the chair lift in bits and it still didn’t work.  After all this I couldn’t find Alfie the dog, but the little bugger he had gone up stairs and got into bed, cosy are you Alfie ??? This night out took me about a week to get over. I haven’t laughed so much for a long time like I did that night.

My general health is great, I feel stronger and I’m building up more stamina each day. I have a really good routine which keeps me outa trouble. Monday is Personal training session with Seona, and the broken babes. Obviously I am the best in the class!!!  I am pushing myself all the time and even crawled across the floor to reach a bottle of prosecco. (Ha ha) I don’t know how I can crawl but I can, it is so hard to stop my hips swinging to each side and over balancing me. Some of the floor work we do is lifting weights, core balance and stretching. We do a lot of work balancing on the swis ball I am getting quite good at balancing independently, and working on trust issues with falling forward and then puling myself up to sitting again, and pelvic tilts. A lot of the exercises we do are working towards getting fitter and strengthening my core all helping to improve my riding position and seat.

On Monday afternoons I have a riding lesson on Super Flynn.  We are now managing a weekly session and have a willing team of Para helpers, Tess, Julie, Jane, Rowena and Beth are the main core of help, as the lorry is quite away from the arena and this means that at the moment we need side walkers, to walk along side and make sure I don’t slip off going up and down into the arena. We are working with my new shaped whips, and liaising with Paul Allison who made them for me regarding help and ideas for the dressage saddle. Flynn has picked up the contact so quickly and he really listens to my voice now and the action of the whip instead of a leg aid. We are doing a lot of transitions, and bending round poles sometimes barrels, turning sharp and turning wide, we work on leg yielding and serpentines. All helping towards building our partnership, it is defiantly getting stronger, I absolutely love Flynn. The pleasure he gives me being around him is better than any drugs you can get from the doctor... when they say the best thing for nerve pain is distraction, they are right. 

 I really look forward to our lesson on Mondays, I have just been lucky enough to receive a grant to fund another hoist arm/mechanism to be put in the arena from the SSIT southern spinal injuries trust. This will be amazing as it will save so much time at the beginning and end of the session. So I will also need less people as I start to improve and ride without side walkers. As they do an amazing job just getting me into the arena safely!! Flynn doesn’t bat an eyelid at the hoist now, so by putting another on in the arena I don’t imagine he will be that bothered about when and where we get on. 

As you can see Mondays are extremely busy, but I love Mondays as I am working towards my para dressage dream.

 Tuesdays and Thursdays are my days at work. I have landed the most amazing job working for a company called Wellspect healthcare. Who make bladder and bowel appliances. Things like catheters and Bowel irrigation systems; this is the most apt job for me. They are all extremely helpful with me wheeling around and they bring me tea all the time. The job is evolving as I’ve probably said before. At the moment I am advising and supporting clients, new to the bladder management and working on the key accounts with TIA (trans-anal irrigation clients). I feel like part of the team and I’ve only been their 3 months. I absolutely love going into work. www.wellspect.co.uk

Wednesdays are supposed to be my rest day! No rest for the wicked, I never get to rest. Wednesdays normally consist of a riding lesson on the simulator at the Avon RDA, we have done lots of work on the simulator and this helps by working my core balance again and strengthening my back. I enjoy these sessions as the RDA is an amazing charity bringing so much joy and therapy to all the riders who use the facilities   recently at the RDA I had a lesson with Nick Rodgers who is a para coach with British Dressage for the south west. This was very enlightening, I was shown some new exercises, and pelvic tilt movements, lots of tips and helpful advice about my saddle that I ride Flynn in and what to be looking for in a new one. I have asked Nick to come to Lone Oak and see Flynn and me and help give us direction; luckily he will come to see how we are getting on, probably in the New Year.

avonridingcentre.org.uk

So when I’m not at the RDA, I normally have to do all my running around like doctor’s appointments, trips to Salisbury and Southmead Hospitals. As I still have ongoing complications due to the injury. Mainly with my bladder, I have seen a specialist and had tests performed and advised that more surgery is probably on the addenda. I don’t want this at the present time, so more oral tablets and Botox injected into my bladder is keeping things settled at the moment.

Recently on one of my busy Wednesdays I have had a business lunch meeting at Tortworth court, a beautiful local hotel, with the chair and event manager for the charity Event Mobility.

 I met Simon last year at Badminton horse trials, as I had a real interest in the charity and the values they stand for, access to all at events! The charity would like me to be a trustee on their board, it’s basically like helping the charity make decisions, have ideas to grow the charity and support the charity where possible. I am looking forward to this challenge and where it will lead as I am extremely passionate about this charity, providing access to events and venues that would normally be out of bounds for a lot of people who can’t walk very far. Perhaps who have long term ailments or recent trauma so watch this space, let’s see what happens.  phcompany.com

 As I am still running a small aesthetics business, Fridays tend to be clinic days, when I work from Aura Retreat beauty and hair salon doing dermal filler and botulinum toxins. This is an enjoyable role. I love working with people who may have some confidence issues with a part of their face and if you can help to improve that area, and help improve someone’s mental health and confidence that’s a great feeling. I also try to do all my admin on a Friday. I have to do lots of blogging, I am  still writing  monthly for your horse magazine, I love doing my blogs as it a way of recording where I am and how far I have come and the bills still keep coming in!! So juggling the none existent money is a challenge… ha ha. If I get time I like to meet up with friends, go out for lunch and generally catch up.auraretreat.co.uk

 Oh I forgot to mention as well as what I do during the day, I also go to the yard 5 evenings a week to watch Stella ride, cook tea, do all the washing, take Harry to work and rugby, but he has starting to get the bus a bit more now, so he’s a little bit more independent than Stella. My weekends consist of, Stella riding, Harry working and rugby, seeing friends and family, shopping and walking my most amazing loyal friend Alfie dog. A few weekend ago I went to Devon to be assessed for my classification for British Dressage, Para equestrian classification is a system for para equestrian sport it’s a graded system based on the degree of physical or visual disability and is handled at the international level by the FEI (Federation Equestrian International)

Para dressage has 5 different classes 1-5, 1 being the class for the most impaired rider, and concentrates on walk teats only. 5 is the class for the least disabled riders who can ride up to PSG (Pre st George) levels and contain complex moves and speed variations. My assessor suggested I would probably be a 2 or 3. I have to wait for clarification from the FEI and haven’t had that yet, as I attended a venue with one classifier. Once I have this I will be so happy to have achieved this within 18 months of being discharged from hospital, this is what I have been working towards, all those application forms being filled in, Drs appointments, private consultants in Oxford, chasing up on every detail, but now it’s all falling into place and I am over the moon.

I am still working very hard on the leg up for talent program. I would like to find some more sponsors/companies who can work with me either to provide something in kind or financial support. I would love to get a saddle company as really need to get a dressage saddle, at the moment I ride in a general purpose  saddle and I need to get  a more secure  seat. If anybody reading this works with a saddle company or knows anybody who would like to help me in any way, please get in touch (haigh.s@hotmail.co.uk). This is my next challenge; it’s so hard to get companies to want to work with you when you are a nobody!!  But it’s now I need the help, I imagine when I am a somebody I will be fighting them off with sticks ha ha ha. legupfortalent.com

I set aside time every day to chase up emails, letters and continue to work with the sponsors I already have. I blog once a week for each sponsor on the leg up for talent program. I enjoy working with the companies and individual that I have supporting me because every one of them are special to me in my current situation. Dolphin mobility is an amazing mobility company. They provide knowledge and all sorts of specialist equipment for individuals who have a need for something that will help improve their life in some way. 

 

    

Beth Hobbs BHS II my amazing instructor supports me and helps me so much with my para ambition. We are improving with my riding and partnership with Flynn and I am trying to help with her advertising and her business. The para teaching is invaluable and a really good string to have in your bow as an instructor. Julia Mottram our equine physio helps to support and treat Flynn and also is able to assist with my position in the saddle; we have had some amazing helpful sessions which I have written blogs about on our sessions as they are really interesting.  I am still working on a few new links and fingers crossed something comes off in the New Year.  I am so close to receiving my clarification of my para dressage grade. What an amazing Christmas present that will be. Roll on 2018 wonder what you have in store for me? 

I would like to thank all my very special family and amazing friends for being there on this journey through 2017. I have personally achieved so much and each week am improving with my strength, determination and reaching my goal.