Well Ellie is doing her first competition of 2017 on Sunday. Nothing like starting at the deep end but I had registered her with British Dressage just before her time off a so we are off to do two novice tests. She has also been registered with BE and we are aiming for Millfield in mid May to start our season.

We have been doing some work at home and using the fabulous new facility locally Pendarves Equestrian to jump some courses. We still struggle a bit with Ellie's enthusiasm to do everything at break neck speed but gradually she is learning to sit and listen. In the next blog I will show you the very simple exercise we are practicing at home.

Yesterday we took Ellie to B&W vets in Gloucs for her 4-month reassessment. The news was even better than I hoped.

Ellie was examined outside and undertook a variety of neurological tests as well as being x rayed. To quote vet Richard Hepburn 'you can't get more positive than this'. She showed no evidence of any neurological problems and the x rays were textbook. It is most likely she had a cyst that caused the problem which is gone now thanks to the injections. This is unlikely to come back and the very worst case scenario is she will need a jab every few years. However we can be confident now that her competition career will be unaffected moving forward which is the main thing.

As you can imagine I am over the moon with such a brilliant outcome. Huge thanks to the team at B&W as well as my own vets Rosevean. At last I can start planning some competitions moving forward, long term realistically I will sell Ellie as she deserves to give a young rider lots of fun.

A bit of a belated short report from our yard visit to Oliver Sherwood. I bought the tour as a present for Mum's birthday as she loves the racing and 3 hours watching the horses work, listening to the trainer and having a nose round the stables sounded great. Sadly it nearly didn't happen due to my stupidity, luckily the power of social media and the kindness of Oliver Sherwood ensured it did.

We arrived the night before in Lambourn on our way home from holiday with accommodation booked we first sussed out where his yard was as the visit involved a 7.15 start. As I was checking the paperwork I suddenly realised that I had booked the Friday not the Saturday as I had thought and hence missed the tour. I was fairly upset at the wasted money and spoilt present! I posted on Facebook regarding my stupidity and as well as sympathy a couple of friends tagged and contacted Oliver and he rang me saying that we could join a tour the next day.

The whole experience was fascinating and certainly a few interesting observations. The horses were a lot more lightweight than I was expecting very few looking liked the old-fashioned chaser that I would describe as rangey but with a bit of substance. Interestingly Oliver agreed that the horses have changed and with it they seem to be more prone to injury.

All the horses are stabled on straw (good quality) but he feels that lessens the liklihood of ulcers and that is key to their well being. I was also surprised to see after exercise the horses turned out in groups of 5 or 6, I have to admit with animals of that value I would worry regarding injury but again as herd animals he very much wants them to be happy.

We watched two lots on the gallops on what was a work day. At this time of the season the horses are all fit so ticking over with two 5 furlong work sessions up a steep all weather gallop. Interestingly I asked what different levels of work he would give a horse aimed at the Grand National (a 4 mile race) in comparison to a much shorter race, evidently the work is pretty similar and they don't work them differently. I was surprised to learn that Lambourn as what I thought was the home of jump racing now trains probably more flat race horses.

Oliver has 60 horses in training and very much treats each one as an individual. Lovely yard and he is one of the few trainers to have his own swimming pool. He swims horses with slight injuries such as a bruised foot to maintain the fitness and in the summer when his yard is quiet he regularly hires to other trainers.

All in all a very interesting morning, the team were all very friendly and it was much appreciated they made the effort to accommodate us a day late.

Had another jump on Ellie today and she really went well. The comedy moment was when popping down a grid sensibly at the half way point a horse in the adjacent field snorted and galloped off causing Ellie to go into turbo charge mode down the rest of the grid.

We go to B&W vets on Friday this week to have Ellie assessed, I'm hopeful after today that the news will be good. It's hard when something has been wrong as you spend much of the time analysing every missed step looking for a problem. If the vets give us the all clear then I will be looking forward and putting the problems behind us. Fingers crossed.

Home from holiday and today went to fetch Ellie who had been on 'holiday' with Mel Hennah. Ellie has now had over 8 weeks work and while I was away had started doing some jumping so I was looking forward to going down and having a jump. I did remind Mel that whilst I had never had the best eye for a stride that not having jumped since November it may be worse than usual!!

Really pleased with how she is feeling, she really enjoyed her work and jumped very well. Very hopeful it is onward and upward from here.

Not much happening in the Shoestring world with me in deepest rural Shropshire.



Shoestring pup Smartie with a paw in England and a paw in Wales. He always likes have his picture taken.