JOE’S JOURNAL
thought something like this was imaginable?
W
As I write this piece, we are in the early stages of lockdown, so we are
keeping the horses ticking over, just dropping their work a little. They are athletes at the end of the day and stopping work completely isn’t always good for them, just like a sportsperson.
Obviously, none of us know how long we will be in this situation, so I want to keep the horses ready in case things return to normal. I am sadly not very optimistic that we will get many shows this year but we are very lucky to work from home in a lovely environment. I am very grateful to have some lovely horses to ride every day.
Our three live in staff, Charlotte, Carley and Kyle are in lockdown here with us. Other part timers Corinna, Lauren and Polly are all staying away for now and are looking after their own horses. In the meantime, we will be getting lots of jobs done here. There is always a very long list of jobs to do, from painting to harrowing the fields. No one will be sitting around with nothing to do.
hat a scary world we are living in! Who would have
Fortunately, the sun has found its way though for a few days, so the fields are drying out too which is a relief after such a wet winter. That means we can get some of the horses out for a few hours a day after they’ve been ridden. We are always very careful turning out, that seems to be the first place they manage to injure themselves; we have some small wooden turn out pens so they can have a play but without getting too much of a gallop on.
We have just returned from a two-week trip to Spain to the Sunshine Tour in Vejer. It was supposed to be a three-week trip but sadly Covid-19 brought it to an abrupt end. The three-day drive there was uneventful, except for the excitement of driving our lorry onto the Channel Tunnel, something we’ve never done before. It was a very tight squeeze, but I got it on first try which was a relief.
We took 7 horses, Don Diego De Plata, Gunner, Cacharel, Kandleford, Union Jack, Corloti and Billy Van Pelt owned and ridden by Polly French who works and trains with me. I was so pleased with how they all jumped. Gunner jumped in the 1.50 Grand Prix qualifiers on both weekends and we were placed both times which meant I could then jump Don Diego in the Grand Prix, we had a plan and it worked. Cacharel jumped in the smaller 1.40 classes building up to the small Grand Prix, she jumped six rounds over the two
Photo by Moises Basellote Fotografia,
www.moisesbasallote.com
36
April/May 2020
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www.centralhorsenews.co.uk
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