Wow! The time has just flown by! I cannot believe that it is already July! I have now been home in the UK for a few weeks, but unfortunately Farley Hall which was supposed to be our next event was cancelled due to flooding… Typical England! Even in June we have lots of cloudy skies and rain… Last week I got absolutely poured on riding them both… and lets just say the horses and I were not amused… I have been using lots and lots of my rain coats! Now to be fair we have had some gorgeous days as well, but those have not been as frequent as the overcast and rainy days. I thought in summer it would get better! Oh well… the struggles of living in England! Well now that I have had my rant about the weather I can move on to how everything is going! The horses are doing very well and when we do have the gorgeous days they love to be out in the field soaking up the sun. It has been so nice being able to have them out in the field so they can properly stretch their legs and have some time out and about. They have also been galloping weekly in preparation for the season as well as maintaining their fitness. They LOVE galloping. Annabelle knows as soon as we turn to walk to the gallops what is going to happen, and I practically get dragged up and down the hill… I don’t know who gets more fitness training, her going up the hill or me trying to hold her back and stay with her at the same time. I do love how much she enjoys it though and that in itself makes my day. Fintan is getting a lot better and more confident on the gallops as well. He isn’t half as worried about what could be in the bushes by the gallops, which I am very thankful for… You can only take so many heart attacks and jumping in place while trying to gallop. But he now pulls me up the gallops and really enjoys it, although he does get 3/4 of the way up the hill and needs some encouragement to go the rest of the way up. I think thats just his youth and immaturity coming out :). I can’t wait to take them both out at Barbary horse trials! That is our next event and it is fast approaching coming up this friday! I feel that the horses and I are ready and all I have been hearing from everyone is that it is a beautiful venue and a great show to go to. I will have to take photos while I am there! I then go on to Dauntsey horse trials and after that Chilham horse trials. Those are the next two shows in the books for us and I am getting very excited about properly starting our UK season and seeing where it will take us. I will keep updating about our progress and how everything is going as we continue marching on… until then!
Thank you!
Sophie, Annabelle and Fintan
Sophie Hulme Equestrian 