The Sunday before last we had the first EPDS open day at the yard, unfortunately this was the day after the heavy snow fall that a lot of us had in the South East and a couple of the members were unable to make it over due to the road conditions. Luckily enough the major roads were not too bad and the small lanes around the yard were also passable so all of us coming up from the South managed to get through ok.
It was a really great morning, it started with a tour around the yard and meeting all the horses, and hot drinks to warm everyone up. Then Sam, Luke and Holly tacked up Outside The Box, Shilpa and Opera Prince and hacked the 10 minutes or so up to the yard where Simon had booked the indoor school for a bit of gridwork and a schooling session for the three horses. I have been up to the yard many times, and seen Shilpa working with other horses on the gallops, but this was the first time I have seen her working in a school with others so it was a really good experience for me.
The guys started off with a bit of a trot and canter around to warm up while the jumps were put up. Simon always likes to start with some poles and inviting cross poles before upping the height just to get the horse flowing over them and enjoying themselves. The indoor school is not as big as the outdoor so they weren't motoring as much as I have seen them, there was one point however when Simon asked them to follow round in a good canter and all three horses got a bit yee-haa and had to be asked to steady up a bit. I think Shilpa has decided that she is an old hand at this schooling lark and was treating the smaller jumps with a bit of disdain, was making a lovely shape over them when they got a bit bigger however.
It was great to compare the jumping styles of all three horses as they are all very different and I think all the guys in the partnership enjoyed being up close and personal with the horses and getting to see something a bit different to watching the horses on the gallops. Simon as always was happy to answer all our questions about what was going on and the plans for Shilpa.
We all then returned to the yard where I quickly reflocked Shilpa's saddle before we all headed off down the local pub for drinks and Sunday lunch. The Angel is a lovely pub with big open fires, just the thing for warming up after a cold morning. The yard staff all came over as well after they had sorted the horses and it was great to get a chance to chat to them, everyone in Simon's team works really hard looking after the horses and both Shilpa and Amazon are flourishing in their care.
Unfortunately the weather continued to go against us and despite Simon boxing the horses over to gallops in Devon which managed to stay open, all the courses where we had entries abandoned their meetings so our plans for a second race for Shilpa did not come to fruition before she went on her break.
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