APRIL UPDATE..

I have been busy with show and lessons.
Poet's Sydney Royal finished wth a win a third and a 5th.
We were 8th in the World Cup,and Poet finished up being the runner up horse in Section One to Drossel Dan.
Mr Poet was great throughout the show.
Peter the horse's owner is in Sydney to ride him at the next couple of shows.
Liz and Caesar were in 6th a couple of times during the Junior classes but didn't quite crack the places.
Natalie McNeil from Dorrigo was here riding at the Royal in Juniors.Her chestnut quarter horse Peppymint were 3rd and 5th twice and she had a win in the pony club area jumping.
A few days off and we went toCopabella Show at St Ives showground.
The past year or two the ground has been a bit dry and hard, this year too wet.
The ground held up but some horses didn't like the shifty ground which caused some slips and penalties.
Caesar was lame from the mud fever around his pastern, we had been treating it but just tender enough to be a nuisance. The skin was very inflamed.So Liz didn't get a start.
The symptoms of mud fever are cracked skin around the back of the pastern with scabs and the horses can be very lame. Sometimes the whole leg can be swollen and you think something is wrong with their tendons.
This time of the year horses with pink noses too are scabby,some zinc cream works well.
Natalie was sick with a flu bug and she didn't get to start either.
Peter and Poet went well the first day but didn't have such a good time in the Grand Prix.
Back to work this week to prepare for Hawkesbury our local show.
Three days of jumping.
Unfortunately the big two World Cups eventing and showjumping is on at SIEC too, pity to have two competitions within an hour of each other.
For us with a bunch of young ones it is Hawkesbury for us.
Harry was our head groom at the royal, and he came home a bit sick(normal show bug).
He is now looking forward to riding at Hawkesbury.
A friend of Harry's from North Qld Danial, came and stayed during the royal so we had plenty of helpers.
Danial is an accomplished horseman and we had him showing us some games to play with our horses. Danial is a keen jump rider as well.
The weather has turned cold now and it feels like winter. We have had a long time with warm moist conditions so it is a bit of a shock.
My face and hands will suffer for a few days.
Not much time left in April and May is when I start on my teaching rounds around the country.
Qld and WA for starters some weekends a home here and there.
Normally this is the time when the young horses get their start in showjumping. Off outside to start now, I hope to get something up on the web soon.
I am waiting on some pics from the Royal.
colleen