It was camp last weekend!

So after the emotions of last week it all came to a head when we had to say goodbye to Ellinore, who not only has been with us since last September but living with us had become a good friend to. We will miss her both on the yard and in the house.

But there never seems to be much time to dwell on the negatives and I certainly had to put everything to one side of my brain to make room for the camp that took place last weekend. With 2 people due on Friday night it was all hands to the deck on Friday during the day to make sure that the yard looked its best and we were fully prepared for our guests (stables cobwebbed, everywhere swept & tidy etc)

I admit I was a little nervous before people started to arrive as a flicker of self doubt ran through my mind. I have been studying a lot about controlling your thoughts and how much we get worked up about the “imagined truth”, where we try to predict what is going to happen/what people think and therefore get anxious about it, even though it hasn’t (& probably never will) happen. So although the doubt appeared in my mind I was able to rationalise it and carry on preparing confidentially knowing that what ever was thrown at me I would be able to handle it with experience and calm and with buckets full of confidence!

It turned out I was right not to worry, on Friday night Charlotte & Gemma arrived with their horses and with weather warnings out for thunderstorms and torrential rain, they had ditched the idea of a tent and decided to sleep in their trailer instead – that I don’t blame them for! Friday night I was teaching so I couldn’t join them, but they walked down to the village pub and had a good meal before settling down for their night camping. The horses, Ninky & Daisy had settled in really well.

Saturday morning the rain started, but that didn’t change anything really, Ninky & Daisy went out in the fields for a few hours and Heather & Nero arrived along with Jane (who this time was horseless) and a small dog (who became Ben’s best friend) Toby. We started on time with Giovanni’s lunge & long reining, which gave us some good talking points and actually I thought went really well. Gio has been full of high jinx lately and when EquiNutritive asked if I would product try their calmer, No More Nerves Blend, I thought why not give it a go with Gio (& Hero), at this point I wasn’t convinced it was doing anything but he did behave himself with a small group of people sat in the corner of the indoor school, so maybe it is starting to have an effect.

Just as we finished with Gio our last camper Pam pulled up with Meyrick in the pouring rain. Although Pam had the shortest distance, just as she was about to load at home the heavens had opened which just delayed them a bit.

It didn’t matter too much and I rode Hubert K, we enjoyed lunch and started on individual lessons for the afternoon. It was so nice as everyone was supportive of each other and everyone improved in just the one lesson – I couldn’t of asked for a better group of horses and riders!

Yoga was a great icebreaker and we all enjoyed it thanks to Rosie from Yoga with Rosie, the relaxation at the end with a lavender eye pillow was enjoyed by all!

After a time for everyone to recover and check on the horses we met up in our club room for home-made lasagne, garlic bread and salad (plus lots of cake after!) We put the dressage on the telly but mostly just talked a lot having a good time. It was really nice to relax and discuss all sorts in such a great atmosphere.

The weather was a little better on Sunday, and we started off with individual lessons and I challenged Pam to go first and after Meyrick had escaped from his stable earlier he was on his toes and by the end of the lesson Pam was relaxed and so was Mayrick and they did a fabulous job – I was so proud of Pam and so was everyone else!

The rest of the lessons went well with Nero concentrating for more than a minute at a time, Ninky starting to work straight and canter at a more “normal” speed and Daisy learning that her new mum was going to ignore her antics and stick to plan A of just sending her forwards. Great morning – followed by another great lunch, chat about the “imagined truth” and I even managed to squeeze another ride on Hubert; but unfortunately he was running on empty from pretty much the word go – I had been challenged to ride a 6 loop serpentine in our 30m indoor school so we had a great laugh trying to squeeze it in and we just managed it! And on that happy note we finished and wrapped up camp for this time just as the sun came out.

The rest of the week has just consisted of everyday yard work as most of my grooms seem to have their summer holiday booked in the next couple of weeks it means lots of extra work for us – but I LOVE IT!

Until next week /Anna-Lisa x