The importance of anniversaries

This is a post about looking backwards as well as forwards. I'd forgotten that its exactly a year since Krista's horse, Buddy, arrived at Rockley. 

Each year, the time seems to fly faster and faster (I loved a quote I heard on QI when Stephen Fry described a 90 yr old relation who used to exclaim "No, it can't be breakfast time again already...") and its important now and again to stop and take stock.

While horses are here, and often for the 3-4 months after they are home, their rehab is still a progression of "2 steps forward, 1 step back"; both owners and I frequently have sleepless nights not only as the horses make progress (or have occasional setbacks) but also as their owners get to grips with the nitty-gritty (and ups and downs) of having their horses back home: sorting out their feeding regime, managing their grazing, building their own and their horse's confidence and coping with more or less supportive yard owners, farriers and friends. 

Its once you get a full year under your belt that you can sit back and begin to relax - you've found a way of dealing with spring grass, you've probably started doing fast work or competing again and the  novelty of having a horse with no shoes will definitely have worn off. 

This is the time not just to start making plans for the year ahead but to look back at how far you've come. 

When Buddy went home he had - like most horses - only grown in about half a new hoof capsule and though his landing and soundness had improved dramatically, he was far less capable over tough surfaces than he is today.

This of course is one of the joys of the RRR, because seeing horses 1, 2, 3 or more years down the line and just getting better and better is what makes it all worthwhile. 

...(so step forward Lainey and Bailey, Terri and Nicky, Kate and Storm, Kate and Harvey and Nicky and Dillon, to name just a few of you)...

We found a great song at the RRR - I've just been waiting for a chance to use it and this must be the perfect time! So, happy anniversary to Buddy and Krista and lets hope you have many more happy years.