The Rise of the Ginger Phoenix & a New Addition…

When your world comes crashing down, you have a chance to do something you couldn’t have done before: rise up. I would liken Clover’s injury to my world coming crashing down.

I had plans, hopes, unfulfilled dreams that she was the centre of - the unfortunate reality of being a one-horse owner - all of your proverbial eggs are in their basket. And the possibility of her not being sound to fulfil the dreams with me was devastating; after all, it’s always been about her.

I can look back now with a huge sigh of relief that thankfully, that wasn’t to be the case. This summer has been a complete rollercoaster of emotions, and I’m eternally grateful to those who helped us through that. But now, it’s time to rise and re-build through the winter. And re-build we shall, with a few new team members…

Change has been afoot at Westhall for the past few months. I adored Blossom but I was struggling to work a young horse with no arena at home, and with winter approaching there was no hope of daylight to continue our stubble field schooling! She sold, not surprisingly, incredibly quickly, to a lovely young rider down South and I look forward to watching their progress. I am very proud of the horse she is becoming.

In a fairly trying time (Clover still being off, and me accepting Blossom had to be sold), the wonderful, fluffy, sassy and kissable Aqua (Billy Rockcon) came into our lives! I’m incredibly grateful to Eilidh and her mum Hazel for the opportunity to continue Aqua’s education. It’s lovely to be able to keep her in the ‘Team DC’ family, and it was a very welcome opportunity when my love of eventing was being tested.

So here I am, two stunning mares to have a winter of fun with, and it’s all looking much brighter. Clover is back in full work (thank goodness, my blood pressure couldn’t take her careering round the field any longer!!) and Aqua and I are forming a great friendship. A winter of BS and BD together should cement that. She is the definition of a horse that makes you excited to get back on.

There is also possibly another lovely girl in the pipeline (I do love a mare!), but I’ll save that for another blog. I hope our AC followers have all have a fantastic season (if you’re an eventer) and I hope it continues to be a good one (for those dressage divas and showjumping queens). And fingers crossed the ‘Beast from the East’ bypasses Scotland this winter!

Jodie, Clover & Aqua 

You can follow Jodie's adventures on Facebook at The Eventing Dentist

Professional photos by Dave Cameron Photography