Happy New Year, everyone! Let’s hope 2021 will be a better year for all of us, although there are already rumblings of another lockdown, due to our ever increasing number of Covid cases. Cavi and I were both on a break over Christmas and New Year and it is now time to get back to training.

Cavi was worked only every other day and mostly just hacking out or walking for about 2 weeks or so. We have not jumped since the last show at the end of November. Although he was really going so well at that show, and I was very tempted to press on and maintain momentum, life got in the way. Moving house and other issues meant that it was easier to give him a short break.

Riding wise, I did very little for about 2 weeks and although I only took 4 days off from the gym, it was hard to get back into the swing of things, both mentally and physically.

Mentally, I was unmotivated and physically, I felt like a slug. After the gym or my boxing PT, I would be stiff and sore. Cardio wise, it felt like I had gone back 2 steps. If I felt like this, imagine what Cavi would have felt.

When we bring our horses back from a break / spell, we need to do it systematically and remember that their fitness levels and muscle strength would have decreased in that time. I started doing basic flatwork and some work on the track in short spurts. There were a lot more walk breaks in the session, allowing him to stretch forward and to catch his breath.

Today we had our first jump after about 6 weeks. His muscle memory and previous training meant that he knows what to do over a jump but I had to be mindful of his fitness. We only did small jumps today, never really overtaxing him and worked on our pace, rhythm, line and my position as a start.

Tomorrow he may be a little stiff from the work today and I again have to be aware of this, giving him time to warm up and to work on suppling exercises when I work him… bearing in mind, that I could be a little stiff too.

Some of you may have given your horses a break during the holiday period. Think about how to bring them back into work with consideration to their fitness level. It is not like taking your car out for a spin and going 0kmh to 100kmh straight away!