About Me and Why I Do What I Love
I have loved animals all my life and any career path I chose would undoubtedly involve our four legged friends. We always had dogs growing up from the savvy Jack Russel to the elegant Cocker Spaniel, I was forever outside with them running around the garden or off on adventures down the brook to spy on sticklebacks, only for the dogs to jump in and scare them all off.
At the age of 7 Nana decided it was time for my first foray into the world of horses and took me for my first riding lesson, I never looked back. I love being able to ride and escape the world for a little while when it’s just you, your friend and a few hours of freedom. I always loaned horses and never turned down a ride. I rode them all, from the sublime to the downright cheeky, any ride was a blessing and fun was guaranteed. Even when I moved away from home to study in Lincoln I found a horse that I was able to enjoy, no day was complete without a gallop along the Fosse with the Red Arrows practicing overhead.
Three years later I moved back to Staffordshire with a degree in Bioveterinary Science and being strapped for cash I took the first job offered to me. With my first paycheck I bought my very own horse. Bill was a handsome chap and knew it. He was very nappy when I got him and lacked the strength and conformation for jumping but worked beautifully on the flat and eventually trusted me enough that he became a happy hacker and we would spend many hours just dawdling around the lanes. Just to his poor conformation he constantly needed musculoskeletal treatment and developed such an interest I decided to go back to studying at the Mctimoney College of Chiropractic. I was gently pushed in this direction by my husband as he himself is a chiropractor. A postgraduate degree in Animal Therapy and Animal Manipulation were the outcome.
During this time I decided to leave the job I was in as it had nothing to do with animals and found a position working on a livery yard. It suited me perfectly as you get to be horses all day and be outside. I used Bill as crash test dummy for treatment whilst I was studying but unfortunately due to his poor hindlimb conformation irreversible changes to his stifle meant that we had to say goodbye to him.
He had big shoes to fill so up stepped Carlos, my crazy beautiful Dutch Warmblood. I decided I wanted to do more showjumping and get out competing. He was the first horse I looked at and to be honest I was sold from the photos I’d seen of him. He was a rhino to ride, at 5 years old he didn’t have the balance to hold himself up and would just tow through his shoulders making my arms ache every time I rode. What had I done? This horse was nuts, he was spooky, bouncy and opinionated. I considered sending him back until we got our new saddle. He has huge shoulders and the one I had him in was just not suiting him at all making for an awful ride. When his shoulder was finally free he turned into a different horse, he felt fantastic. Two years later and we’ve only been showjumping once. Turns out when he’s not spooking at leaves he thoroughly enjoys galloping across fields and jumping solid fences. He’s a cross country machine (although all water contains sharks and still requires a dolphin leap to enter).
He was fairly low maintenance receiving a few treatments here and there when he decided to have a rodeo around the field. He became very high maintenance in April 2018 when he had a slight tear of his right for SDFT, thankfully three months in the field accompanied by weekly treatments and he was all fixed just in time for a me to have a photoshoot on him the week after I got married. I’d been back on him twice and decided it was a good idea to get on in my giant Disney princess dress and veil. After the initial OMG what the hell are you wearing he was amazing and I could not have been more proud then when he let me clamber on, rather inelegantly seen as it took three people to me and dress up on top. He just stood there! I was a nervous wreck convinced he would explode at any minute.
And through the last ten years my faithful friend has been there through it all. No not my husband, who has been hanging around for about the same amount of time, but our dog Sam. He is the most handsome black Labrador, yes I’m totally biased. He’s just the best. Loyal (if you have food). Loveable (if you have food). Would do anything for you (if you have food). He has the best life, living between us, my brother and parents means that he gets truly spoilt but none of us can live without him so we have to share. We initially hoped he would become a renowned gundog, finding quarry in the thickest undergrowth, but Sam has no interest in bringing anything back he just likes to find things. Especially stinky ponds. He was set for a life of leisure and he makes the most of it. He is often found on his back, legs in the air, snoring loudly. It’s a dogs life.
Sam has provided plenty of practice for me whilst I was training and I am now able to pay him back during his twilight years as he begins to slow down and show signs of wear and tear. He receives weekly treatments for an injury to his lower back which can mean that he forgets sometimes where his back-right foot is and will leave it behind. Thankfully he now shows little signs of the old injury and loves his treatments as they make it easier to keep jumping onto his favourite nap spot on the sofa. When we got married the day would not have been complete without him there so he was bestowed with the task of ring bearer. He did an exceptional job in not losing the rings and bringing them up at the right time, he even found time for a little a nap mid service.
So that’s my motley crew. Give me a ring and have a chat about your four legged friends and what we can do to help them.
