Lizzie Luxton’s point-to-point blog: Harry goes hunting… and eventing

Follow the highs and lows of Strong Hurricane, aka 'Harry', as he prepares for his point-to-point debut under Lizzie’s careful eye

I hope I find you all in good health. Harry is working well and enjoying his hunting alongside his canter work.

After Harry’s minor injury last winter, he did eight weeks walking during April and May and had a vet check up at the end of this period. All was fine and we decided to give him June in the field to chill out. He had become quite full of beans and I can’t tell you how many times I saw the underneath of his stomach when I was turning him out!

After his little field break he returned to work and I decided to hack him for another month. It was simply a case of me trying to be as careful as possible and leaving no stone unturned.

He started to do some light schooling and I feel it has really helped him — he’s much more supple and soft and he even recently made his eventing debut at a local venue, Southcott cross-country (pictured below right). I use it for all my cross-country schooling so I knew he would see lots of variety.

He really enjoyed his day, although he was confused when he went cross-country on his own! He finished eighth and I was delighted with how he went — his steering can be a bit dodgy sometimes so I made sure I had enough in hand over him so I didn’t disappear to the local village of Winkleigh!

Recently, I have managed to take a holiday to Abu Dhabi — my friend Charlotte Rowe’s parents live out there and we managed to squeeze a week in. It was absolutely beautiful and very warm all week, so when I returned home (nice and tanned!) to howling wind and driving rain, I can’t say I was hugely impressed.

My mum, Sandy, kept the horses ticking over while I was away. They went hunting to the Lamerton’s Cornish side opening meet. Mum rode my other pointer Not Many Know That (Teddy), and Jo, my sister-in-law, was reunited with Harry for another day’s hunting.

They had a lovely day and I’m told both boys were very well behaved and looked super smart. I am passionate that my racehorses hunt — it teaches them to cross the country safely and you can’t beat it for blowing away the cobwebs.

Harry is cantering well and feeling fantastic. We’ve been upping the pace and aim to school them both over fences this weekend. I will try to video them for you, but my skills as a camera person are known for being a bit average! Harry is still aiming to run just before Christmas barring any incidents.

Harry wishes you all well, and I look forward to writing my next blog.

Lizzie

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