Mary King’s Olympic Games countdown diary: 25 days to go
I am pleased to report that both of the boys are going really well at home at the moment, although Cavvy (Call Again Cavalier) tried to give me heart failure last Thursday.
I was working one of my other horses in the arena, which overlooks the paddocks, while Cavvy was enjoying some time out in the field with Apache Sauce, who is normally a nice quiet field companion.
Apache Sauce was happily grazing but Cavvy wanted to play and was being a real pest. He is so naughty. He kept bothering Apache Sauce until eventually he got really cheesed off and kicked Cavvy quite hard in the chest, right in front of me. To my horror I watched Cavvy limp away and I thought: ‘Oh no, my Olympic horse!’
Luckily I had the vet coming that afternoon so I got him to take a look. I was wondering if we should get the shoulder x-rayed just in case, but the vet said not to worry, it was just a bruised muscle. By the next day it looked fine so Cavvy had a couple of quieter days to get over it and is now being turned out on his own, next door to the others, to avoid any further injuries.
Apart from that they are both feeling good. I am continuing their work at home to get them into peak fitness before going into quarantine a week on Tuesday. Once in quarantine I will stay in a hotel near the Unicorn Centre for most of the time and just drive back to Devon when the horses have their day off. I’m also hoping to get away to watch my daughter Emily in her area inter-branch pony club competitions.
Before that we are off to Aston-le-Walls on Friday and Saturday. Cavvy will just do the dressage and show jumping, while Archie (Imperial Cavalier) will run across country as long as the ground is good. It will be our last chance to ride the Olympic dressage test before the Games and the show jumping will be a bit bigger than normal, which will help to keep us all on the ball.
Hope to see you there.
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Mary
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