Ed went beautifully this afternoon. Canter both reins, full length of the school without getting tired. Starting to re-introduce a bit of flatwork without tight circles, and he remembers it all. You wouldn't think he'd been out of work for so long.
Watching him today I was choked by the realisation he'll never jump again. He loved jumping - I remember him carting Ian off to pop a filler, with Ian hauling ineffectually on the reins and shouting, "No, Eddie - NO!" and Ed taking him over it anyway, because to his mind it was there to be jumped. There was the time he jumped over into the dairy herd next door, and ran around in a celebratory fashion with Buttercup and Bluebell; the farmer said if he clapped eyes on him again he'd shoot him. Of course, the most satisfying thing was when people sneered at him doing unaffiliated jumping classes, and said, "That can't jump!" So he took great satisfaction in lumbering in there and beating the pants off 'em all. He cleared intermediate height quite comfortably. He understood jump-offs; he watched the opposition go before him and knew to go up a gear. Seems sad that we can't ask him to do it anymore - but hey, there are things that he can do that we didn't expect he would.
Just good to see him regaining fitness and confidence.
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