Well it has been a while since I have talked about how Belv is doing. A few months ago he was seen by a chiropractor and had a few weeks just walking and trotting in a long and low outline to re-build up his muscles etc. He came back very well from this and was very supple and submissive. However he suddenly became rod-like again and we went back to Tor for help and in her words we were ''back to where we were six months ago''. Needless to say I was absolutely gutted by this and it meant that we had to withdraw him from Longleat JRN. However, it's not all doom and gloom! We got Sam Smith to come out and give Belv some treatment and this has helped hugely. We think that Belv just needs regular appointments to keep him in shape! Anyway, he has been going fairly well and is entered for Glanusk JRN next weekend which I am very excited (and nervous) about! 

Yesterday morning, in preparation for Glanusk, Tor took Belv to Summerhouse for an SJ schooling round and I came up before school to ride him. I was very pleased with how he went, he felt good over the fences and was generally being very careful! Although I often fired him at the fences making him flatten on the last few strides, so I need to work on that. 

Finally, I travelled up to Tor's after school today and had a play with him on the flat. He was going okay to begin with but a bit stiff in his neck and was being a bit argumentative. Tor then got on and had a play and got him going really nicely and then plonked me back in the saddle! I was quite pleased with how he went but I don't think he was as soft and submissive in his neck as he was before his most recent 'episode'. It didn't really feel like he was consistently round and relaxed, however I was pleasantly surprised by how it looked on the video, so we shall see how it goes in the next few days and at Glanusk!