Hi,

Below is an update from our trip to Australia in December, taken from my website. The trip was good but I was disappointed with my scores. Boss is back in work after his break and we are gearing up for the business end of the season with South Island Champs, Nationals and HOY all in the next 8 weeks.

As part of my sponsorship could you please send down two more bottles of Flex Equine Liquid.

Many Thanks for your ongoing support and I hope to catch up with you at HOY.

Jenny and Boss

Taken from my website: www.jennyaffleckequestrian.com

I am just home from Werribee and Boss landed in Christchurch at 5.30am this morning and is now chilling out at Effies place before being trucked home on Friday. It was a massive three weeks away from home for us as Boss and I left here on the 22 November to start the three day trip upto Auckland from where the boys were flying from. I travelled upto Auckland with the horses and picked up Mask (Antheas Horse) and Bonno who is owned by the RDA and ridden by Ilona. We arrived in Auckland at around midday on Thursday 24 November where the horses were staying at Blackbridge. This is an amazing facility and the horses settled very quickly and quite happy to call it home for three days. The staff at Blackbridge were amazing and Kelsey and Don did everything they could to ensure the boys were happy and relaxed, we were very lucky to have this as our Auckland base.

The horses then flew to Melbourne on Sunday 27th and arrived at Marys at 1.30am on Monday morning. All the horses flew well and we happy to get out onto some grass when they arrived. Boss was off his food for the first few days but came right after day three. We had lessons with Mary everyday and worked on the basics. The horses were treated by the Australian team physio and were massaged as needed. As riders we were introduced to meditation. We all though it would be hard not to laugh during the first session but we all got something out of the sessions and I was quite surprised at how well it worked.

We then packed up and headed to Werribee on Monday. The horses were boxed in temporary stables and they were tiny! Boss was not that happy in them but as were we in a secure area they could not be moved into anything bigger. The horses all worked well early in the week and we had the arrival vet inspection on Wednesday morning which all the Kiwi horses passed. We had the trot up on Thursday and it was hot, 37 degrees and far to hot for Boss and I. All the Kiwi horses passed and we then waited for the draw.

Our first test was on Friday afternoon in one of the outdoor arenas and it was another scorching day. Boss and I were third to go and as we entered the arena I realised the the S & R markers were not in the right place, S was about 8m from where it should be!! I carried on and rode the test as best I could trying to judge where they should be. The crazy thing was that the first 2 riders noticed but didn't say anything and none of the 5 judges noticed untill I said something to the TD after my test. Boss was not settled at all and was very spooky in his canter work. I thought it was one of the worst tests he had ever done but somehow he managed to scrape together 60% and secure our COC for London.  On the Saturday we decided to hack him in the morning and try and relax him abit more. This seemed to work and he did a far better test but still only scored 60%. Both Mary and myself though it would have been much higher than that. That afternoon Werribee was hit by a massive thunder and lightning storm and downpour. It was very scary and the area infront of the boxes, our tackshed and stables flooded within an hour. The stewards and stable managers managed to move our horses into nice dry boxes and we had tack spread out everywhere trying to dry. We also watched most of the World Cup Pacific League Final that night in between checking on and moving the horses.

On Sunday we had our musical. Boss warmed up great but got very tense in the big indoor arena, we scored 63% and finished 7th. The New Zealand team finished in 3rd place being the USA and Australia. The Kiwi horse were all picked up on Sunday night and transported back to IRT's Melbourne base. The South Island horses then trucked up to Sydney before flying home this morning. Boss will make it back to Long Point on Friday.

It was a great, fun trip and I would like to thank Hygain who are one of my wonderful sponsors and who supplied the feed for Boss while we were in Australia and to Jennifer and Michelle who came to Werribee to meet the horses and give us our new Hygain jackets. To Mary who transported the horses for us and let us use her home like a hotel, Vicky who acted as camp mum and  Emma who groomed for the NZ ridres, Warrick who was a great chef and the rest of the NZ riders and support people for such an enjoyable trip.

Next for Boss will be a well earned break before the Southland Summer Champs, South Island Champs, Nationals, Para Nationals and Horse of the Year where we will be working hard to meet the selection criteria set by the NZOC and ESNZ. 


September 2011
Boss and I are heading off to Australia again for the CPEDI3* at Werribee in December. He has to fly out of Auckland this time which means he is going to have three days in the truck before he even gets to the plane. I am going to be based with my coach Mary Longdon for the first week which is great. I am aiming to score 68% at Werribee and this will ensure we exceed ESNZ's selection targets.
We will then do HOY and the Para Nats before hopefully heading to the UK to base in the build up to final selection, so its going to be a busy season.
 
Thanks again for your ongoing support and sponsorship, its really appreciated.
 
Jenny Affleck & Boss II

June 2011 update,
Hi
 
It has all just been confirmed that I am going to Hartpury in the UK later this month to prepare for and then ride at the Hartpury 3* to try and earn our qualification for the London paralympics. I leave NZ on the 27th June and go straight to my base which is not far from Hartpury. I have secured the ride on a Prix St George level horse and another medium level horse as a backup.
 
I compete from the 13-15th July then head home to start preparing for the NZ season, before heading to Werribee, Australia in December to ride at the three star qualifier there, then hopefully back to England in early May to t prepare for the paralympics.
 
I will keep you updated on my time in England and my results.
 
I have also secured the ride next season on Baltimove IV, a 10 year old warmblood cross who I will aim at the para equestrian classes and my 4 year old will be having her first starts at prelim level.
 
As part of my sponsorship could I please have another 2 bottles of Flex Equine Liquid, it makes a huge difference to Boss's movement.
 
Thanks again for your support
Jenny Affleck

November 2010,
Hi Guys
 
As promised an update with our results from the Canterbury Champs and FEI World Challenge.
 
At Canterbury Champs I did our grade 4 para freestyle on Saturday which we won on 66.50%, we also did the level 6/7 Musical that afternoon for around 64%. On the Sunday we only started in the Vetpro Challenge class and he was very naughty!! This is not like Boss and he was shying at signs hes seen hundreds of times before. He still scored slightly over 60%.
 
We had the trot-up on Monday afternoon for the World Challenge which he passed with flying colours and the draw and welcome party that night. I was going to give him the day off but after Sundays efforts I decided he could do with a schooling session!
 
It was a long wait on Tuesday as the PSG class went last and I was not drawn to start till 3.18. I spent most of the day watching the other classes before taking myself away to plait. We did a very quick warm-up, and from the moment we went into the arena he was amazing. He stayed with me for the whole test and was so much fun to ride. After the final halt I could'nt have been happier with the way he went for me. The scores were coming out fast and it didn't take long to be told we had won it. We finished with a total score of 62.105%. It was a great start to the season for us and we now have a couple of weekends at home before heading to the Southland Championship Show then we have another three weeks based in Canterbury in Jan/Feb for the Grand National Show, South Island Champs, Para National Champs and the South Island Para Champs.
 
I will send in some photos as soon as they arrive.
 
Thanks also for the very fast delivery of the flex-equine, deep down heat and Anti fungal shampoo.
 
My website is in the process of being up-dated with all the results from the weekend: www.jennyaffleckequestrian.com
 
Many Thanks for your support
 
Jenny Affleck & Boss