METICULOUS REHAB

CHANTELLE BUCKNELL and Ballinliss Boy enjoyed a successful day, being crowned champion in the senior prelim and finishing third in the senior novice without points class. Their results were all the more remarkable given the 10-year-old Irish gelding underwent a stifle operation 18 months ago and the vets were unsure whether he would be able to be ridden again.

“When my vet saw the report from the operation which showed two bone cysts, a frayed meniscus and a lack of fluid in the joint, she said, ‘I don’t know why they woke him up,’” explained the Bath RC member, who was celebrating her birthday on the day

of the competition.

Chantelle was meticulous with Ballinliss Boy’s rehab, which started with two five-minute in-hand walks a day, even making her husband clear the road from snow one day so she could lead him up and down it.

“I wanted to give him every chance of a full recovery so I was really strict and we’re very careful with what we do with him now,” she added. “The fact that he has come back and won this is amazing, I can’t believe it.”