PhD student Emma Hayes has crossed the #Hack1000Miles finish line for the second year with several weeks left to spare.
“It has been such a mixed year for me after losing my first horse to colic in March, having mystery lameness issues in my endurance horse (Yassa) over the summer which involved a trip to another country for an MRI scan for him to get to the bottom of it all and taking on a youngster for the summer who enjoyed nothing more than bucking and spooking.
“The vast majority of my miles have been completed on my little Arabian Yassa. At first I feared his lameness would be due to a collateral ligament injury but he turned out to have bone bruising which meant a much quicker recovery time and a return to riding.
“He damaged his collateral ligament last year in the field and was extremely bad for several weeks. He couldn’t leave the stable without becoming hopping lame again. It took around 12 weeks of box rest to have him sound, then a further four weeks before we could resume work slowly.
“Yassa absolutely loves to ride out and we have ridden in some truly spectacular places this year across Northern Ireland in our endurance competitions.
“I have started studying for a PhD and Hack 1000 miles really motivates me to get out and ride no matter what the weather is or what time it is and I can’t wait to start my third challenge next year!”
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