3 July 2025
Hello, everyone,
You claim to have 99 problems, then you are poorly and you only have one problem. Nothing else matters!!
After a normal start to the year - coming out of winter, looking forward to seeing the back of mud and getting some miles in with the horses - my plans went wrong, drastically wrong.
I was diagnosed with bladder cancer on the 1st May. It was completely unexpected and a total shock. You can’t underestimate the gut-wrenching feeling of sitting in a room and being told you have cancer.
There was a 10 day wait from diagnosis to surgery to remove two tumours and this time was packed with scans and hospital appointments. They were, without doubt, 100% the worst ten days of my life. However, I flew through surgery and have recovered really well and am now on weekly chemo treatment for six weeks.
Just before I was diagnosed with cancer, my mare Mirrie was too - you really couldn’t make this up! She had an appointment booked in to have a tumour removed, and I decided to keep the this. If I was not able to take her for surgery, then a good friend of mine would. Luckily, as it turned out, I was well enough for the 12-hour round trip to the vets.
We are miles down in Cornwall and the specialist vet is based in Nottingham. He worked wonders, removed the tumour and Mirrie and I have ended up being on the same chemotherapy treatment – only in different forms.
Now. . . that’s a very long story cut short.
Mirrie is back hacking and I’m back riding. I don’t know if we’ll compete this year, as I’m not sure how my chemo will affect me when I’ve had more of it. But, I’m just really grateful that I got in there early and had treatment and I’m relieved and delighted that Mirrie is doing so well. I’m also so incredibly done with 2025. It can well and truly do one!
On a brighter note, the other horses are all doing really well.
Best wishes to all of you - stay strong, stay healthy!
This picture is of Mirrie in her new orange bridle. Orange represents the Bladder Cancer charity.
Back to Brand Ambassadors