I went to a friend's 80s fancy dress party wearing some very crazy tights and generally bright clothing. There I met someone on crutches with a broken fibula and torn ankle ligaments, little did I know that 12 hours later I'd be in the exact same predicament! It was rather amusing when we saw each other again at the next social a few days later!

The morning after the 80s party turned out to be my last event this season. I ran Scar in a Novice at Pulborough and after a good dressage and show jumping I set off cross country and was delighted to find him jumping very well and feeling more confident, so I never expected things to go horribly wrong...

A log was followed by a stride to a step into water, there was no step groundline so I think the horses didn't read it very well. Scar didn't back off as much as normal, then slightly slipped off the step stumbling on landing and kept stumbling across the water, eventually falling before hitting the step at the other side! This actually happened to at least five horses so there was definitely something not right about the groundline or landing. Unfortunately he squashed my ankle when he went down and my leg had horrible pins and needles as I tried to pick myself up. It started throbbing in the ambulance so I went to A&E to get X-rayed. Thank goodness I decided to be really demanding and asked to go past my lorry to change my wet shirt for a warm jumper and collect my handbag, because a four hour wait later a broken fibula with torn ankle ligaments was confirmed and I was going to be stuck in Chichester hospital for an operation! Meanwhile I was still in one muddy boot and very damp muddy jodhpurs and starving, as it is hard to search for food in a hospital when you can't walk! My ankle was swelling fast and I was put in a temporary cast. I couldn't believe a silly stumble had caused so much damage!

Luckily a friend at the event drove the horsebox home with my friend Rosie who had come to help because I was stuck in Chichester until I could be plated and screwed back together the next day. My greatest disappointment was having to miss the 6 Year Old Championships with Pennyz two days later, it would have been a highlight to my unthrilling season. As it turned out she got a skin infection, so at least I didn't let her down! Meanwhile I was put on an overflow ward for the night, full of 90 year olds and supper had already been served - so I had to make do with two digestive biscuits and a banana (bearing in mind I am famously greedy) before putting my foot down, literally (not the right one though!) about NOT using a bed pan! The bossy nurses with no sense of humour tried to make me use one saying I wasn't allowed to walk, not believing that not being 90 like everyone else I can hop five metres! I eventually threw all my toys out of the pram and started hopping at which point they took me in a wheelie chair (why couldn't they do that in the first place!). I also changed into a hospital gown, had I had any idea I could have brought all sorts of supplies from my lorry.

On Monday I had to starve all day before the operation whilst food came and went... I was so bored! Two ghastly magazines like Take a Break made me even more depressed, I felt very stranded in bed and took hours to get the TV going. The thing about NHS care is that you have no idea when anything is happening! Eventually I went for the operation at about 3pm. My whiplash and general fall stiffness were so much worse from being stuck in bed too.

I felt great afterwards, gas often seems to make me wake up buzzing! The stiffness had nearly all gone and the leg felt much better as it was stable inside (I still had a cast though). I felt fine and could have gone home, but the physio' had already left and I needed to be given crutches to be discharged! I was so annoyed! Chichester was a little too far out of the way to ask any friends to visit and bring supplies, I was feeling a bit claustrophobic!

I then waited till 2pm on Tuesday to be given a CD of the latest X-rays (a plate and seven screws in my fibula, one screw will need removing) and for the physio' to give me a crutches lesson (I got told off for going too fast). What a waste of a day waiting! At least I had taken over the wheelie comode chair and went flying along the corridors backwards pushing with my left foot! I am now swapping to private care as I am so fed up of time wasting and having no one to refer to. I know they haven't done a bad job but I don't like the impersonal situation where I can't chat to the specialist with questions and so on! Luckily a friend came to rescue me and I finally got home, repacked and went to stay with Sarah to be nursed a little.

The second half of September included my birthday and two events, Purston Manor and South of England. I had a very sociable pub supper with a few good friends on my 26th birthday, although the menu at my disposal was still limited as this was only two days after smacking my lip open at Pontispool! Luckily it healed fast so I didn't look too silly for the VWH hunt ball; this was a fun affair with dodgems, food fights and silly dancing!

George ran in his third Pre Novice at Purston, I was delighted with his performance, but surprisingly there were no prizes for his double clear as we got 10 time faults for going too fast cross country! I honestly cantered round with the handbrake on, but on such an open course through fields it is easy to save a few seconds, particulary as George now jumps in such a lovely confident rhythm. My dressage mark could have been better, he felt a bit sleepy, but there was no way he was touching a show jump! I liked this event, the cross country isn't good for spectators but I loved the flowing course, convenient arena layout, lovely house and sociable attendance! Sadly, George will now be sold and I will really miss eventing him, it was such a pleasure!

Scar and Pennyz ran at South of England, the former in the Novice and the latter in the CIC* - her first international! Poor Scar absolutely couldn't cope with the hard skiddy going in his tiny dressage arena and could honestly hardly stay upright! He lost his confidence with a bad slip up halfway through and I then had to practically walk round all the corners and certainly gave up on the 12m canter half circles as we nearly fell on our faces! I bumped into the judge later who commiserated with me and said she could see the panic in Scar's face so she gave us a very understanding mark! He just rolled one pole in a beefy show jumping but went cross country in the time, almost climbing back up to a placing. He tries so hard to please and I am very fond of him.

Pennyz finished a very respectable 12th in a huge CIC section. The dressage has plenty of room for improvement, but it was only her first attempt at a tricky international test with leg yielding. She executed this in a rather erratic manner, but I was so impressed she held the two extra long counter canters that I didn't mind. It was also such a treat to frolic around in a long 20x60 arena again after months of getting dizzy with knotted horses' legs in 20x40s! She was one of a small portion of entries to achieve a brilliant double clear in the time. I was thrilled - she felt so grown up and jumped her biggest track yet with great confidence, despite not having had a run for a while.

The main reason the last couple of months have been hectic is that I have been hatching great plans... I just didn't want to make them official until my ideas were clear! I hope to move myself and the horses to the Cotswolds this winter! There is a whole catalogue of reasons for this decision but I just haven't done anything about it until now because it is all so daunting and much organisation is required for my lock, stock and barrel relocation! I am selling my cottage, finding affordable stables to rent, moving the horses and camping with friends until I buy another cottage!

I feel awfully brave and grown up tackling it essentially on my own, although of course several friends are helping me and advising me on individual aspects. The reasons for this choice are geographical, economical, social, practical, aesthetical, and, most importantly, career orientated. Not only are the Cotswolds mouth-wateringly irresistible to me, but it is where a large portion of my friends live, the rest having inconveniently gone to London. This is because the Cotswolds is a very social and active area with equestrians. I also very much hope that I will have better contacts to find more owners and sponsors to further my eventing career. Renting stables instead of paying livery should enable me to cut my costs, as I cannot afford my current arrangement long term, however convenient. Of course I can never thank Sarah Bullen enough for all her help and guidance over the last nine years, but it is time for me to organise my life independently with a more sustainable system and learn from my own mistakes - all very daunting!

These plans have resulted in numerous trips to Gloucestershire to look at yards. I am particularly interested in one near Stow on the Wold, set in huge green fields on a hill. Turnout and hacking are always my priority, but in this case an arena, a racing trainer's gallops and a show jumping arena all within the village are a great bonus for saving time and horsebox fuel! I am so sad to be selling my beloved cottage though - I only wish I could move it! I will struggle to find such a big bedroom and bathroom with double windows, in another small cottage! I have been scrubbing the cottage for weeks for the brochure photographs and in the garden I scrubbed all the terracing on hands and knees and felt like the Chelsea Flower Show snipping round the lawn edges! I also cheated and bought lots of flowering plants to hide in the flower beds as they are no longer at their best! Indoors I have taken down hundreds of scattered photographs, reduced clutter, touched up paint and scrubbed everything within an inch of its life! All the HIPs documents have finally been completed after filling in much paperwork, so the cottage went on the market at the end of September with viewers lining up fast to look around!