Guy Opperman riding Lowlander - Crossing the finishing line at Hexham 6/6/09
Lowlander - known to everyone by his stable name of Sushi - has lots of people asking how he is... It is common knowledge that he was injured in a race at Hexham...well hes better now!!! It is so rare to have a leg fracture and get better, but we have done it
I rode him at Hexham on 6th June - and from going beautifully, it all went wrong at the downhill fence when he landed awkwardly and suffered a hairline fracture of his pastern. We didn't know this until later; despite this he still finished the race fifth out of 15 but would have won without the injury. Tim Reed, the trainer, and I were gutted with the result, but within minutes we discovered why he hadn't picked up and gone on and won his race... He was limping and we soon found out that he had a fractured off fore leg.
Since then he has been in a cast hobbling around and trying to get better. He has also had colic, which he only survived thanks to the efforts of the amazing Tim, and all manner of problems. But the final X ray looked really good
Just wanted to say that the Hexham vets, led by Roger Scott and Colin Mitchell have done an amazing job.
Sushi keeps me fit and sane and is my pride and joy. It will be a sad day when he retires, although my bank manager will be delighted!