Support crew

What a fab day at the BRC Arena Eventing Championships in Aston Le Walls. I wasn’t sure how the day was going to go when I woke up to snow and ice!! Turned up at the yard to find the lock on the gate frozen and my lorry door frozen.

But I needn’t have worried, by the time we got onto the main roads it was smooth sailing all the way.

We arrived in time to watch the first two members of the team do their rounds. Vicky and Becca were awesome.

Then it was time for Samantha and Halo to go in. And in typical eventer-style, the heavens opened. They absolutely stormed round!

Big smiles all round. And the team came 15th.

Now snuggled up in the Buddymobile. Belly full of soup. Wine in hand. Little heater packing out some heat. What a good day.

Today has made me even more determined to get Buddy to another Championships. And goes to show that you can get as much from being the support crew as you can from being the rider.

The Champs

I felt this needed its own post. There’s a lot to cover, so brace yourself. It could be a long one. I am so proud of Buddy. It’s the furthest we’ve travelled. Our first stay away competition. And my god it was a big one!

I’ve been to big horse shows before. Hell I grew up near Hickstead and that’s pretty big. But I hadn’t expected it to be as big as it was. Our first NAF Five Star British Riding Club Championships was very special indeed.

We had a long wait as we weren’t jumping till 3:45pm in the first round. But that didn’t mean I had an easy day. I walked backwards and forwards trying to see all the other Carleton RC members in action. I also did a stint stewarding one of the dressage rings. Which turned into two rings as there was a no-show for thier steward. Good job I’m used to multi-tasking and love a clipboard. Two clipboards and I was in heaven!!

Finally it was our time. Watching everyone else do so brilliantly, I really wanted to do well. More than anything, I just didn’t want us to embarrass the club.

Buddy warmed in beautiful. However, the collecting ring was heaving and he got rather tense. As did I. Quick pep-talk and we settled. He had ants in his pants and wanted to get on with it. And when we entered the ring, he did. He stormed round the course, hardly looking at anything. Sadly we had 4 poles. But that’s OK. He did what I asked of him and it was a very buzzy atmosphere. With 5 rings running constantly and an awful lot to look at!

Then it was onto Round 2. Now when I qualified, it was run over the same course. As this was the Champs, it was a different course in a different ring. That ring was running early (whereas my first round was running late), meaning we didn’t have long to wait before it was our turn again.

The downside to walking both courses together was that I’d spent so long visualising how I was going to ride the first course, I’d forgotten how I’d walked the second course. As a result, it didn’t had the flow I wanted. And sadly we were eliminated. The commentator made a comment about a sad end to my day. Not a bit of it!! I was thrilled with the day as I wasn’t totally sure if I’d actually get Buddy in the ring!

I must have been the happiest person after getting eliminated.

Once more, my team mates did amazingly and our team came home with 7th place out of 22. So not only did we compete at our first Championships, we came home with a placing!

Next year, we will be better.… I’ve already said I want to do it again. Thank you for all the messages of support. It means so much.

Buddy is tucked up in bed. And so I am. We will both sleep well tonight.

Finalists

We’ve arrived in Lincoln for the Champs. Really good journey here earlier. Buddy travelled like a dream. I was a bit worried that he wasn’t eating his haynet till we arrived and I saw he’d eaten the back of it.

He wasn’t keen on the stable as he walked in and straight back out. He liked it considerably more when he realised there was grass in it. Actual green grass too!! A rare sight for us Norfolk folks.

Took him for a leg stretch before dinner. He was absolutely brilliant with the heavy traffic going past on the bypass. Not so sure about the footballers on the pitch. Though he did show some rather nice passage. 😆

Walked both courses for tomorrow. They look OK. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.

Now tucked up in my little lorry for the night. Everyone is being so supportive and lovely. It’s great to be part of a team. Oh and we’ve got a medal for getting here. A proper one too. What a lovely touch.