March
The season is now well and truly underway and we’re back living on the edge! Tweseldown provided a good start, although I have to say I was a little taken aback by the scale of the first southern event. Compared to the early ones such as Kirriemuir up north – where slightly furry wild horses are to be expected, and some of the riding is so terrifying you know your own scary moment will still be outdone – it was different. Everyone’s horses looked worryingly tame and professional, already, so when Woody really let rip with his sense of humour in the show-jumping (albeit luckily resulting in a clear round) my slightly embarrassed chuckle was forced to retreat asap as I exited the ring to a sea of what looked like pained and pitying faces…
Despite my feeling slightly overwhelmed, the boys in fact all produced very good results, with Sparkle and Fred jumping double clears to finish 4th and 6th in the PN and Open PN respectively, and Miss Perky slightly marring her 26 Dressage to finish 10th. Zul and Woody just went slowly cross-country, so no rosettes for them, but overall it was a very promising start to the season.
A week later we trucked into more familiar territory to one of my favourite events – Lincoln. Although it is normally bitterly cold, everything is nice and flat and the cross-country always requires some bold riding – which I think helps get you into the right mode at this stage in the season. Certainly, it provided a great run for both of the big boys, and more importantly highlighted a bit problem with Zul, which was ideal; we had a run out at fence 4, which comprised of a carrot box before a sharp turn with trees to a corner – which he had his head in the air for. So it was a useful run even if a little frustrating, and I was somewhat relieved (although sorry for her of course) to see that the same fence had caught out Piggy and her WEG partner Jakata, so at least we were in good company!
Fred struggled a little with his Novice sadly, so Ian has decided that he should find a less demanding career. It’s a great shame as he is such lovely horse to ride and have around, but I’m sure whoever takes him on will have a lot of fun doing things at a lower level.
Away from the competition front line, I had an interesting couple of days pretending to be a model…! Country Life wanted me to be one of their girls of the month – which I must admit I found a little embarrassing – but the photoshoot turned out to be quite a funny experience in fact; a real novelty having a make-up artist, and a little wearing trying to smile and ‘enjoy the moment’ as Sparkle threatened to trample me and long dress in the middle of the ‘enchanted wood.’ Still, the photographer was great and they tactfully chose to use a picture where you can’t actually see my face, so one might imagine that I actually look ok! Another highlight of the month was being invited by Devoucoux to join Didier at the French Club de Commerce evening, at Raymond Blanc’s incredible ‘maison’ – le Manoir. Not only did I get the opportunity to talk to the culinary legend himself – which was way beyond my expectations – but the six course meal we had, accompanied by the most incredible selection of ‘Mum’ champagne and wine, was quite exquisite. It was an absolute honour to represent Devoucoux, and I am very much looking forward to my next role of duty!
