Amy - Petplan Equine Ambassador

I wrote my last update full of excitement after a very successful Petplan Equine Area Festival Finals where Tico took Champion in the Medium Bronze and Reserve Champion in the Advanced Medium Bronze and therefore qualified at both levels for the Winter Championships at Hartpury. He really tried so hard for me despite being very green at Advanced Medium level. His debut test at this level was only June 2017 and by the end of July he won his Medium and Advanced Medium Area Festival first rounds and by the October he was through to the Winter Championships. I am very proud of him and grateful to him for the way he works with me.

Sadly, things this year have not been going our way. My horses had a virus that lingered far longer than expected. It started the week of the Winter Regionals so Jasper and I missed riding at Myerscough – such a shame as Jasper had been feeling on fire and we were excited to try and qualify for Hartpury. Little did we know at that point how long it would drag on. All horses are now well and in work but it did not leave me with enough time to get Tico fit for the Championships and so reluctantly we had to withdraw. I did end up a bit down about all of this (understatement of the century!) because it had taken the best part of a year of competitions to qualify. Trying to be sensible I compared it to the time around Tico’s kissing spines and the uncertainty surrounding it which gave me a bit of perspective. At least I knew the horses would all be ok, it was just a huge inconvenience!

Anyway, trying to put it all behind us and move forward I have started to focus on the competition season ahead. I wasn’t aiming to ride the Summer Regionals with Jasper but due to missing the Winters I would like to ride the Summers. It takes so long training the horses up the levels it seems such a shame to miss competing at the level he is ready for (Elementary). I know I am pretty hard on myself (and therefore the horses) with my target setting and so feel we are often competing at a level we’re not quite ready for, so it’s always nice to ride the level you feel the level you feel confident at as well. Hopefully, we can then get Jasper out to a few Medium level competitions and qualify for some Petplan Equine Area Festival first rounds. Because Tico flew up the levels last year he is playing catch up a little and therefore I do not feel it would be fair to aim him higher just yet. So this year I need to repeat what we achieved last year – no pressure seeing as he did such a great job! We would still love to get into our tails but it will be done well and properly rather than just to say we wore them. I hope it’s with Tico that I get to debut in them – that more than anything would mean the world to me!

In more exciting and upbeat news I was so happy to be offered the opportunity to work with Petplan Equine as an Ambassador again. They really have helped me and my horses get to where we are today. Tico literally would not be rideable without their support and for that we are forever grateful. I just feel so disappointed for Petplan also that we have not made the Winter Championships as Tico has such a fabulous story associated with him. We will work super hard this season to regain the qualification!

Also, in January John (my partner) and I went to the Friesian stallion show. I was not meant to be horse shopping, in fact I had managed to visit the yard and leave without purchasing a Friesian. However, that night and a few text messages later we cancelled our trip to Amsterdam the following day and we returned to the Friesian yard! And yes you guessed it… I bought a 3 year old Friesian Stallion called Yinthe! But his face though, he’s absolutely stunning. It was a genuine accident; I really didn’t mean to buy him. So my year ahead is going to be busy and I’m guessing there will be many a story to tell!!