Petplan Equine
Sponsored Rider - Juliette

March and April Update

I am an equine vet based in Hertfordshire, and I juggle my eventing with a demanding full-time job. Life is hectic! I started riding at a local riding school at the age of 10, and throughout my teenage years I worked in exchange for rides/lessons and competed at unaffiliated show jumping on riding school ponies and borrowed horses whenever I could.

After University, I purchased my first horse, Jess, who has got me to where I am now! I have been competing with British Eventing since 2010 with Jess, and together we have managed to reach BE novice level. This season will see my first events with my younger horse Boodles. On a daily basis I undertake all the day-to-day care of the horses myself and ride both horses most days during the eventing season. Their work is carefully planned so that I can ensure they are more than fit enough to compete. It can be a challenge to fit it all in when my job is so busy. I feel very lucky to have been chosen for sponsorship by Petplan Equine and hope the horses and I can rise to the occasion!

Meet the horses:

Firstly Jess (Guess Again) is a 19yo cob cross mare. We have been together 9 years now, purchased as an all-round riding horse, Jess was previously used in an agricultural college but proved too sharp and regularly dropped any novices! When I first tried her, she refused a 6inch cross pole... I saw a challenge! At 14.3hh she is small but has proved to be very brave and athletic. Neither of us had evented before but when I realised how brilliant she was at cross country, we affiliated with British Eventing and shared/borrowed transport to be able to compete. She has been amazingly consistent and is rarely outside the top 10. She has given me immense amounts of experience and confidence, enabling me to take on my second horse.

Secondly, Boodles (Bubba Gump) is a 15.3hh rising 8yo gelding by Forrest Gump. I acquired Boodles as a 'project' 18 months ago. He completed a BE90 in 2012; however, since then he had tried life as a dressage horse and unfortunately became quite naughty, bucking riders off. I have given him time and a change of lifestyle and he is progressing well so far. We have been successfully competing at unaffiliated dressage, show jumping and hunter trials, and we plan to start eventing this summer.

So far this season both horses have been going well. In March I attended a BE training day with Boodles (cross country training with Tina Ure at Ely Eventing Centre) and he was on very good form and I was delighted with his enthusiasm. We jumped a good range of BE90/100 fences including our first trakehner. The following day we posted a clear round at the Isleham hunter trials to finish 7th. In April I took Boodles to a show jumping schooling session and competed in an unaffiliated competition at Patchetts EC, Watford, where we had one clear round followed by a single pole down. He is still a little green but is growing in confidence with his jumping all the time. Boodles finished April by returning to Isleham for an unaffiliated one day event which unfortunately highlighted his greenness cross country as, after a promising 33 dressage, we had an elimination cross country at the second water complex, a roll-top on a ramp down into water. He was jumping well until that point, but more training beckons now as we get ready for our annual training camp at Somerford Park in Cheshire next month.

Jess has had two outings in April, both at Poplar Park, Woodbridge in Suffolk. On Good Friday she jumped a lovely clear around the unaffiliated 1m hunter trial to finish 3rd, we then returned to Poplar Park two weeks later for the unaffiliated ODE over the 1.10m course. She jumped an amazing double clear with possibly our best ever round of show jumping, however she can headshake periodically and this affected our dressage score, leaving us in 4th place.