Juliette - Petplan Equine Ambassador

It is important to have an aim or target for the season to get you motivated and at the beginning of 2018 I tentatively set out to complete a BE105 with Boodles by the end of the season (not that I told him that!) It was a difficult winter for us all (long, frozen and impossible to get out for any training) and I realised I faced an uphill struggle.

We've had many difficult times in the showjumping arena and I had been starting to believe we would never crack this phase. However at Buckminster BE100 something finally clicked and we pulled out a double clear! Our first ever at this level! It is also our last, to date, but I'm glad we've proved we can do it! With a fabulous fifth place under our belt we headed into our summer break with a somewhat elevated level of confidence.

I had Wellington in my sights at the end of August. This was a new venue for both of us and initially I had hoped we might be ready for the 105 by this time. This is one of the few venues holding a BE105 class. As things turned out, after Aston Le Walls in early August I felt we were not yet ready to try a step up. We had a very wet day at Aston and Boodles had a panic attack in the lorry when a ferocious hailstorm hit. Needless to say we could not recreate the elusive double clear in the show jumping and we had a couple of refusals in the warm up and another during our round. Confidence is key for Boodles and we had sadly lost some that day. We went to Wellington for the BE100 though and I was pleased to have made the trip – it is a lovely venue and course! Our show jumping was much more confident again, however we rolled a few poles, mainly due to a lack of straightness which is another ongoing struggle. He produced another confident, fast and clear cross country ride around a bold and fairly technical course – he is becoming well established at this level at least!

Frickley Park in September was a weekend away for us all, so a bit of an adventure! It was a chance for a catch up with friends, a lorry party, and with several of us competing over the weekend we had a great time! This was another new venue for us both. I had hoped to be ready for their 105 class but we were still not quite there, so we contested the BE100 on the Saturday. After walking the course on Friday night I was glad we were only in the 100! It was quite an imposing course and as it turns out it rained so hard during my cross country I could barely see the next fence! The extreme weather added to the drama of the day; our show jumping round was marred only by us sliding into the second fence, but with an amazing, bold and clear cross country we finished 10th! Not bad considering it was so wet I could hardly breathe, let alone see the fences!

The time had come. We had one last opportunity to reach our goal. I entered the 105 at Horseheath in October – an added fixture to the BE calendar and the first time they had run a 105. I immediately felt sick – were we actually ready or was it a ridiculous idea?! We have competed well at Horseheath before, it is our most local venue and was the scene of our first BE100 last year. We had to give it a go.

I had convinced myself we would be fine, he was show jumping well and had by this time had competed in several BS Discovery classes without a meltdown in confidence. I hadn't really been worried about the cross country until I walked the course and found the two skinny brushes!

This was going to be a real challenge for us! Boodles however was feeling amazing (read: fresh). He had become so fit by this time in the season the dressage was a bit frantic and we set off to show jumping with fairly low expectations. He warmed up feeling awesome (in a fly-bucking, slightly wild, enthusiasm overflowing sort of way). Once in the ring our round started well, a nice rhythm, and at last he was listening. A shuffle into fence 5 and we stopped. A bit unexpected at this stage, but we popped over second time, finishing over the treble but rolling 2 of the three elements. Not bad. We have definitely been worse. Cross country loomed... but I need not have worried! Boodles set off well and hadn't seemed to notice the extra 5cm at all. We had a minor blip (rider error!) at the water – jumping a meaty looking log in the water but running out of oomph for a stop at the boat coming out. However the skinny brushes and enormous tables on course were no problem for the new improved Boodles, and I have very high hopes for next season – onwards and upwards for 2019!

I am delighted to introduce a new team member for 2019!

This lovely filly is Pandora (Bazaars Que Sera). She is seven months old, by Bazaars Exclusive (Welton Crackerjack) out of HFS Luani (by Touchdown). Her great grandad is Cruising. Some amazing bloodlines! She is a bold and friendly foal and I look forward to sharing our progress!