Laura - Petplan Equine Ambassador

I am based in West Sussex and keep my three horses at the bottom of the beautiful South Downs. I am also a registered veterinary nurse and balance that with competing my horses as well as teaching others.

I started riding at a young age following in my mum’s footsteps so I thank her for the introduction into the equestrian world and for what I have achieved so far! I had my first pony at the age of eight – a basically unbroken 4 year old who; 22 years later I still have in my life.

I went to university to study Veterinary Nursing Science and qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2007. Life nowadays is carefully planned in keeping three horses healthy, happy and fit to compete. I have two horses which are affiliated – one in dressage and the other eventing.

They both have an exciting season ahead of them and this has now been made even better with the support of Petplan Equine.

About the horses

Nelson (Condie Nelson) a 14.2hh Welsh Cob is leading an easier life at the age of 26 competing now in low level dressage and eventing. I have owned him for the past 23 years. We have successfully competed in all disciplines but he now leads a quieter life although still loves going to parties every now and then.

Ransom (Bantry Parks Ransom) a 16hh TBx retired from eventing in 2012 after we had a rotational fall. We competed up to Novice level eventing and had numerous placings before his retirement. We have now pursued a career in pure dressage and have worked our way up from Elementary level to Advanced. He is 20 and I have owned him for the last 16 years.

Finley (Carramore Boy) a 17hh Irish TB ex racehorse. He is the newest addition to the team joining in 2013, sadly six weeks after owning him he did his suspensory ligament. After a lot of veterinary diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation, grit and determination he is back, fighting fit and enjoying his new eventing career, having had a successful season competing at 100cm in 2016.

Achievements and goals

My greatest achievements to date include my recent success of becoming Petplan Equine Ambassador. Ransom and I have competed at numerous regional and national championships, and each one makes me immensely proud knowing how far he has come in at his age. Finley’s greatest achievement was completing his BE season with a clean sheet cross country, including a double clear at his last event which lead to second place.

My goals for 2017 are to compete Ransom at PSG qualifying the Petplan Equine Area Festivals and hopefully the Championships. Finley’s goal is to compete at Novice, with a hope of a top ten placing and a double clear. Nelson is to continue to be as cheeky as ever!

2017 so far

January and February started with some serious pre season training with Finley which involved a lot of visits to our jump trainer Caroline Jeanne. She has played a huge roll in getting him to where we are today, and has completely changed my technique. Training involved arena show jumping and simulated cross country as well as gymnastic exercises; and two cross country sessions – one at Littleton Manor and the other at Tweseldown. Our show jumping has really improved over the winter months and has helped to prepare us for our Novice debut but the cross country is where Finley really comes into his own. He loves every minute and is naturally talented. I have never ridden a horse that feels so confident and amazing across the country.

After all our training we competed in our first British Eventing event of the year at the beginning of March. This was at Tweseldown racecourse. But no amount of training can prepare you for a loose horse galloping past you in the dressage! This sadly led to Finley being very upset and a rather disappointing dressage score but one that was not his fault. He made up for this in the jumping with just tapping one pole in the show jumping and a super clear in the time cross country. This is planned to be his only run at 100cm; and I was pleased with him none the less.

Ransom was also in careful preparation and training for his Petplan Equine Area Festival qualifications. I am hoping to compete both at Advanced Medium (which I have already qualified for the first round) and at PSG which will be new to us both.

On the 13th February we competed in the British Dressage Winter Regionals at Merrist Wood College. I was so pleased with his performance as he really tried his hardest; and this did reflect in his score. Sadly it seems he is no match for the younger, more extravagant horses; but saying this I feel I was marked fairly, and he certainly gets a 10/10 for commitment and obedience.

We have been working hard on our qualification towards PSG and have been competing at Belmoredean in the Advanced classes to collect our qualifying scores. Ransom’s lateral work and single flying changes have improved greatly and this reflects in his marks; and in training his three time and four times changes have been great; but sadly we are yet to ace them. This will be our point of focus in our training in the coming weeks as well as our canter pirouettes.

Nelson has also had an outing to Coombelands Equestrian for the arena eventing. He still gets incredibly excited about attending ‘parties’ and this showed with a fantastic speedy clear round to give us second place. He may be an old man but he still gives the youngsters a run for their money! You can find out more about my training and competitions here - https://lgeventinganddressage.com/blog.

My tip for getting your horse ready for the start of the season is to have a clear plan and training regime making sure this is started in plenty of time before your main competitions. Having an unfit horse will lead to early fatigue and possible injury. My regime starts four weeks prior to the start of the eventing season, although the horses are still ridden throughout the winter. This includes regular flatwork and jumping sessions; but has added in hill work and interval training. This is to increase my horse’s fitness and strength especially with the hind end to get those muscles working properly again. I also add in a lot more gymnastic exercises; such as bounces - again to help strengthen muscles but to get him reacting and thinking quicker.