Petplan Equine
Sponsored Rider - Amy

March and April Update

I want to start off by saying a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to write in about us to Petplan Equine for the Sponsorship application. I would truly love to thank everyone in person, but I cannot, so I do hope this makes up for it because with your help, we were chosen as one of seven to be a part of the Petplan Equine Sponsored Rider team and so far, it has been super. Their funding will be invaluable for our season and the kit that they have sent us, had me bouncing in my seat like a five year old on Christmas morning, when the postman delivered it! It is amazing to be sponsored by a company that have literally saved the life and career of my best friend, and I will be eternally grateful for that and make sure the world knows!

The last two to three months have been amazing! Lots of publicity for the horses and us, lots of fancy clothing and even a photo shoot! How very posh and such great fun.

So onto the more fun horsey update. I would love to say our season started with a bang, and whilst it did, not entirely in the most fantastic way. My young horse Billy, who is being aimed at his first affiliated BE event at the end of the season, had a super few outings at unaffiliated dressage. He is a Knabstrupper X Trakehner and around 17.1hh, yet he still wiped the board every time he went out and was showing some really super stuff!

Then ‘the bang’ happened. I decided to take Billy to some show jumping training which I thought was an excellent plan as it is my weakest phase, I thought I could get some practice in and show Billy some lovely fences! It lasted all of ten minutes, before he spooked at the rubber hitting the filler on a fence we 'attempted' to jump, spooked left, I went out the side door and alas, the next thing I knew I had a 17.1hh spotted beast stepping on my stomach.

One ground ambulance, one air ambulance (refusal to get in that as I am scared of flying!) lots of paramedics and panicking and I was on my way to hospital on a stretcher being given morphine and gas. They could have put me in the helicopter and I wouldn't have even known! So this was not the best start to my plans. Three days in jolly hospital saw me with fractured ribs, lacerated liver, damaged spleen and damaged lung! It was all very dramatic, and very frustrating, and I nearly did a runner when the surgeons told me I wasn't to get back on a horse for 16 weeks! Luckily I healed well so I was back on sooner than expected. I was very lucky and I count my lucky stars that it was nothing worse.

Anyway, we are back up and running now and I have officially started my 'actual' season off with a bang with my main man Ghost, my Knabstrupper Stallion, who has a vital role in my breeding programme, is Mr consistent and my best friend! We finished last season 0.2 penalties from qualifying for the Badminton Grassroots Championships, and that was gutting however, a blessing in disguise as after my accident we wouldn't have been ready for it anyway! So I'm hoping it was all practice for this year!

We started with a local unaffiliated run with the Riding Club Combined Training shortly after my 'recovery', Ghost was super, we scored the highest dressage and clear round and he won the biggest class. Good boy! Onto the Pony Club local unaffiliated ODE for a pre run, he was superb as usual (he has never not won an unaffiliated ODE. Pressure!). A great dressage of 23, even though I went wrong, and an excellent clear show jumping saw us go out with all to play for, but I jumped the wrong fence on the cross country so we were eliminated! He was fantastic and he technically won it in my eyes so good boy Ghost!

Right, ready for Bovington BE Horse Trails! Set in barracks, lots of tanks, amazing place! Not so many soldiers, a little disappointing, but another super dressage of 24 rocketed us straight into the lead (the next score was 31) and with only one fence down show jumping, we were in the lead. Ghost’s consistency on the cross country course secured him a well-earned win for his first BE event of the season, and a 2nd Badminton Grassroots Regional Ticket already! (we gained the 1st at Launceston Horse Trails last season) Bonus, the commentator had a good old chat about Petplan Equine on our way around, and Ghost looked super in his new cross country colours!

Next brings us to Bicton Horse Trails, where yet again he pulled a solid test out the bag to put us in joint 1st place! Unluckily or luckily, whichever way you see it, Ghost and I, and our joint 1st competitor, both had a fence down in the show jumping! There was all to play for in the cross country, with a big, up to height very windy track, which caught a lot of riders out! I may have made a slight detour in the woods (wrong entrance) but it was fine! If anything, it actually made us closer to the optimum time and we won! I am so overly proud of my little dressage stallion; he is such a wonderful horse!

Billy is starting up his work again and I am so excited for him. A small break whilst I was mending has done him so much good and has really matured and grown up, my trainer Sophie Port, who rode at advanced eventing level, tells me that he is the kind of horse she would have looked for to take her up the grades. It was great to hear but very scary!

At the end of April, I was given the opportunity to ride my friend’s gold medal winning advanced endurance Arab whilst she rode her young horse out on a 50km competitive endurance ride! Those horses are absolute machines and she trusted me with her pride and joy! It was fantastic fun, a 14.2hh Arab is a little different to my 16.1hh+ event horses, but I can honestly say that I enjoyed the experience! After the ride, I struggled to walk due to the four to five hours of constant trotting and cantering, in places and ground that I wouldn't even let Ghost look at, and it's safe to say I bow down to them. I do not think I could do it regularly! Endurance horses and riders are amazing!

Hopefully for my next update, I will have some lovely foal news as well as more competition results!