Sarah & Hugo - We are Going In!!!

I know those of you who are following our journey will be on the edge of your seats, unable to concentrate on any other task, too desperate for a “did Hugo go in the water?” update from today... oooor maybe you all have lives of your own, I’m really not sure ???? but anyways, here it is...

I woke up with a good feeling today- I spend the day saying “we will go in the water” rather than “there’s no way we’ll get in the water”, but did it pay off?? We shall see.

Dressage was average/ not great- I was one groom down (how dare father have a life of his own!) and ended up a bit late getting to the collecting ring so had a fairly short warm up. Despite this he felt mega and I was happy to go straight in, however he was spooky and lacked concentration at times resulting in a fair 34.5. This isn’t a bad score, don’t get me wrong, but Hugo can quite easily score a 28 by just putting his ears forward because he’s a leggy “Eventing type” and because he’s pretty ????????‍♀️! However, we didn’t leave the arena or go the wrong way so that’s a success in my books!

The showjumping warm up was ... interesting! We had a long break between dressage and SJ so I walked the XC while my remaining super groom ( aka mum) stayed with Hugo who had his Haynet in the shade. I thought he would be a bit sleepy and lethargic when I got back on but boy was I wrong!! Every time a horse trotted past his did a sideways leap and/ or bronk so apologies to my fellow BE80 competitors!! He’s normally a dream in the warm up but I guess now he’s figuring out what’s going on his excitement took over!

Anyways, I digress - finally it was our turn and we headed for the arena. He was very brave trotting past the trade stands with his eyeballs popping out of his head but quickly focused and got down to business with no fuss. He was keen but manageable and we only went and got a clear round! Woohoo!!

It was cross country time! This week I swapped my signature Apt Cavalier Ltd burgundy set for an all white outfit, except for a nice new green hat cover to show my support for the incredible Jonty Evans Eventing ???? I thought of him and his family as I got on wearing my green and hoped they knew how much we are all willing him to get better!

Our XC warm up was ALOT calmer than the SJ which was pleasant and it wasn’t long until we were in the start box.

5..4..3..2..1..GO!

And off we went to number one - NO NAPPING THIS WEEK WOOHOO - and very quickly on to number two. Hats off to the course designers and the organisers at Hopetoun Horse Trials because it was a fabulous course with views to die for! As I was riding it I actually took a couple of moments to take in the view and think how blooming lucky we are to be allowed to ride at such amazing venues!

He was absolutely flying XC - like a seasoned pro he was, even though it was just his 3rd event. We were at the water in no time at all and THIS WAS IT, WE WERE GOING IN!!!!

Unfortunately we had a run out at the barrels which were about 4 or 5 strides before the water - I adopted the tactic of “just gallop at it and see what happens” which, in hind sight, was not the right approach. However, a quick regroup and he popped over it and as soon as his little hooves touched back down on the grass I KNEW he was going in! And in he went! No hesitation whatsoever at the actual water and I was ECSTATIC!!! I whooped and cheered and good boy-ed at the top of my lungs and the boy got massive pats! Happy days- we get to finish the course and earn our first official BE completion ????????????????????????

And finish we did, with smiles and pats and maybe even a little happy tear from me - It just shows you what patience and trust can achieve! Our only Slight “whoops” was that we finished with 3.6 TOO FAST penalties even with a stop ???? but crazily I wasn’t pushing him, I just let him go at the speed he was comfortable at so we may need to revisit this!

For those that have followed my journey so far- the conquering of the water has been a long time coming. We’ve worked so hard to get over our water problems and today is a land mark in Hugo’s Eventing career- I can tell you now, this boys going to be something special!!!

Well done again if you read the whole thing- I’ve had a celebratory wine so my ramblings are getting more ridiculous by the minute so I will conclude here! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend whatever you were doing!

Over and out ????

This week I went cross country in the AC White Performance Skin

#AptEventing
#WearGreenForJonty