Talking Nonsense - Eventing Is Back
Let me begin this weeks column with those three little words every girl longs to hear... EVENTING IS BACK!!
It's not the same as before aka. you won't be walking the XC course with your pals, you won't be stalking Ben Hobday's lorry and you can kiss goodbye to your frillies BUT it is back. British Eventing has introduced us to the "new normal" and the general consensus I took from last weekend's events were that it's really not so bad.
Now if I wasn't so stingy I could have watched all of the action from Barbury on Horse and Country TV but as it is, I am far too tight to pay for a monthly subscription, so had to make do with everyone's event reports on Instagram and Facebook, which by the way, made for excellent reading.
This weekend brings with it the running of Warwick Hall in Cumbria, which is probably the closest event to us at the moment (no, Scotland is STILL not eventing or running any equine competitions), but I'm not all too sad that I won't be attending. Don't get me wrong, Warwick Hall is a lovely event; the ground is sandy so never too hard, the XC is different every time and everything is very close together so no hiking through the black abyss to get to the XC start, it's just one of those events that we always seem to have a "meh" time at.
Nothing dramatic happens- I've never fallen off (oh dear lord what have I done?! I'm sure to stack it the next time I'm there) or had a complete disaster but the day never seems to go quite right, whether it be a rubbish dressage score, poles flying or time faults on the XC which is UNHEARD OF at BE100 for the Woodster. In addition to that, the weather just makes it up as it goes along; there are two things that are absolutely guaranteed when you go to Warwick and that is that you will get drenched at some point, and you will also come home with sunburn.
2019 was my best ever day at Warwick Hall but STILL it was eventful. Let me paint a picture for you: it's first thing in the morning and I'm plaiting Woody's unmanageable and uncooperative mane when I get a phone call from my father who's heading to the stables with the lorry. It's making a disastrously awful noise and isn't going any further, so recon I can kiss my entry fee goodbye and might as well stop plaiting now. Luckily, our yard owner's daughter is in the same section and they have space in their lorry for us, whoopee!! So now everyone's running around like a gaggle of headless chickens, trying to get the horses, dogs and children ready while someone picks up my dad. I have my tack with me so my final words to him on the phone are "just remember the passport, we can buy anything else". Thankfully he arrives with passport (and the picnic, as if he's going to forget that!) in hand and we are all loaded and heading to Warwick with plenty of time to spare.
Woods isn't used to travelling in a big lorry and comes out with poo all over his bum and I mean ALL OVER it so that needs washed again. I then realise I forgot to bring a t-shirt and don't want to get my show gear dirty or wet quiet yet (remember the weather issues) so end up boiling to death (bit dramatic maybe) in my Padded Jacket because all I have underneath is an old jumper which was purchase pre-Apt Cavalier from one of our competitors, so I can't exactly stride around with that on can I?
I get to the secretaries tent and they tell me my six-month flu jab is overdue, which means no one in the lorry can compete!! Now I am panicking because they have given us a lift out the goodness of their hearts and I have f*cked up their daughters first BE100 run. But alas, panic over, the passport-checker just isn't that good at maths, it's still in date...
While trotting around the outside of the dressage arena and an actual fly flies into my actual eye and I am temporarily blinded in one eye. I stop behind the judge's car and my dad tries to get it out but between my contact lenses, Woody moving and my Dad's USELESS sausage fingers my eye is now bloodshot from the poking and we conclude the fly must stay in there for the test. The test is poor, to say the least (39.3 which is my worst test at BE ever!) and I come out to be told the rest of the section had a temporary panic because I did my give and retake of the rein in the wrong place. Ironically, this was the best mark I got throughout the whole test which proves that dressage judges don't always pay that much attention, so don't be disheartened by high scores you think you didn't deserve.
We all split up to walk the XC course and everyone gets wet (obviously), however, it seems that my luck is changing because we only went and got a bloody CLEAR ROUND in the SJ which I have never managed at Warwick before, it's been two poles down on every visit previously. Cross country is a BLAST and we are both loving it but I do almost die when he takes AT LEAST a stride out into the widest box on the course and has to twist his back end half-way over it to ensure all four legs land on the other side. I also couldn't resist this photo because Woods looks so cute but obviously, my face is ridiculous as usual - I am just about to yell "GOOD BOY" I am sure of it.
Thankfully, the disasters are over and we come home with two happy riders (both with frillies), two happy and sound horses and seven people happily stuffing their faces with two picnics that are fit for a king!
You may well remember that on a recent IG LIVE I announced that I wouldn't be eventing this season and was instead going to register with British Dressage but as I'm writing this I've realised/remembered just how amazing a day out eventing is. Maybe my "I'm not going to event in 2020" statement might get retracted before the end of the season after all ... brb, off to draft a fitness schedule.
Anyway, that's enough nonsense from me, let's get back to business.
Sarah x
