DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIP

To qualify or not to qualify that is the Question ?

The phone rang, it was Michelle – “do you want the good news or the bad first ?”  “Ok, go for the bad” says I.  “You are the only one who wants to do the dressage qualifier” !  “Oh, well I may as well show my face and fly the flag for the Club”. 

So undaunted by the prospect of me and Spice being CVRC’s team and having opted to do the Novice 20 (couldn’t do a prelim test because I was Billy No Mates) and also the harder Riding Test because I had done it before, I started to practice, ably assisted by Sophie – Thanks !  The Cornish summer prevailed and for those that dont know St. Leonard’s it is about a millimetre above the water table !  So the qualifier was postponed until August and hopefully a dry day.  Well the morning was dry and lady luck was obviously on my side because I didn’t get wet whilst on board, a great many others did later.  The Novice test went well, although we have done better, a respectable 64.5% and 7^th out of 15 or so.  Tiredness started overtaking me before the Riding Test, 6am start after a 40^th birthday party into the small hours – not a good idea, but you’re only young once aren’t you ?  So when the time came to do the test I was past caring, what would be would be ?  So how shocked was I when on checking the scores on the doors to see that Debbie Randall from Holsworthy and I are both on a score of 136 way ahead of all the others ??  On countback she claimed the first rosette and I the second plus the coveted qualification for the National Championships.

Then started my dilemma, the Championships were on Saturday 5^th September at Lincoln County Showground, I was booked onto the 1.45pm train to Reading for my exams on Sunday 6^th September; could I go, should I go, it’s a long bl**dy way for six minutes, what about revision ?  But I may never qualify again and our riders went out to Hong Kong for three eight minute tests !! 

So throwing caution to the wind I decided we should go.  Sue Trudgeon and Max, had also qualified for the Prelim Finals, albeit for St. Austell Bay EC (boo hiss) and we asked another friend of mine, also called Sue and yes it did get a tad confusing at times with two Sues, to chauffeur us there and back again.  Well the journey up was ten hours long, we queued from Helland to Birmingham with a little bit of rain to keep us company just for good measure.  I have decided that in the next life I am going to be in charge of one of those electronic overhead signs, you know the ones that advise you to be cautious because of spray and queues ahead when you’re nose to tail doing twenty miles an hour !!  Anyway I digress, we checked in, flu vacs all ok, settled the horses down in their temporary stables for the night, opened the bottles of wine, set up camp and got some well deserved food then sleep.

Morning came all too soon and the nerves started to kick in, so Sue and I took the horses out for a little wander after breakfast, just managed to persuade them that they didn’t want to gallop madly and race each other along the flat expanse of grass that was stretched out before us, but only just, as it was all very exciting.  By now the mud was ankle deep so as I cleaned my tack in readiness I formulated a plan, plait her and stud her up in the stable then walk her down to the lorry for us both to get dressed properly.  The plan worked a treat and as Sue wiped the mud from my long boots after climbing on board you would never have known that all around us lay six inches of mud !  I found my arena and the warm up area, got tack and person checked – out came the earrings, no jewellery allowed or whips, whoops, knew about the spurs, but no whip either.  I needn’t have worried though as she was very responsive to my leg aids, just a shame about the brakes.  All too soon it was my turn.  Thinking “well its now or never with not a gondolier in sight” in we trotted and said g’day to the writer.  Whilst waiting for the dreaded bell I prodded Spice in the neck and told her that if she didn’t do as I asked for the next six minutes I was going to leave her there !!  True to form she duly did everything where and when I asked her and I came out feeling well chuffed that we’d gone and given it our best shot.  I said all along that I didn’t want to go up there and come dog last and we certainly didn’t do that by any means, 18^th out of 31 in the arena with 63.5%.

Sue wasn’t on till a couple of hours later, but she followed my lead and got them both dressed at the lorry.  Only trouble was that after she got on there were several continuous outbursts of rain, one of which dissolved her number.  At this point Sue declared that she wasn’t going into her arena until the sun shone, a bit optimistic I thought, but she obviously has friends in very high places because as she entered at A the clouds parted and the sun shone !  Max was nearly on his best behaviour and only spooked twice at the rather large flower pots with horse eating plants in them at either side of A.  A very tidy performance that earned them 63.75% and 8^th out of 30 in their arena, well done.

Then it was shopping and eating time.  Luckily there weren’t too many shops to browse so didn’t spend oodles of cash, phew.  As the juniors started to enter the site we reluctantly mucked out, packed and then ordered the tractor to tow the lorry out.  Sue and I walked the horses to the hardstanding for loading and hoped that they both wanted to go home as much as we did.  They obviously did as they both walked up the ramp at first ask.

Thankfully the journey home was in better weather, think I saw a round shiny disc in the sky once or twice before darkness drew down.  We finally landed back at the yard at 1am, unpacked, offloaded and said our cheerios.  Spice had her tea, got rugged up and sent off out in her field with a “thank you and see you in six days” as she trotted off into the distance to find her mate, obviously none the worse for wear after our little excursion across the Tamar.

Yes, it was a bl**dy long way, but no I wouldn’t be put off doing it again.  It was a great experience, one which would have been all the better for a little less of the wet stuff, but hey you cant have it all ?

HORSE TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS