I’m not sure quite what possessed me to do it but when our teams captain put a call out on our riding club Facebook page for another 70cm rider for the Area 19 team showjumping in February, I volunteered.
I’ve been training with Becky for all the years I’ve been a CVRC member and made the most of our last camps at Chyverton in 2023, so I felt Prince and I should be able to do it together, but the closer it got the more nervous I became. 70cm jumps began to loom large in my head, reaching heights of 1m plus with courses that were impossible to remember! On top of that I’d never towed to Duchy, I didn’t know how to get there, I didn’t know where to park or warm up, we hadn’t jumped since November, I had nowhere and no time to practice – all the usual excuses...
Thankfully our riding club evening social took place the Thursday before where I got lots of lovely encouragement from fellow members and we had a really empowering talk from Andy Milne who runs Competition Equestrian Mindset (worth following on Facebook). His advice on positive visualisation was perfect timing in readiness for Sunday and really helped.
Plus it was a team commitment and I couldn’t let Andy, Tamsin and Celena down, and my good friend Pauline offered to come with me despite the VERY early start – our first rounds were all before 9am!
So up we got, loaded in the dark (much to Prince’s shock) and off we went to Duchy, which of course was pretty straightforward to find! We parked in the overflow carpark (nice and quiet at the top of the hill) and Pauline looked after Prince whilst I walked the course with everyone and had my hat and passport checked by the friendly Area 19 team. After warming up in we went, one by one – Celena on her young horse who’d never done anything like this before and was a star, Andy and Tamsin who each delivered a text book first round on their super steeds, and then Prince and I – clear over the first 9 jumps until I ran out of steam and forgot to ride forward, having the last two fences down. BUT we did it, I remembered which way to go, came out smiling and overall, it wasn’t too shabby!
The equally friendly steward returned my crop to me at that point – I hadn’t realised it wasn’t compliant with the rules, but he let me know really nicely.
After a little rest we all walked the course again which had gone up to 75cm – not just up but out too. However, the course hadn’t changed for the first 9 fences which is all I had to do having not gone clear in the first round – so although it was most definitely the biggest course I’ve ever tackled, we warmed up again and prepared to go in.
At this point Pauline handed me Celena’s acceptable jump baton and some stern advice to kick on - and I took it on board with Prince flying around clear! I was SOOOO excited. Even more so when Celena, Andy and Tamsin also did well, bringing our team to an amazing 3rd place overall.
I owe a massive thanks to Camel Valley Riding Club for giving us these opportunities, and to Becky and my fellow members for all their encouragement. I’d certainly encourage others to dig out their brave pants and have a go – it was a really friendly fun event and nowhere near as daunting as I thought it might be. A few of us have even formed a Team Quest dressage team now called Mixed Bag!
