The British Riding Club Dressage Championships took place over the last weekend in August 2025 in Lincoln – rather a trek from Cornwall! Nevertheless, our intrepid club members Kathy and Cortez went along together with our chair Janet and her dog Meg. Here’s what Kathy had to say of this amazing experience:
First and last my sincere thanks goes to Janet who not only undertook took the epic journey for Cortez and I, but kept me calm, bolstered my failing confidence and was a good friend to be with. She did all the running around and leg work whenever we had a query to sort out and made the whole event fun.
We travelled up on the Thursday and, after almost 8 hours of travelling, arrived at the venue and put Cortez in his stable where he very quickly settled. It was very quiet that first night and a little damp, so we put our table and gas burner in the stable next to his and cooked our supper in the dry. Janet stayed overnight with Meg in her lorry, and I took a taxi to a nearby inn. Janet was amazing, keeping a close eye on Cortez for me and making sure he had enough hay and water through the night.
I arrived back in time for breakfast together and then exercised a very bouncy Cortez throughout the day, which turned out to be a good thing as by mid-afternoon there were over 500 horses and ponies on site! By this time Cortez had settled well and was interested but not ‘silly’.
By now the weather was glorious and we ate our evening meal together outside the lorry, with a very nice bottle of wine before my taxi whisked me back to the inn.
Saturday was competition day for Cortez and I and we were on at 9.45am. I arrived at 7.00am, couldn’t face breakfast so prepared him, got tacked up and then just relaxed him around all the horses and ponies that were out competing in different arenas. There were 7 in all, side by side and top to tail – I had never seen so many dressage tests being ridden at the same time in one place! Cortez was a cool dude but nicely forward and I was fine.
Then it was time to ride our test in front of the judge.
We entered the arena, up the centre line and suddenly I could not breathe - I can only liken it to how I imagine stage fright gets you! All my training with Becky went out of the window and I vacillated between riding Cortez and riding the course - I don’t think I managed to do both simultaneously! Cortez was perfect when I asked him properly but, in those moments I was considering our next movement, so was he!
I’m afraid we didn’t cover ourselves in glory and in retrospect we would have done much better if I had ‘stuck to the riding plan’. However, the judge’s comment was very kind and described Cortez as lovely and us both as a ‘smart combination with lots more to come’. She clearly didn’t have her long-distance specs on to see how old we are!
We weren’t travelling home until the following day so, once Cortez was settle back into his stable, Janet, Meg and I enjoyed everything else the event had to offer. It really was quite something to behold.
I must thank the club for picking up our stable fees for this event but especially Janet, without whom it would have been a very different experience.
Would I do it again if I fluked a qualification? You bet, it was a fantastic experience!
Our fellow club members were so supportive both before we went and during the event, keeping in touch with both Janet and I, checking to see how we were getting on – and those on my yard too. Cortez and I were welcomed back to the yard on Monday morning as though we had competed at the Olympics. It’s a memory that will stay with me, hopefully in my dotage.
