October 2014
It’s always a risk waiting to write my blog until after an
event but on this occasion it was the right decision!!
Having sold Alfie in September there has been increased
pressure on Herbie to perform as I was feeling as though all my eggs were in
one basket! Having had a good start to the season on Herbie we had 3 shots at
the BE100 Badminton Grassroots Regional Finals. Our first two attempts didn’t
quite come together with just one fence down being the difference between
qualifying and not at our first attempt back in August. In the run up to our
last regional final mum and I agreed to put lots of work into him and with the
invaluable help from my trainer, Zoe Rymer, he has come on significantly. Our
regional final was Norton Disney, an event I haven’t been to before. The
weather was glorious and the going was great and Herbie rose to the occasion! He
performed a beautiful dressage test, had one unlucky fence down in the
showjumping – but jumped really nicely - and was clear cross country inside the
time. It turned out his dressage test was so nice that the one fence down made
no difference at all and left us in second place and with that all important
ticket to the Championships at Badminton next May.
Herbie’s only 6 years old and is still maturing so I wasn’t
sure if this was a year too early for him but having a goal like a regional
final is great to focus your mind and put the hours in and means you can
achieve real progress.
Having competed in the Championships at Badminton in the BE90
on Alfie in 2013 not only do I have a good idea of what is required from us but
I also know what an exciting experience the whole thing will be and it’s lovely
to be taking another home produced horse.
Now that the season is officially over it’s time to light the
fire, put on the woolly socks and hibernate for a couple of months! Herbie will
also get a very well-earned rest ready for us to come out fighting fit next
year!
Lucie
