All I want for Christmas...

I know it's hard to believe, but every now and again I do occasionally want the odd thing for Christmas that doesn't involve horses in the slightest. It's the horse things that tend to be the most exciting however, because who wants to hear about that DVD I wouldn't mind watching along with 13,456,239 other people in the country on Christmas day? I often ask for something like a new hat or new boots and chaps with not a lot else, but after a significantly more horse-filled year than the couple before it, I've found my list has grown quite substantially. My parents, brother and close friends literally live in fear.

Half Chaps

I am far too embarrassed by the state of my chaps to display them on here, but needless to say I strongly suspect they will soon get up and walk out the door themselves, or just fall apart at the sight of another horse. I've had them for a good four years and although I don't ride all that often (once a week most of the time), it's still often enough for them to be covered in all kinds of interesting things (mainly thanks to Magic). My bigger-than-average calves limit me and I find it hard to get a pair that fits well, which makes me even more reluctant to go chap shopping, but in a perfect world I would wake up on Christmas morning to find a brand spanking new pair that fit just right (and somehow make the calves look a little smaller too, or is that just being greedy?).

Short riding boots

Old school I know, but I literally can't think of anything comfier to ride in than a pair of these with half chaps. When I first started riding it was all the rage to wear just jodhpur boots, but having seen the state of the inside of my chaps, I can't imagine how my leg took the wear and tear back then! Then things progressed onto the long riding boot, but since getting back into these bad boys I only have dim and distant memories of how restrictive long riding boots really are. My ankle can flex and turn! My giant calves aren't stuffed into boots that cut off blood supply to my feet!

Muffler

Because my long hair can only keep my ears so warm. Because it's Joules, and Joules is awesome. But mostly because it's called a muffler - nothing that is called a muffler can be considered a bad present.

Personalised phone case

This has been on my shopping list for months now, and I still haven't gotten around to buying it. I love my iPhone, I can't remember what I did without it. I also love Magic (even more than my phone, incidentally). Why wouldn't I want to combine the two?
(this is from a website a friend recommended to me, Bags Of Love. I will be ordering this case very soon, I WILL)

 Magazine subscription

Okay, so this is a bit of a cheat, as I already subscribe to this magazine, but renewing this subscription would made me very, very happy. And to be fair, this is probably the one thing off this incredibly ambitious list that I will receive. And it will make me very, very happy. I like to buy Horse and Hound every week but find that I end up flicking through the bits I'm not very interested in (cough, racing), whereas I read Your Horse cover to cover and enjoy every one. In fact, if Your Horse wants to start going fortnightly, that'd be great thanks...

Magic

There was literally no way on this earth I was going to write a Christmas list without putting Magic on it. Just in case Father Christmas is reading, you know. I might be in my twenties but asking for a pony for Christmas will never get old.

Blog: Famous horses I'd love to ride

The title is pretty self-explanatory, and to be honest, this list could be exhaustive if I really let it, but I've somehow managed to limit myself to four horses, which is nothing short of incredible considering the amount of time I spent googling this, trying to narrow it down!

1. Valegro

Seriously - just look at that extended trot! I think it'd be harder to come up with more reasons as to why you shouldn't want to ride him rather than why you would. I suppose one of the reasons (and this appeals to my inner pony kid) is that he is literally one of the best looking horses on the planet. Look at that elegant head, that muscular neck! Those floating hocks and well-rounded quarters! I bet he is an absolute drink on a stick to sit on, presuming of course that you can get anywhere near him with his millions of pounds price tag. And if you really did need any convincing, then Charlotte could just whip out her two Olympic gold medals and wave them in your face. Any horse that can do that is worthy of appearing on a list like this, quite frankly.

2. Star Appeal

Now I've made no secret of the fact that Mary King is my equestrian idol, and have also documented how I suddenly became a starstruck twelve year old girl all over again upon meeting her at Burghley (I'm not linking to the entry; it was embarrassing enough admitting it the first time around), so it was pretty safe to assume that I'd pick one of her horses in this list somewhere. I had one of her books as a teenager and was pretty smitten on both King William and Star Appeal, but Apple just about edges it for me. I'm a sucker for a good looking bay, particularly one that can win Badminton, but the story that really sells it to me is the one about him breaking his leg and having to stand in a cast for six weeks, and then on the day that he was due to have it off and be allowed to put weight on it, they got back to his box to find he'd snapped his ties and was rolling around in his stable, broken leg be damned...now that is my kind of horse! I would have chosen Imperial Cavalier, particularly after seeing his very amusing staring session at a giant horse poster he'd already seen three times at Your Horse Live, but that would be far too obvious after Valegro, so Apple it is.

3. Theodore O'Connor

I have to confess that I didn't know much about Teddy until later on in his career, only a year or so before he had his tragic accident that led to him being put down, but from the second I found out that a cheeky and incredibly talented 14.2hh chestnut gelding was being aimed at the Olympics and four star events, I fell in love. I am much more of a pony girl than a horse woman, and would take a nippy little 14.2hh over a huge striding 16.2hh horse any day (Valegro the obvious exception), and that is exactly what Teddy always seemed to be. Who knows how far he could have gotten if his life hadn't been cut short in such an unfortunate way? He was definitely the little pony with the heart of a lion.

4. Milton

I used to have posters of Milton all over my bedroom wall when I first became interested in horses, despite him having been retired for about two or three years by then, and my friend was so mad on him that I remember even buying her a Milton video from the Robinson's catalogue for Christmas one year. Even better, I believe she still owns it! She was always into her big greys, whereas I was cheeky chestnut or bay ponies, but Milton had such a presence about him that is rarely equalled. It takes a special kind of horse to become the first horse outside of horse racing to win £1 million in prize money, and I can only imagine what it felt like to point a horse of his calibre at a jump.

Your Horse Live 2012

So having settled into my new role at work and finally recovered from the post Your Horse Live hangover (of the alcohol-free variety - really could've done without driving across half the country until eight last night and then being up for work again this morning!), I thought I had better dust off the cobwebs, kick out the tumbleweed and show my slightly neglected blog some love by updating about the YHL12 experience!

We were slightly late arriving to the event (well, late by my standards anyway) after a 3.45am fire alarm at the hotel we stayed in that involved standing in pyjamas in a car park that was definitely below freezing for whoever knows how long! Trying to find our way to car park 2 was a bit of a pain (and may have involved me taking the steep corner into the car park in fifth gear a little too fast and almost ending up with a steward in the car with us - badly signposted is all I will say!), and it was a bit of a trek to the exhibition centre itself, but in fairness there was a courtesy coach laid on for everybody who didn't fancy a brisk morning walk through the frosty, muddy fields - thank God for my Burghley purchase of Dublin country boots!


The food was actually pretty reasonably priced, much to our amazement, and seeing as the crowds were still pouring in, we decided to watch the first demo of the day before too many more people arrived, which was Mary King. She'd brought Imperial Cavalier (Archie) with her, and whilst I am a staunch pony lover, I have to admit that Archie is one equine I'd leave my beloved ponies for! Her demo was focusing mainly on cross country, and as she warmed up she talked about her London 2012 experiences, a bit about Archie and then explained how she warmed up. She went through some exercises that were useful if slightly mystifying in terms of riding my beloved geriatric pony (I understand the principles of lengthening and shortening strides and can do it, but between jumps Magic is a law unto herself - however many strides Magic wants to do, Magic does!). She also covered jumping ditches and how to give a younger horse experience with these and water, and also explained about jumping skinnies, and even demonstrating how to practise all of these even without the use of a full cross country course. If I owned Magic and had all the time in the world, I would be putting these exercises to use right now!

(Apologies if that video isn't showing the right way up on anybody else's screens - it seems to be okay on mine!)

After Mary King, we decided to head out and have a look at the stalls. Having gone to the event with a non-horsey friend, I knew it wouldn't be quite like the shopping extravaganza of Burghley (where my mother, despite not being horsey, has always had exposure to the sport mainly thanks to her nagging daughter), and besides - I'd spent all my money at Burghley! All I was really on the hunt for was some new half chaps, perhaps some ear warmers and a quick peruse of the Joules stand (because it would be rude not to). What we found was some absolutely phenomenal crowds that it was almost impossible to walk through! Not owning a horse (yet...) made at least half of the stands pointless to visit - I have rider's insurance, Magic owns many rugs, I have no need of draw reins in my life - but it was still fascinating to look around many of them there.

We had intended to see Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin's lunchtime demo, but when we realised the queue had stretched right out of one of the buildings and into another, we opted to have something to eat instead and go to the later demo! Once we'd finished eating, we went for another look round and found ourselves in the rare breed's village, which my friend found fascinating to be up close to horses that weren't raving lunatics like Magic.

We went to see Ben Maher's demo after this, which involved a wait of about half an hour, but it was worth it to get front row seats. I have never really known what I've thought about Ben Maher as a person (I was convinced many years ago that Mary King was exactly as she is), but during his demo I found him amusing, personable and good at explaining certain things. He was on a mare that he doesn't normally ride, which actually made it more interesting to watch as it wasn't all picture perfect, and whilst he gave the mare breathers he took questions from the crowd and demonstrated exercises for them to try in order to help them. Magic is a former showjumper, and so a lot of what he said made a lot of sense, and if I get the chance to suggest some of the exercises he showed us in our next jumping lesson I definitely will.

After Ben Maher's demo, we knew we had a bit of time to kill before Carl and Charlotte's next go, so we went for another wander, in which I discovered that it doesn't matter what dress size I am, my calves will always be disproportionately big compared to the rest of me, and trying half chaps on in front of lots of people will only result in much embarrassment! Back to the drawing board (and my usual saddlery) with those then...all wasn't lost, however, as I found the Hilton Herbs stand and found a treat I used to buy all the time for the horses when I was a pony-mad teenager - Hilton Herballs. No matter how fussy an eater Magic is (latest update: will not eat mints like most normal horses but devours cookies and parma violets. Disclaimer: I did not feed her either of these), even she can't resist the almighty power of Hilton Herballs.

I have to admit that even though Mary King is my equestrian idol, and I was interested in hearing Ben Maher's tips for showjumping, it was Carl and Charlotte that I was really desperate to see, and it was well worth queuing for almost an hour. Carl Hester is charming, funny and gives the impression of being a calm and extremely effective teacher. Charlotte was riding Rupert, an enormous bay horse that was rather spooky, and didn't have a microphone, but even watching her ride was an experience in itself. Whilst I have always loved the thrill of jumping and going cross country, I've been completely hooked on dressage since the Olympics, in a way I never was before, and to watch these two in action was fascinating. It wasn't so much a demo of tips and exercises to take away with you as an insight into their training methods (which I suppose you could take some of the same things from), and watching the transformation in the horse was incredible. Even my friend, who knows nothing about horses, commented upon seeing Rupert's extended trot, 'that was incredible...he looks like he's floating, and she's not even moving!'.

 

 

After a few delays in getting out of the event - understandable given the sheer volume of cars - and the sat nav deciding to take us down some bizarre country roads on the way back to the M1, we both agreed that we'd had a brilliant day, and whilst the shopping was very, very good, it was the demos that had made it for us. I would definitely recommend it, and will definitely be returning next year!

Blog: When real life gets in the way of being an overgrown pony kid

Between getting a promotion and my close friend having her baby early, I have had almost no time over the past fortnight to fit in more than six hours' sleep a night, never mind continue to mastermind how to buy Magic and find a way to fit her in my back garden in true pony kid style! I do hate it when mundane things such as work get in the way of my beloved horses but gaining a new godson is never a bad thing, he is absolutely beautiful.

The good thing about the promotion (aka let's increase your workload three-fold!) is that it moves me that much closer to perhaps one day getting my hands on my own horse to make my inner pony kid explode with excitement...

Magic in full-on donkey mode

Another date for the diary

Working full-time in a non-horsey profession means that I don't get to attend nearly as many equestrian events as I would like (for instance, this weekend's HOYS or Olympia in December, which I will NEVER be able to go to as long as I am working in retail. Time off in December doesn't exist in this trade!), but one thing I have managed to squeeze into my calendar is Your Horse Live.

This show (exhibition? Event? It's more like a combination of all three as far as I can tell) is being held over the weekend of 10th and 11th November this year, and you can either go to both Saturday and Sunday, or just choose to visit on one of the days which is what I'm doing, seeing as a non-horsey friend expressed an interest in coming and I thought one day would probably suffice when you're not all that fascinated by brushing boots and new chaps. It's on at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, and although I will admit that all of the tradestands proved to be pretty tempting, even after my blow-out at Burghley, it was the celebrity demonstrators that really made me want to go. Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester, my old friend Mary King, Ben Maher...all the people that inspired and excited us over the summer, under one roof! And all for the bargain price of £16.50 for an adult in advance. Add to that the fact that a nearby hotel only cost us just over £30 for two of us for one night, and you've got a pretty good deal for the weekend.

I don't plan on spending much, with Christmas being just around the corner by then, but I could really do with some new half chaps, any suggestions? And I have no doubt that I will find my way into the Joules tradestand at some point during the day...

Blog: Head vs heart

I will lay this on the table right now - I am a little closer to thirty than I'd care to admit in an online blog, and I have never owned a horse, despite having ridden since the age of twelve.

As a teenager, I had as many lessons as I could, helped out at my stables, even had a horse on part-loan for three years, but I've never been in a position to own my own through a combination of school, university and now a full-time job with varying hours. I come from a non-horsey family, and my dad in particular thinks I should be saving for a deposit to buy a house and stick to my weekly riding lessons.

The problem is that whilst my head agrees with him, my heart is screaming at me 'BUY A HORSE! That's what'll make you happy!', and whilst it has made some dodgy judgements over the years, this time I have the funniest feeling that it's right. I have just come through to the other side of a very rough patch in my life, and the one thing that kept me going some weeks is the beloved pony that I ride at my stables. I occasionally get laughed at at work when I say this, because I sound more like a horse-mad teenager than a grown woman, but it's the truth.

So now I'm in a position where I could make a choice, and everything feels so up in the air. I should be saving up for a house deposit, but is it really a viable option right now? If I bought a horse, could I forego all of the ridiculous things I currently waste my money on (for instance, I spent £15 on some shampoo today. Shampoo! If I don't wake up in the morning with hair to rival Jennifer Aniston then I'm off for a refund) and the occasional shopping trip to look after a horse? And could I really afford all of the unforeseen costs that horses inevitably bring with them?

I had a thought, a reasonably sensible one as well. I considered asking the owner of my riding school if I would be able to take Magic, the pony I ride, on loan for six months to see if I could manage the costs without tying myself down. The downside is that even working livery at my stables costs £80 a week (although that includes the horse being fully looked after, feed and bedding), but on the upside, if I struggle financially, I could hand her back at any time without worrying that I am harming her welfare in any way. At twenty two years old and considering her complete refusal to get in a horsebox, even while alarmingly highly sedated, it's unrealistic to believe that Magic is the horse I should buy to get many years of enjoyment out of, but is loaning her not the next best option? I trust her implicitly, I know her quirks, and after five years of riding her I know I am both capable of doing it and still enjoying it.

My other worry is that I wouldn't have the time to do her justice if I did take her on loan, but I suppose the joy of keeping her on working livery is that she would still be getting worked if I did have to work late for any reason. Oh, I don't know. This seems the most sensible option to me, but life is never that simple, is it? I knew a lot of stable management when I was younger, but I've forgotten much past the basics nowadays. I suppose that livery option would give me the chance to relearn it all, and let's face it, as long as the piggy fat mare has a rug on her back and some food in her stable, she's pretty content.

My dad would absolutely kill me, though...

Capitalising on a good feeling

Having read an article in Horse and Hound today regarding people taking up riding following the incredible success at London 2012, it got me to thinking. Many non-horsey people regard the sport as elitist and exclusive, a hobby of the rich (but that's a whole other post that I've already shared), and in a time when people are scrimping and saving to even afford the essentials, it's hard to convince people to take up a sport that could potentially cost them an arm and a leg.

From a personal point of view, since I began working following my graduation, I found I was surrounded by people who neither rode nor even cared about horses. I was happy to share my hobby with people if they asked, but never spoke about it unless prompted. When I made good friends with some of my colleagues, they took to asking how my last riding lesson was, but that was as far as it went - until the Olympics. Having had my BBC Olympics app going on my phone on every break, people gradually began to watch the eventing, and then the dressage, with me. Suddenly, before I knew what had happened, people who had never been near a horse in their lives were asking me how we were doing, what our chances of getting in the medals were. When I came back off my break to (rather dramatically) announce that Charlotte Dujardin was a double gold medallist, people were unexpectedly enthusiastic. Even those that I hadn't spoken to that day came up to me a couple of days later to tell me they had watched 'the dancing horses' and thought of me, asking what it was all about and how the riders got the horses to do what they did. My friends began coming to watch my riding lessons, asking if they could come back week after week and actively enjoying it (although a couple were more scared than they would admit!).

The problem with all of this, as far as I can see, is that people already in the sport perhaps haven't done enough to encourage this influx of interest. Take my riding school for example - I haven't seen anything encouraging people to start up lessons, to find out more about the sport, and I consider this a wasted opportunity. Why not offer half price taster lessons, or open days? Why not encourage existing riders to bring partners or friends for a go to see what all of the fuss is about? I appreciate that there is a mountain of red tape to get through at equine businesses, but without new customers, how can places like this survive? Offering half price introductory lessons for a period of a month would hardly set them back a lot, especially if only 50% rebook future lessons at full price. Or if half price is too much to stomach, how about an introductory course of five or ten lessons at a slightly discounted price? Encouraging people to come back whilst making them a good offer - win-win! Lessons at my riding school cost £22 for an hour, and whilst I am willing to go without other things to afford these lessons, people new to the sport aren't likely to tolerate it, as they don't have the passion and enthusiasm already there to want to pay it.

I have felt, at times, like a one-woman publicity machine in my place of work for riding as a sport, and I'd like to think that my passion for horses encourages people to want to give it a go, but it's not up to me to convince them to take that final leap - it's up to the businesses that need the custom to find ways of making them do it. Many places have seized the moment and got more people on the books, so if they can do it, then why can't the others? Bringing more custom and money into the sport is only going to be beneficial, so what are they all waiting for?

Weird and wonderful pictures...

I so wish I could tell exactly what this horse is thinking:

Lady Gaga in New York with undoubtedly bewildered beast (pic: msn.com)

So they spook at invisible monsters, but THIS they're fine with?!

Carl Hester back on top

Carl Hester is a man who just doesn't know how to fail at the moment! With a team gold from London 2012 safely under his belt following some stunning performances on the extravagant Uthopia, he headed this weekend to the Espayo National Dressage Championships in Warwickshire, along with fellow Olympic medallist Laura Bechtolsheimer, to win the Grand Prix Freestyle Championship, beating her by more than 5%.

Picture: carlhester.co.uk

Hester was aboard Uthopia (pictured left) once again, and according to British Dressage, used Tom Hunt's music composition once again and scored 81.50%. Laura Bechtolsheimer had a change of horse and came second, scoring 76.58% aboard Andretti H, and fellow British rider Michael Eilberg came third on Half Moon Delphi with a score of 76.35%, which is promising news with Half Moon Delphi only being in her first Grand Prix season.

The potential sales of Olympic wonder horses Uthopia and Valegro have been well documented following the team's success in London, but dressage enthusiasts should take heart from Laura Bechtolsheimer's success aboard a young home-bred horse, Polar Bear, in the Suregrow Advanced Medium Open class. Michael Eilberg also won the Dressage Deluxe Medium Open National Championship class with Half Moon Dynasty, showing strength in depth for British dressage riders.

For full reports and results, visit www.britishdressage.co.uk

Burghley Review: Day Four

All too soon, Sunday morning had crept around, and the weather matched our mood at having to go home later that day - overcast and a little drizzly. It seemed hard to believe that it was already show jumping day, and that in just a few short hours, we'd be attempting to cram all of our new belongings into my less-than-generous three-door Corsa and fall out with the sat nav halfway back across Lincolnshire.

Checking out from the hotel (and for reference, we stayed at the Ferry Meadows Premier Inn, which I would definitely recommend), we opted to pack up the car in the car park which was probably a bad idea, as by the time we got to Burghley - no queues once again - we'd decided that all of the room in the back seat had to be filled, and found ourselves drawn irresistibly towards the trade stands - just for a change!

Show jumping, however, was the real reason we were there, and as we'd had the foresight to book grandstand tickets, we were determined not to miss out on any of the action from the final day. We deposited the last of our purchases back in the car, and made it in to the main arena after only a handful of competitors had done their rounds for the day. The weather continued to rain lightly on and off, but it wasn't particularly cold, or wet enough to dampen anybody's spirits, and so we enjoyed the morning's session of show jumping, my mum especially vocal, much to everybody's amusement around us!

At around quarter past twelve, the first half of the competitors had done their rounds, and we had a break during which it was time to go and find some lunch, or stay and watch the ex-racehorse demonstration. I would have liked to have seen the demo, but decided that lunch was the more pressing need, and so we went back to the car to eat some lunch - no picnic blankets in the sunshine outside the car today, as the heavens decided to open just as we made it back, so we instead had a slightly cramped and undignified lunch surrounded by the last of our shopping and a steering wheel!

We came back into the main arena at about ten to two, as there was to be a parade of the Olympic silver medal-winning team, and having been glued to the Olympics from start to finish, I was determined not to miss this. Minus Tina Cook, the four other silver medallists of Mary King, Zara Phillips, Nicola Wilson and William Fox-Pitt came into the arena and did two laps around, and although it sounds like there is barely any noise on the video, it was a different story in person!

 

 

After the parade, it was back to business - the top 25 placed competitors' show jumping rounds. So far, the red postbox fence had been the bogey of the course, but the treble combination had seen a couple of casualties and the gate wasn't taking much of a knock to go. We watched as rider after rider came in, and very few managed clear rounds (although those that did included Bettina Hoy and Dirk Schrade), but the atmosphere got more tense as we got closer to the finish. Oliver Townend had a good ride on Armada, and then when William Fox-Pitt had two down you could almost hear the whole crowd do an intake of breath. Andrew Nicholson had one fence down, which left the leader, Sinead Halpin (having led from the dressage phase) with three fences in hand. Few could believe it when she had a relatively simple fence down, and then another fell before she had even reached the bogey postbox fence. Everybody watched with baited breath as she approached it...and it rolled! This put Andrew Nicholson above her, making him the winner of Burghley Horse Trials 2012, and Sinead Halpin wore a wry smile as she cantered out of the showjumping arena.

We stayed to watch the prize-giving, and headed back to the car after William Fox-Pitt had been awarded the HSBC FEI Classics title for the second time, and although we had to wait marginally longer to get out of the grounds this time, it was still only a matter of minutes, and we were on our way home after the most incredible four days.

Top Tips:
- Buy Sunday grandstand tickets - This sounds obvious, but they sell out very quickly. Ours weren't expensive - £10 in the uncovered seating area - but had we booked earlier, we might have been able to choose our block (although the view was still very good). You don't want to miss all of the drama for the sake of ten pounds!
- Take a good camera - You'll regret not getting all of the good pictures from the lap of honour and the final rounds of the show jumping by the time you get home!

Purchases:

Burghley Hoodie, £59.95 from Burghley Collection at Joules (although mine was on sale at £49.95)

Polo shirt, £39.95 from Joules

Roeckl riding gloves, £21.50 from Townfields Saddlers

(plus the rest that my mum decided she couldn't live without!)

Verdict
I had been looking forward to Burghley all year, ever since my mum had offered to buy me two tickets for my birthday all the way back in March. I opted to take her with me, but at the back of my mind I did wonder how much she would enjoy it, not being at all horsey beyond taking an interest in it as my hobby. I knew I would have a good time, but I thought my mum would be bored after the first day or two.

Having now been to the event, and seen everything it has to offer, I can't believe that it has taken me fifteen years, since I first started riding, to come here! The shopping village is incredible - I think it's more than a little obvious that I'm fond of Joules, but it was too hard to list all of the many other incredible handmade things we bought for other people, or the small gifts we found for friends (and Christmas presents as well!). If you ride, it is paradise. If you don't ride, stands like Joules and the craft tents are fascinating and the majority aren't even equestrian. There is so much to see and do that we felt we had only just about managed to take in most of it by the end of the fourth day - and I'm still sure that we missed something out.

With regards to the horse trials itself, my mum arrived at Burghley knowing nothing about horses beyond what I had briefly (and inarticulately) tried to demonstrate over the years, and she has left with a renewed enthusiasm for the sport. She will never get on a horse herself, but since coming home I have found her with her head buried in Horse and Hound, and asking about the dates for next year. She was fascinated by the dressage (at least after I had explained what a flying change was!), gripped by the cross country, and far too excited by the show jumping. When we arrived back home, she confessed that she was gutted it was all over, and it had far and away surpassed all of her expectations, and that whether I wanted to go next year or not, she would be returning. And that, I think, has to be the biggest achievement of them all.

Burghley Review: Day Three

Saturday started earlier than the others for us, as it was the ever-popular cross country day! After a cooked breakfast, in which I ate far too much, mistakenly believing that doubling my portions would give me more energy to walk around but instead made me need a nap at about eleven o'clock, we arrived at Burghley at about twenty past eight. Again, there were no queues, and whilst we weren't as close to the front as we had been the day before, we were in an ideal spot to leave the ground later on.

We had a wander round and got a reviving cup of tea to perk us up after the insane amount of calories consumed at breakfast, and then looked at the Burghley app to decide which fence to start our cross country day on. My mum was still mystified by the Leaf Pit and so we opted to head there, knowing that it wasn't too far a walk and that it would also be popular, so at about quarter past ten we set off for it.

Louise Lyons on Watership Down

Crowds had already started to gather, although we did have a brilliant spot just to the left of the drop, right in front of the fence, and for just over half an hour we had nothing to do but bemoan the lack of signal on our phones and then let my mum try to work out, for the umpteenth time, exactly how anybody had the nerve to jump the sight in front of her. Thankfully, after about ten minutes of this, the first competitor was on her way (picture, left), and although my mum gasped audibly after watching her negotiate the Leaf Pit quietly and accurately, she was thankfully left in no doubt that the jump was, in fact, possible - despite her earlier suspicions! We stayed for a couple more competitors to satisfy her that it wouldn't, in fact, break a horse's leg or a rider's neck if tackled properly, and then walked on to the next fence, the Elephant Trap.

We followed the course round from this point, stopping at a crowded Discovery Valley to watch a couple of rounds, and then continued up towards the Trout Hatchery. Although it was busy, crowds tended to disperse after each rider and so almost everybody got a turn at the front to get the best shot on their cameras or just a brilliant view of the action. Using the ever-helpful app, I knew what times the riders I really wanted to see were starting, and I could gauge whether to stay at a fence or walk on to the next one using the course map.

We saw Andrew Nicholson on Calico Joe at fence number eight, Herbert's Hedge, and then also got to the Trout Hatchery in time just to see Oliver Townend retire his first ride of the day. This fence caught out a few people, although we didn't linger too long here as the crowds were massive around here. I am still trying to work out what exactly the appeal of the water jumps is over fences like Discovery Valley and the Dairy Mound - perhaps it's just the prospect of watching a poor unfortunate soul take an ill-timed dunking!

We stopped for a few riders at the HSBC Maltings Branch, and we had such a good view that as one of the horses galloped past us, we were hit in the face by some hoof-shaped clods of mud (possibly the only time I will not be annoyed about getting mud thrown at my face!). All of the other spectators (and the many numerous dogs) were very friendly and happy to take their turn at the front before letting somebody else have a go, and there was a wonderful, buzzy atmosphere the whole way around.

After walking a little more of the course and stopping for some lunch with what felt like a deadweight picnic backpack near the Dairy Mound, we made our way up to the top for the Cottesmore Leap - another fence that my mum just couldn't wrap her head around, and one that I like to have grand visions that I would fly over, but in reality would be far too scared to even walk a horse up to.

The crowds here were pretty deep as well, with there not being as many fences in the vicinity, but being patient for a couple of riders will get you a good view at the front. Watching the horses and riders tackle such a jump of epic proportions is truly mind-boggling, and makes me wonder why I get nervous about jumping a few blocks and poles in an indoor school as soon as it goes above a certain height! Once we'd seen a couple of riders here, we walked down Winners' Avenue, watched a couple of fences here in the heat of the afternoon before heading down to the Burghley Station and the Anniversary Splash, which was nigh on impossible to see from that side of the fence. We decided to cross Lion Bridge and try to watch it from the other side, and we got a much better view of the horses coming straight on at us. We had to wait a while to see anybody jump it as one or two people retired before they reached us, but it was worth the wait (the following video is my terrible footage of Polly Stockton and Westwood Mariner tackling the three fences - apologies for it being the wrong way round, video editing is not my strong point!).

We watched Bettina Hoy over the Jubilee Leap, the Cottesmore Leap's smaller and only slightly less intimidating cousin, and then decided to skip a packed arena and carry on to the Flower Frame, before heading back to the last fence (and also the first and second fences), which was located in Ring 2. We stayed here for a good forty five minutes or so, watching horses come and go in almost perfect synchronisation, and the backdrop of Burghley House made it all the more stunning.

 

After a few more of this, with the crowds starting to thin ever so slightly, we headed back to the arena to see the Legacy fences - all three of which had been moved from the Olympic site of Greenwich to here (more were at Blenheim which was a week later than Burghley). The only fence we didn't see jumped was the Vegetable Stall, and it seemed a long way to go for a relatively straight-forward fence, so having seen it the day before, we opted to call it a day not long after the last rider on the course, Mark Todd, had set off, and we headed back to the hotel, thoroughly exhausted from the long walk, sporting some spectacular sunburn and tan lines but feeling exhilerated from what we'd seen that day.

 

Top Tips:

- Be prepared for a hike! Some people camped all day at certain fences, but never having been to Burghley before, we were determined to take in everything, which many people seemed to do. I can't recommend this enough - some fences we only watched one horse and rider at, others we watched a few, to give ourselves a break and to see the riders we were particularly looking forward to watching. The course map helped us with this, as we knew what we were heading for and which fences we wanted to spend a bit of time at.

- Take your food with you - It might weigh a ton to lug your lunch around with you, but at least you won't be bored from standing in a queue for a mediocre jacket potato that you have to spend seven pounds to get...we stopped by the Dairy Mound which was probably just over halfway round, and it was perfect. We were out of the way of the main crowd around the jump, but we could see the action clearly from where we were sitting.

- Don't forget the suncream! I had no idea my nose had burnt until I got back to the hotel and took off my sunglasses. Who needs to go abroad, eh?!

 

Purchases

Amazingly, we were very restrained on cross country day - our only purchase was a cup of tea in the morning before we set off!





Burghley Review: Day Two

Friday dawned cloudy but warm over Stamford, with the sun starting to break through as we were finishing breakfast. Doubting the British weather (as any sensible Brit will do), we packed our wellies (and wellibobs) into the boot of the car and set off towards Burghley House again, determined today to spend a little less and watch some more dressage.

We were greeted by a steady-moving queue of cars that reached a whole five cars in front of us, and I was starting to wonder what all of the fuss was about. I had been warned of traffic queues from the A1 all the way into Stamford, but so far the only evidence I had seen of that was when the sat nav had had me driving around the town for an hour when leaving the previous evening - and I fully blame the sat nav for that. Knowing in hindsight that this year's Burghley saw record crowds of over 180,000 spectators, I'm quite happy to attribute this to excellent planning, as we didn't arrive there until just gone nine o'clock again.

Using my, quite frankly, brilliant Burghley iPhone app, I already knew the running order of dressage tests, and had earmarked Mary King (I was still giddy over meeting my teenage hero) and King's Temptress as the test I really had to see, no excuses. Anything else was a bonus, and whilst my non-horsey mother fancied another look in the Joules tent, she was strictly moved on at around half past ten after buying a couple of things, and we settled into our seats in a much busier North Stand to watch the combinations before Mary King go. When she came out, it was to polite but restrained applause - you got the feeling that the spectators were waiting to give her an almighty welcome after the Olympics - and she produced a good test that put her fourth at that point in the day.

We stayed on to watch about another hour's worth of the dressage, which included the overnight leaders of Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville, who produced an outstanding test that you just knew would take them to the top of the leaderboard. Nothing was laboured or overly obvious, they were a picture of harmony and lightness as they floated around the dressage arena, and the applause they were met with upon finishing showed that the crowd already knew where she would be placed.

The rest of the day was interspersed with a little more shopping (to keep the mother happy), and also having a look at the horse simulator, which I was desperate for somebody to have a go on in front of me! We also walked a bit of the cross country course, including the Leaf Pit, which my mum declared no horse could physically jump (I tried to remind her that it's been a staple of the Burghley course for some years now, but she was adamant that she couldn't believe it until she'd seen it), and we also watched some of the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse finals in Ring 2. After all of this walking, it would've been rude not to have stopped for a Pimms by the Anniversary Splash cross country fence, and laugh at the Land Rover test track when over-zealous men kept getting some incredibly expensive cars wedged over a bit of 'terrain' that may well have finished my little car off!

We decided to call it a day at about quarter past four, knowing that we would have to be up early for cross country day, and after getting sunburnt on my nose, I was keen to get my hands on some after-sun. Getting out of Burghley House was once again incredibly quick and easy, and we were back at the hotel (after a quick detour to Tesco) in about half the time we'd thought it would take us, slightly sunburnt but at least not quite as laden down with shopping as the day before!

Top Tips:
- Picnic by your car - So many people bring extravagant picnics with them, including tables and chars, and there is even a picnic competition going on over the event. We settled for the picnic blanket that came with our backpack, but because it comes with plates, knives, glasses (and even a corkscrew if you're not the unlucky driver as I was) and a whole host of other things, it wasn't a poor substitute. Tables and chairs are in short supply with the vast amount of people at the event, and with the ground still slightly muddy from the rain the previous day, you're better off going back to the ground that people haven't churned up and enjoying the sunshine and a bit of peace and quiet for half an hour.
- Download the Burghley app - I can't stress how helpful I found this app, which is also free from the iTunes store. It provides start times for all competitors, a detailed course walk for the cross country (including videos at each fence), information on riders, shopping village map and a whole host of other features.
- Stop by Ring 2 - I enjoy dressage a lot, but even I have my limits when it comes to two solid days of the same test. Unless you're a dressage fanatic, note the times that the riders you want to see will be doing their tests, and when you have some free time pop over to Ring 2 to take in the competitions there. We also watched a parade of stallions, some of whom were the most beautiful horses I have ever laid eyes on, and my mum particularly enjoyed the Burghley Young Event Horse final, which combines a short dressage test, and a course of showjumps and cross country style fences - perfect if you're visiting with somebody who doesn't know much about horses and will probably find watching the same dressage test over and over a little tedious.

Purchases
1 pair of taupe/check Harry Hall jodphurs, £19.95 in sale

Rydale Melton 3-in-1 jacket, £35 from Rydale (although I am a UK size 8 and managed to fit into the cheaper children's version, definitely worth a try!)

Striped fleece polo top from Joules, £29.95

Charlotte Dujardin: World Number One

London 2012 left the world in no doubt as to the brilliance of Charlotte Dujardin and the wonder horse Valegro, but now FEI has confirmed her status at the top of the sport with her sitting on top of the world individual ranking - the first British combination ever to do so.

Charlotte and Valegro at London 2012 (image: telegraph.co.uk)

The latest rankings put her 107 points ahead of Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival, who of course came second in the individual in London. Other Brits in the list include Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris in fourth, Carl Hester and Uthopia in 18th, and Team GB's individual pairing, Richard Davison and Artemis in 22nd. Other Brits such as Emile Faurie, Michael Eilberg (more than once) and Emma Hindle also feature in the list.



This news continues to add to what has been heralded as a new era in British dressage. With brilliant young riders such as Charlotte and Laura, and the eminent presence of the superb Carl Hester who appears to be as good a trainer and mentor as he is a rider, things look as if the rise of this sport in our country will only continue. Although the news that Valegro and Uthopia may well be sold is a blow, their current riders are talented and dedicated enough to not be without a top ride for too long.

There is, of course, top young horses such as Woodlander Farouche (ridden by Michael Eilberg) coming up through the ranks, and with the Olympics encouraging more people than ever to turn to the intricate, fascinating sport of dressage, it seems that these golden days are here to stay...

Michael Eilberg and Woodlander Farouche (image: horseandhound.co.uk)

Burghley Review: Day One

Thursday 30th August dawned gloomy and damp as we approached Stamford in Lincolnshire - characteristic of a British summer, definitely, but what continues to be more surprising is why exactly we are still surprised by this fact. Having set off at the rather leisurely time of about quarter to eight despite a two-hour drive in front of us, I was pleasantly surprised to find the roads in front of us clear, even when the unmistakable yellow signs began to appear as we neared our destination. It was just gone nine o'clock when these started to litter the roadside, and fearing that we'd left it too late, I braced myself for some horrific traffic...and was met with nothing at all.

The sat nav was rendered useless, so frequent and helpful were the yellow signs, and the traffic queue was happily about two Land Rovers long (my Vauxhall Corsa stuck out like a sore thumb, but at least I could rest easy in the knowledge that there were plenty of cars to tow me out of a ditch if I accidentally drove into one - not much of a stretch with the state of my countryside driving, being a town girl at heart). When we entered the grounds of Burghley House, we had a momentary blip where my mother had forgotten to put the member's car pass on our rearview mirror and we almost had to pay another £11 to park for the day, but thankfully she remembered at the last minute and the steward let us through about three lanes of traffic to get to the right spot.

The first car park was near the warm-up cross country fences, and although the first time we walked it, it felt like a million miles from anything at all, happily we soon buried our melodrama and realised that three minutes from the World of the Horse pavilion was nothing in the grand scheme of things. We took in some of the Pony Club jumping in Ring 2 before hitting the trade stands, and it must've taken us at least three or four circuits to feel like we'd looked at everything once.

Our first purchase was some Dublin country boots (pictured, left) from the Townfields Saddler stand, and at £97 I was more than happy with these. I wore my Joules wellibobs for the entire first day as it rained (and rained...and rained...) and didn't want to ruin my new boots, but for the next three days they were glued permanently to my feet, and continue to be so even now we're back home. This is no reflection on my wellibobs, however, which are some of the comfiest waterproof shoes I've ever had the good fortune of wearing - it was just that with blazing sunshine for the rest of the time there, they weren't particularly necessary!



New boots in hand, we had a quick glances in the Joules stall, and I found myself a bargain sleeveless polo shirt for £15, and then bought my mum and myself some of their incredible fluffy socks, which are well worth the price at just under £8 - I've got about ten pairs of these, and even though I've had some of them for years, they are invaluable in both summer and winter, when riding or just even in bed! Thinking we'd done well to limit ourselves to just these (plus the top my mum decided she couldn't live without), we decided to settle in and take in a bit of dressage from the North Stand.

We watched a few combinations go, including Ruth Edge and Rogersdale, and it was at this point that I realised my equine knowledge would be tested, as my mother, who has been riding all of once in her life, kept asking the most obscure questions I have ever heard. The funniest moment did occur when she commented that 'all of the horses keep doing a little hop in the middle when they're cantering', before I realised she'd thought that flying change was a spook. I hastily put her right, and then had to try and explain exactly what a canter lead and a half walk pirouette were - no mean feat when you've got one eye on the dressage as it is.

Realising that as interesting as I find the dressage (and although the stands look deserted in my photo above, I promise that the other end of the North Stand was packed, as were the standing sections to the right), my mum would probably not be quite as fascinated, so after about forty five minutes of this, we headed off for something to eat. My advice at this point is to refuse to eat from the food vans there - two jacket potatoes with toppings and two drinks cost us £16, and at that price, I'd expect the container to at least be gold-plated! We hadn't come prepared that first day and so gritted our teeth as we were both starving, but from then on we dusted off our trusty Next picnic backpack (only sold in the summer months, usually priced at about £35 but worth every penny), nipped to the nearest Tesco to our hotel (the Tesco Extra in the Serpentine Green shopping centre, where there's also a petrol station that isn't at the extortionate motorway prices!) and bought food from there instead.

Once we'd eaten our (sadly not gold-plated) jacket potatoes, we decided to do a bit more shopping, where we bought my dad an enormous iron planter (top tip: ask the people on the stall if you can pick it up later, because carting one of them around through the crowds is not much fun! Luckily the woman on this stall let us, but dragging it back to the car was hard enough). We went back into Joules where I picked up a hoody I'd been eyeing up earlier that morning, a little eye-watering at £49.95 but I still have a Joules polo shirt that I bought 8 years ago that continues to wash brilliantly and doesn't look remotely aged, so almost a decade's worth of wearing is enough to convince me that the prices are worth it! However, after this particular trip in, we realised Mary King, my equestrian idol, was doing a signing, and so we stopped around for that. The queue was a little unruly, but only took us about half an hour to get to the front, and then for the first time in my life words failed me. I could've told her that she is my absolute inspiration with her positive attitude and riding, but all I could manage was '...can I touch your medal?', which she very kindly let me do. So despite sounding like half my brain had fallen out, I can vouch for her being possibly the nicest person in the public eye that I have ever met - plus she signed a copy of her book for me, which I will treasure forever to keep my inner twelve year old happy!

After a little more shopping (just for a change!) in the Joules Burghley collection stand, my mum discovering some manuka honey products, finding some bargain jodhpurs back in the Townfields stand and taking in a bit more dressage, we opted to head back to check into the hotel at about half past four, at which point there was no traffic on the way out, and getting lost was entirely the fault of my sat nav and my mum who later admitted that she'd had the road map upside down...

Top Tips:
- Take your food with you! If you don't earn £75,000 a year and balk at paying almost £20 for two of you to eat at every meal time, find your nearest Tesco (I used my iPhone and despite the slightly erratic signal, found the nearest one on the store location section of their mobile website), get a picnic bag of some kind (Next do some great ones in the summer, as do Joules) and go from there. The nearest Tesco we found to Burghley was about a fifteen minute drive and although it was a bit of a pain going back there every day, it was well worth it.
- Don't listen to your sat nav! Follow the other cars until you hit a main road and then let it replan its route to its heart's content! The road signs were well-placed and frequent, and pointed you in a general direction, at which point you could let your sat nav take over.
- Bring some wellies! Whilst the weather cheered up by Friday, my wellibobs were a necessity on the first day thanks to the thick mud and intermittent rain. And layers are your friend!

Purchases:

Dublin country boots, £97 from Townfields

1 pair of navy/check Harry Hall jodphurs, £19.95 in sale
1 teal sleeveless polo shirt from Joules, £14.99 in sale

x2 pairs of fluffy socks, £7.95 each from Joules

1 bag and 1 pair of fluffy socks, £6 and £5, from the Joules Burghley collection

Stripe sweatshirt, £49.95 from Joules

...and not forgetting the Burghley programme at £5!

Equestrianism: It's a rich person's world

Whilst the unparalleled success of the equestrian teams at London 2012 has brought more attention to the sport than it's seen in too long (I will let comments about 'dancing horses' go as long as people appreciate that it's not nearly as effortless as it looks!), there is still this strong vein of belief amongst the non-horsey public that you have to be rich to ride.

I am not going to disagree with the plain truth that owning horses and riding is a million times easier when you are rich, but the vast majority of riders and owners I know work hard for a living and weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouths. On a personal level, I was born into a distinctly unhorsey family. My dad often jokes that he can't tell one end of a horse from another (he has seen me ride all of once), and my mum's only experience with them was a rather unfortunate pony trekking incident in her teens which she wasn't overly enamoured with. When I cheerfully announced at the age of ten that my new passion in life was horses, it took a further two years for my mum to give in and book me a riding lesson, hoping that my interest was temporary and I would eventually go back to wanting to be a ballerina. Once the lesson was booked, she had absolutely no idea what I needed to wear and what would happen, and so for weeks I trundled around on a very forgiving pony wearing wellies and a borrowed skull cap.

I will give full credit to my mum, however, for supporting me in my newfound love for horses at the age of twelve. We may have had very little money, but she saved hard to afford fortnightly riding lessons for me, and bought me my riding boots and hat only once she was sure I was going to stick at it. I was lucky enough to win a riding holiday through one of my beloved pony magazines at the age of thirteen, and for a good three years after that, my mum saved up and paid for me to go on another week-long riding holiday every year, as well as paying for weekly lessons and the numerous activities and shows I went to do during the school holidays. Once I had a part-time job at the age of seventeen, she paid for my weekly lessons and I paid for the extras, and when I was back home from university she'd give me a couple of riding lessons for Christmas or my birthday.

Upon graduating, I took over the expense of riding lessons myself when I (miraculously) found a part-time job, and even though it was only fortnightly, I began to understand how much money my mum had ploughed into my hobby over the years. Once I was given a full-time position, I started back weekly, with the odd extra here and there, and I work hard to keep this hobby up with no financial support anymore. I don't earn a lot of money but I budget wisely to make sure I can keep it up, and make sure horses continue to be a large part of my life.

The point I am trying to come to, in a rather long-winded fashion, is that nothing but my mum's generosity and my determination to keep up with something I love has helped me ride over the years. We are not a particularly affluent family, we are working class, and it is only because I love it that I see the money I pour into it as an investment. Most other riders I know are like this - they go without to keep their horses fed and watered, they work hard for their money and are entitled to spend it without being accused of having things handed to them on a silver plate.

Even the lucky ones among us that I know have not had it easy. The two granddaughters of the owner of my riding school are incredibly talented and gifted riders, and yes, they have been given horses and ponies galore over the years, but for the most part, they have worked hard for their successes. They saved their pocket money to come on lessons, they worked hard in the yard seven days a week whilst at school and college, they teach lessons now they are a little older, and they have been working pupils at professional yards where they haven't had a day off in seven months. Perhaps they are luckier than most I know, but I would never deny that hard graft and a dose of natural talent has got them to where they are now, and being rich alone can't achieve success.

If ever we needed a timely reminder of this, we only have to look at the Olympic Gold medallist in dressage, Charlotte Dujardin. Luck, hard work and talent have got her to where she is now, not being born into a rich family. Her mum supported her in any way she could, and when she was lucky enough to inherit some money, bought her a horse. Working class family, top class rider.

Riding is an expensive hobby, but it's not just for the rich - and you can't put a price on something that makes you undeniably happy.

Next on the horsey calendar...

If the Olympics has made me realise one very important thing in my life, it's that there just aren't enough horses in it.

I am not in the fortunate position of owning my own horse, and whilst I am lucky enough to have a full-time job in a day and age where people are scraping by on three part-time positions, I still don't earn enough to make this a reality, along with living expenses and running a car. Instead, I have one riding lesson a week, and put all of my money aside at the start of the month to be able to afford this, but the reality is, with the way my confidence has taken an almighty knock over the past year or so (for reasons I am still trying to figure out, incidentally. The human brain is a wondrous yet equally frustrating thing), I could do with at least two a week to get me back to where I was such a short time ago. At £22 an hour, however, this just isn't realistic. Horses are expensive, even when they're not yours! This is a work in progress, but in the meantime, I've been thinking of other ways to satisfy my horsey needs.

For my birthday this year (and I won't embarrass myself by admitting exactly which birthday. It's about five years further on than I would really like, but at least still the right side of thirty), my mum bought me Burghley tickets. For all the years I have been riding, and considering the relatively close proximity (well, within a two hour radius anyway) of Burghley Horse Trials, I consider it pretty shameful that I have never once been. I don't think my mum perhaps expected to come with me, not being a rider herself and only having a slight interest in horses because of me, but it was her I invited, and it seems the prospect of the shopping village actually has her quite excited now about the whole thing (oh, simple things!). It is now a mere two weeks away, and I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about it. Our four-day tickets and Sunday grandstand tickets arrived in the post a few weeks ago, and although it means cancelling my beloved weekend riding lesson that week, I suppose it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for this particular event.

Never having been before, I can feel I will try to pack everything, from vastly inappropriate footwear to three hundred extra pairs of socks (because you never know!), but what I am sure about is that whatever the weather, I still feel like I need a pair of these in my life:

Joules.com

Because there is always space for pink striped wellies in your life, Burghley or no Burghley.