lex2501
Well-Known Member
Billy and I have spent 3 years trying to get to the Badminton Grassroots Championships the disappointment from missing out on a total of 8 Regional Finals (yes, really) has been pretty hard to swallow at times and I have been very close to giving up on our dream in the past, particularly with Murphy waiting in the wings ready to run at Intermediate which would make me ineligible. Motivated by an overwhelming amount of support from friends and family we kept on carrying on and last Wednesday we headed over to BCA to try once more
A very telling pattern had been emerging over the last few years. Billy and I would go to a normal non-RF event and invariably end up in the top 3. We would then head to a Regional and the wheels would fall off one way or another. My parents have been absolutely amazing, and we spent a long time talking through how we could work together to help me manage my nerves and the pressure when it really matters. The approach for BCA was to enter a Billy Bubble for the day my phone was to be shut away in the lorry, I was to keep my head down in the lorry park and avoid the temptation to socialise when I should be concentrating (very difficult when I have made so many amazing friends on the circuit!) and most importantly, to forget about the score board and just enjoy riding Billy.
I climbed aboard the good ship Billy and we wandered over to a very quiet dressage warm up as it was lunch break for the judges. It was perfect as I could take a deep breath and just focus on me and Billy. I gave him a stretch to start with, and then worked on lots of transitions. Just before I went in I practiced lots of halts too so when we trotted up the centre line we got to X and dear obliging Billy threatened to slam the anchors down oops! Luckily I reacted quickly enough to stop him from halting but there was a very noticeable change of rhythm so not the start I had hoped for at all. He went quite sweetly through the test but stumbled twice once in a downward transition, and another time in the walk. I also failed to finish one of my half circles which I knew was a very silly mistake so I came out gutted, and said to Mum that it wouldnt be enough, knowing how hotly contested these RFs are. My heart was in the pit of my stomach as I walked back to the lorry but tried my hardest to put it to one side and focus on what was to come, rather than dwell on the what has just happened which is definitely one of my worst habits.
So over to the SJ warm up and my mantra for the day was give him the freedom to jump. Billy can be very exuberant in his jumping, but if I hang on and interfere then he has poles. If I stay soft in the saddle and in the hand then he pings like a bouncy ball. So with that in mind I kept seeing nice forward shots into the warm up fences and he was really enjoying himself. Into the ring we went, and god knows what happened but it was possibly the messiest round I have ever ridden in my life but I kept letting go and the poles stayed up. We turned the corner to the last fence and the commentator called out my dressage score of 29.5 so I panicked, kicked, flapped, held, nudged, chased, and put Billy on the most impossible stride but my hero turned himself inside out to clear it and we crossed the finish line clear.
I dont really know why but I was totally overcome with emotion and I came out of the ring with tears running down my face deeply embarrassing! Poor Billy must have been mortified in front of all his eventing chums to have him Mum blubbing away into his neck ;-) I stayed true to my word and resisted the temptation to look at the scoreboard before heading off for the XC phase. Billy was a total hooligan about getting into the start box and set off like an absolute rocket. Mum later told me that the starter and steward had commented rather her than me! I dont think he has ever been so wild, perhaps he knew the importance of the occasion too! Fences 1-4 were not pretty with Billy intent on doing his best Frankel impression and not giving the fences a jot of respect which was a little hairy to say the least. Fence 5 was the corner and I was determined not to have a silly mistake so I really anchored him and he sailed over beautifully. I had got his concentration by then and he jumped round the rest of the course with such ease and the biggest grin on his face to finish clear. I crossed the finish line to see my Mum sobbing this time !!
We then had the agonising wait to see how the scoreboard was shaping up. We were comfortably inside the time and had been 7th after dressage. There were 26 starters which meant that the top 5 would qualify so we were tantalisingly close. One of the dressage leaders had racked up lots of jumping penalties, but not all of the other scores had been put up. By this point I could see that I was going to be no worse than 6th which left me in the horrible position of needing someone else to have some misfortune in order for me to sneak through. The scores were agonisingly slow to go up, and my optimism was decreasing by the minute. Finally, the provisional scores were called out over the tannoy and I was devastated to hear that I had finished in 6th place. I just couldnt believe it, and told myself that it just wasnt meant to be. I hung around for the prize giving anyway, as 6th was a great achievement in itself and the scores were finally written up on the board to reveal that I had in fact finished 5th! One of the poor girls on a 28 had got 20 pens across the country which allowed Billy to finally get the result that he has so deserved for such a long time!!! BILLY IS GOING TO BADMINTON AND I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER OR MORE PROUD!!
Even more excitingly, my phone rang and it was Star just asking me to check her final result as she was hiding in her lorry thinking she hadnt made it through it was amazing to be able to tell her that she had come 6th in her section and also qualified!! A lot of tears were shed, and its just wonderful to be able to share this experience with my eventing buddy and her very special Orange horse who shares a lot in common with Billy!! We cannot wait!!
And finally, I owe an awful lot of people an awful lot of thanks. There have been a lot of people who have supported me through this epic journey I cant tell you how much I appreciate it. I also owe a huge thank you to my wonderful parents who have helped me keep cool under pressure, and offered shoulders to sob into when the reality of what we had achieved had finally hit home. And finally, the biggest thanks goes to my Billy the absolute love of my life, and my one in a million
I can't wait to show him off on that hallowed turf!
A very telling pattern had been emerging over the last few years. Billy and I would go to a normal non-RF event and invariably end up in the top 3. We would then head to a Regional and the wheels would fall off one way or another. My parents have been absolutely amazing, and we spent a long time talking through how we could work together to help me manage my nerves and the pressure when it really matters. The approach for BCA was to enter a Billy Bubble for the day my phone was to be shut away in the lorry, I was to keep my head down in the lorry park and avoid the temptation to socialise when I should be concentrating (very difficult when I have made so many amazing friends on the circuit!) and most importantly, to forget about the score board and just enjoy riding Billy.
I climbed aboard the good ship Billy and we wandered over to a very quiet dressage warm up as it was lunch break for the judges. It was perfect as I could take a deep breath and just focus on me and Billy. I gave him a stretch to start with, and then worked on lots of transitions. Just before I went in I practiced lots of halts too so when we trotted up the centre line we got to X and dear obliging Billy threatened to slam the anchors down oops! Luckily I reacted quickly enough to stop him from halting but there was a very noticeable change of rhythm so not the start I had hoped for at all. He went quite sweetly through the test but stumbled twice once in a downward transition, and another time in the walk. I also failed to finish one of my half circles which I knew was a very silly mistake so I came out gutted, and said to Mum that it wouldnt be enough, knowing how hotly contested these RFs are. My heart was in the pit of my stomach as I walked back to the lorry but tried my hardest to put it to one side and focus on what was to come, rather than dwell on the what has just happened which is definitely one of my worst habits.
So over to the SJ warm up and my mantra for the day was give him the freedom to jump. Billy can be very exuberant in his jumping, but if I hang on and interfere then he has poles. If I stay soft in the saddle and in the hand then he pings like a bouncy ball. So with that in mind I kept seeing nice forward shots into the warm up fences and he was really enjoying himself. Into the ring we went, and god knows what happened but it was possibly the messiest round I have ever ridden in my life but I kept letting go and the poles stayed up. We turned the corner to the last fence and the commentator called out my dressage score of 29.5 so I panicked, kicked, flapped, held, nudged, chased, and put Billy on the most impossible stride but my hero turned himself inside out to clear it and we crossed the finish line clear.
I dont really know why but I was totally overcome with emotion and I came out of the ring with tears running down my face deeply embarrassing! Poor Billy must have been mortified in front of all his eventing chums to have him Mum blubbing away into his neck ;-) I stayed true to my word and resisted the temptation to look at the scoreboard before heading off for the XC phase. Billy was a total hooligan about getting into the start box and set off like an absolute rocket. Mum later told me that the starter and steward had commented rather her than me! I dont think he has ever been so wild, perhaps he knew the importance of the occasion too! Fences 1-4 were not pretty with Billy intent on doing his best Frankel impression and not giving the fences a jot of respect which was a little hairy to say the least. Fence 5 was the corner and I was determined not to have a silly mistake so I really anchored him and he sailed over beautifully. I had got his concentration by then and he jumped round the rest of the course with such ease and the biggest grin on his face to finish clear. I crossed the finish line to see my Mum sobbing this time !!
We then had the agonising wait to see how the scoreboard was shaping up. We were comfortably inside the time and had been 7th after dressage. There were 26 starters which meant that the top 5 would qualify so we were tantalisingly close. One of the dressage leaders had racked up lots of jumping penalties, but not all of the other scores had been put up. By this point I could see that I was going to be no worse than 6th which left me in the horrible position of needing someone else to have some misfortune in order for me to sneak through. The scores were agonisingly slow to go up, and my optimism was decreasing by the minute. Finally, the provisional scores were called out over the tannoy and I was devastated to hear that I had finished in 6th place. I just couldnt believe it, and told myself that it just wasnt meant to be. I hung around for the prize giving anyway, as 6th was a great achievement in itself and the scores were finally written up on the board to reveal that I had in fact finished 5th! One of the poor girls on a 28 had got 20 pens across the country which allowed Billy to finally get the result that he has so deserved for such a long time!!! BILLY IS GOING TO BADMINTON AND I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER OR MORE PROUD!!
Even more excitingly, my phone rang and it was Star just asking me to check her final result as she was hiding in her lorry thinking she hadnt made it through it was amazing to be able to tell her that she had come 6th in her section and also qualified!! A lot of tears were shed, and its just wonderful to be able to share this experience with my eventing buddy and her very special Orange horse who shares a lot in common with Billy!! We cannot wait!!
And finally, I owe an awful lot of people an awful lot of thanks. There have been a lot of people who have supported me through this epic journey I cant tell you how much I appreciate it. I also owe a huge thank you to my wonderful parents who have helped me keep cool under pressure, and offered shoulders to sob into when the reality of what we had achieved had finally hit home. And finally, the biggest thanks goes to my Billy the absolute love of my life, and my one in a million
I can't wait to show him off on that hallowed turf!
You deserve this!
