Soupy dinners, a lorry full of mice and a dreamy back end – Basil begins his first season with Jess Rimmer with power, promise … and carrots
I’m writing this from my horsebox in a very sunny, bustling lorry park at the Eventing Spring Carnival at Thoresby Park. The atmosphere is just brilliant – it’s the first international of the 2025 season and home to the prestigious 4* Grantham Cup. Many combinations are using this run as a preparation for Badminton 5* in May – as you can imagine, the standard is sky-high!
So, what am I doing here this weekend? I’m here with a new character for you all to meet: The Spice Merchant, known to his friends as Basil (or Baz, Bazman, Big Baz… you get the idea!).
Basil and I are participating in the 3* short, and it willl only be our third time out competing together. He is a brilliant horse, more special to me because of the story behind him.
A good friend of mine, Alex Munn, bought Basil as a 7-year-old BE100 horse. They flew up the levels together and competed in some of the most prestigious events – Bramham, Blenheim, Millstreet and Hartpury – representing Alex’s home country South Africa.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of both Alex and the Portman Ladies Syndicate, I’ve now taken over Basil’s reins – and it’s a full-circle moment, as Alex and Basil began their own eventing journey together at Fox-Pitt Eventing, and they were based here for two years.
Lesson time
It’s a bit of a ‘finding out’ weekend for us, actually: firstly, we’re seeing which bits of the lorry do (or don’t) work, which areas have/haven’t been eaten by our newly-resident mice (!), and which parts of the drinks fridge need/don’t need restocking (Gin? Tick! Bubbly? Tick! Fresh water? Errr … nope.)
Lorry antics aside, it’s also an important weekend for getting to know Basil. I’m learning his ‘buttons’ and how to get the best tune from him, as well as finding out more about his personality and his particular likes and dislikes. So far, I’ve discovered he likes his dinner pretty much to the same consistency as soup, he loves having the inside of his ears scratched, and he sees grazing time as his own personal ‘Man (horse) vs Food’ challenge.
That big ole core
His incessant appetite leads me nicely into my topic for this month. Basil, although an established top event horse, is a bit of a unit in his build – think less Mo Farah, more Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. In studs. He has the most immensely powerful back end (one I can only dream of having…), but that does mean he finds the stamina side of things more difficult. It is such a balancing act with horses – working to increase and maintain a high level of fitness, while at the same time protecting and preventing against potential injuries.
We are incredibly lucky that the setup at Wood Lane is mindfully designed for keeping top competition horses in their physical prime. With access to an abundance of hacking as well as the onsite gallops the horses are able to have a varied, little-and-often approach to their fitness regime. Not only this, but we are also only a short lorry journey away from the South West Equine Water Treadmill, run by the very lovely – and very knowledgeable – Fred and Lisa Ford. Basil has been making weekly visits since his arrival last month.
The water treadmill is a brilliant tool in our arsenal – it has huge benefits for horses and it’s very much as it says on the tin. It’s a big, sturdy treadmill not terribly dissimilar to those which you or I would run on (actually, not me, if I could possibly avoid it), except it’s horse sized, obviously, and it also fills up with cold water at the same time (yeah, I’m glad it’s for the horses, not the riders).
The water provides resistance as the horse walks forward on the treadmill at a controlled speed – usually walking – encouraging them to strengthen their musculoskeletal system while putting minimal strain on their legs and feet. It’s about the only time the horse is working harder than us for a change! The treadmill has masses of therapeutic potential and it is currently influencing the way many in the equestrian world approach injury rehabilitation. But for Basil it’s being used as a fitness aid, to help really tone up that big ole core of his! The stronger the horse the less likely they are to injure themselves.
The fun begins
Ok, so back to the here and now. Thanks to the help of William, Jackie, Lisa and Fred, Basil is fit and ready to go – we completed our dressage this morning, so now onto the fun part!
I’ve walked the cross country course twice already – once with William and once with mum – which is why there are currently a hundred butterflies swarming in my tummy (excited ones, I might add!). The track is testing but not unfair, and none of the questions are ones Basil hasn’t seen before.
It is slightly more nerve-wracking when I remember I don’t actually know Basil particularly well yet – but he is such a dude, and I have the utmost confidence in him. I’ll do one final course walk on my own in the morning, just to get into the right headspace, before my showjumping at 10.42. I head out of the start box just under an hour later, so will be all done in time for lunch (we might not be doing winter dressage any more, but my priorities still haven’t changed). See you on the other side!
[PS: He was amazing! He made incredibly light work of it, as we knew he would, and jumped a super double clear. Big smiles, big pats and some extra carrots in his tea, I reckon!]
You can follow Jess on @jessrimmereventing
