Winter may have soaked us to the skin, but training camps, bold horses and big plans mean the event season suddenly feels tantalisingly close
I think the best way I can describe this month is by calling it Jam-packed January. It might have rained a lot, but we have also trained a lot, learned a lot, worked a lot … and fallen off NOT a lot! Phew!
Although we’ve been working hard, the winter months make me appreciate being based at the Fox-Pitts’ more than ever. The undercover barn, indoor school and brilliantly draining all-weather gallops mean that winter doesn’t really feel like winter here. And that’s without mentioning the heated laundry room!
But before anyone gets too green-eyed, don’t worry – there have still been plenty of days where I’ve been soaked to the skin, physically unable to pry my fingers from the neck strap I’ve been so tightly clinging onto whilst riding some very fluffy, untidy and generally unruly event horses, regretting all my life choices and wishing I’d pursued that career in biochemistry instead …
Off to camp
Winter woes aside, we’ve also been up to some pretty cool stuff this month. At the end of January we were lucky enough to attend the first Howden Way U25 Rider Talent Academy training camp. Blondie, Henry, mum and I headed up to the National Training Centre in Northamptonshire for two days of intensive training – both on and off the horse – with some pretty prestigious coaches.
I rarely get butterflies, but I have to say I definitely noticed them as we trucked along the A34 through the early hours of Monday morning. I don’t think it was just the idea of training with some of the Big Guns that gave me that feeling of anticipation – it was also about riding among my peers.
As an U18/Young Rider (in other words, before I got old!), we did lots of training camps, but it’s been a few years now since I’ve had ‘away training’, and I could definitely tell. I had to catch myself before I went down the rabbit hole of ‘what if everybody else is better than me, or has nicer horses than me, or, or, or…’. I reminded myself that I am on my own journey, it’s all about personal progress. Not comparing myself to others is something I’ve always had to work on, and where I’ve been so lucky to have both mum and William to remind me to enjoy each individual moment.
As soon as we drove in, all the butterflies went away, and I remembered just how much fun these camps are. The horses were impeccably behaved and we received some invaluable coaching – a highlight for me being Blondie’s arena cross country session with Tina Cook. Blondie’s showjumping background means she’s still relatively new to this scene, but she pricked her ears and gave it her absolute best.
She is so bold and genuine, which makes her an absolute joy to work with.
We had a really educational two days, and I got to catch up with all the other riders too (now that we’re out of hibernation!). I’ve really enjoyed applying what we learned with the team at home, and I am already looking forward to the next camp.
Over the next month or so we have some exciting things in the pipeline – the horses are getting fitter, and with event plans in the making and our first cross-country school in the diary, the event season is starting to feel less and less like a distant fantasy! Winter is long … but it finally feels like we’re almost there. Don’t worry though, I’m sure it’ll start raining again soon.
