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Find out all about this weeks winners, their horses and inspirations as well as learning what will be in their celebration ‘Chicken Dinner’.
If you have a win this week, we’ll help you shout it from the roof tops so get in touch at events@thegaitpost.com to be featured or tweet us @thegaitpost using the tag #TGPwinnerwinnerchickendinner
All disciplines welcome.
© Matt Nuttall Photography
Doriz (Quarter Of) is home bred I am the only rider she knows, I have had four total knee replacements (15 knee surgeries) and rods in my back over the past 12 years so that I am able to ride her. This year we achieved our goal to qualify for Badminton with a win. We were also the Blenheim Eventer Challenge 90 champion this year too.
What are your aims for 2018/2019 for this horse?
Since 2014 we aimed to qualify for The Mitsubishi Cup which we did at Little Downham in September this year and for me to stay in one piece to ride at this event in 2019.
Is this your first time at this event, or are you a regular? If a regular, what keeps you coming back? If a first timer, will you be back?
I came to this event last year and was second, it is such a beautiful venue and it is run to a very high standard. I hope to be back.
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
Lucinda Green.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
My husband Michael, the reason I do it, we have the most amazing fun! He works all hours to afford to keep us eventing.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
Get lots of lessons, don’t learn the hard way.
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing
Arriving at Dauntsey last year on the last day of 3 days of competitions it was lovely and dry when we left home, we were of course spotlessly clean had not packed any wellies and had to be towed onto the lorry park which was like a ploughed field when the tractor unhitched us and we just didn’t want to get out of the cosy horsebox. We all got plastered!
Which is your favourite event & why?
I love all the events I enter.
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
My son Arthur makes a wonderful curry and homemade nanns too on a Saturday with a glass of NZ red wine, this can not be beaten!
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
Our lorry is so old and noisy our voices can hardly be heard, we sing Sweet Caroline at the top of our voices.
What are your aims for 2018/2019 for this horse?
My ultimate aim would be to get to The Badminton Grassroots Championships and move him up to BE100 next season.
Is this your first time at this event, or are you a regular? If a regular, what keeps you coming back? If a first timer, will you be back?
This was my first time at Oasby, they did really well despite the vile weather and yes I will be back.
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
I’ve been eventing for many years (my first event was Poplar Park aged 18 back in 1985!), so I have had many influences and help along the way but these days my local eventing friends who I have made over the years and the way we all support each other and help each other out are my greatest influences.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
Definitely my family at home.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
How addictive it is!
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing.
My then 3 /4 year old son (he’s 21 now!) taking the handbrake off inside the lorry with the horses tied on the side at Highclere and seeing the lorry rolling backwards down a hill towards a shiney Oakley Supreme – I don’t think I have ever moved so fast to jump back inside and pull on a handbrake – and earning me the nickname of “rolling lorry” for many years after!
Which is your favourite event & why?
There are many events I love, Poplar is lovely as a first season event as you are always guaranteed good going, and I love Eridge for the country fair and the fact that it’s never just a dressage competition there.
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
A takeaway washed down with prosecco.
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
If I sang in the lorry no one would ever come with me, my singing is that bad!
I work in a showing yard and have previously worked for Izzy Taylor. It’s actually mine and Temple Bridges’ first win (Temple Bridge has also never won at BE either despite his long and successful career).
© EMMPIX
What are your aims for 2018/2019 for this horse?
Broadway was our final event of the 2018 season. Temple Bridge is now 20 years old but still going strong! He is now having a holiday and I will bring him back in December, see how he feels and go from there. I would love to take him back the to The Festival Of Eventing at Keysoe in May (we went this year to compete in the 100 and due to cancellations of Spring events it was our first event of the year!) but if we do go back I will have to hire or borrow a lorry, this year I slept in my trailer which I learned on the Friday night is not that waterproof! It rained and everything including me got soaked!
Is this your first time at this event, or are you a regular? If a regular, what keeps you coming back? If a first timer, will you be back?
We have been to Broadway several times, it tends to be our last event of the season. The course is usually a good, fair test and the going is always spot on. Last year we came here, and we were in contention for placing but Temple Bridge tripped up the step coming out of the water and we went splat! We had an incident here about five years ago where it was really wet and everyone was being towed in and my mother managed to sweet talk the man who was parking everyone to let us park on the hard standing, the same thing happened this year!
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
There are two people – the first is Izzy Taylor, who I went to for work experience in 2006 then went back to work for later on. She drilled it in to me to do every job right and to the best of my ability. When I worked for her in 2012 it was just her and me with about 17 horses in. We both worked very hard that year and Izzy had some great results. She would also let me bring my horse who I had at the time for “day camp” most weeks. My mum would drop him off on the way to work, he would go in a spare stable for the day and Izzy would help me on the flat or with my jumping. She’s still one of the riders I admire the most.
The other two being Tina Cook and Michael Jung (no explanation required for either!). The other person is Hannah Dickinson (Kirkhill) who owns Temple Bridge. I bought a horse off her about 9yrs ago and stayed in touch which is how I got offered the ride on Temple Bridge. She competed all over Europe on him (he went clear XC at Burghley and came 9th in the World Cup at Strzegom with her).
Hannah sent me a random message on Facebook asking if I wanted to event him as his current rider, Laura Watson was giving up, I didn’t have to think about that for very long! Hannah has also been responsible for getting me the ride on my two other horses, Temple Jewel and Temple Traveller, both owned by her best friend Bex Lea. I call Hannah my horse finder!
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
Definitely my mother! She drives us everywhere and grooms for me at all the events! She also feeds the herd in the mornings for me! She’s contributed a lot financially over the years, never complains (well not too much ) and gives up her weekends to take us eventing. She must enjoy it otherwise surely she wouldn’t take us?!
For as long as I can remember weekend plans have revolved around what I want to do with the horses. When I was younger my mother and I would fight my dad and brother for the towing vehicle (my brother raced Go Karts..). I definitely couldn’t do what I do without her! The other unsung hero has to be Veronica who owns the school I use in the village. She never accepts any money for the use of the school, she just likes to see the school being used. She is also a very good rider and is very generous with her time if I need a hand with my flatwork.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
That it’s not as easy as Michael Jung makes it look!! I remember going to my first event and somehow finishing 11th on my dressage score, driving home thinking this is easy…! You have to be so competitive in all three phases to be in with a shout of being placed. The other thing I wish I’d known is how addictive it is! Even if we have a bad day we are already thinking ahead to the next event, it’s almost a way of life rather then a sport. Two days after the last event of the season I am getting withdrawal symptoms!
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing.
There are two, and even years later I’m not sure I would describe them as funny. The first was at mine and Temple Bridges’ first BE event where I had somehow learnt the wrong dressage test! I was watching the person before me go round thinking “that’s not the test I learned! I somehow learnt the test watching the next rider who had kindly offered to go ahead of me! I didn’t go wrong and it remains my biggest eventing fluke!
The other blooper is when I was doing my first and only intermediate at Rockingham (seemed like a good idea at the time) it had been raining that week and the showjumping was very slippy. I’m not the best or most accurate showjumper and Temple Bridge really deserves a lot of credit for getting us out of the holes I dig for us in this phase. We came round the corner to a huge Oxer and poor Temple Bridge slipped, but being the honest, generous horse he is, still tried to take off but didn’t make it and we had a rather dramatic horse fall in front of hundreds of spectators and a lot of top riders! We were in the OI section with a lot of Badminton refugees so the cream de la cream of eventing were there! Very much a mixed day!
Which is your favourite event & why?
There are a few, we always go to Wilton. We went there one year and have gone back ever since, it’s a long journey but the ground is always great, the XC always rides well and we have been placed there several times! My other favourite event is an event that sadly doesn’t run anymore, Purston Manor. It was so close I could hack there.
We used to go and watch when I was younger and I remember getting Matt Ryan’s autograph which I still have pinned up on my bedroom wall! The last year it ran I took Temple Bridge round the Novice. I had fallen off the week before at Carlton (which also no longer runs) and hadn’t jumped him in the week.
Temple Bridge has a funny quirk on the flat where if you don’t ride him in a good contact, he decks you, which he did twice the day before Purston. We somehow got through the dressage without incident and I can remember walking the XC thinking there’s just no way I can jump this! I went up to Jodie Amos in the warm up and she gave me some great advice. It turned out to be one of the best rides XC I have ever had. I hope it will return to the BE calendar one day!
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
Pizza every time! Although I am partial to scampi and chips too! And to wash it down with? Everyone who knows me, knows that I don’t drink! I don’t drink fizzy drinks either so it would be a good cup of tea! White, no sugar, stirred anti clockwise (everyone has a funny “thing!”).
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
George Ezras “Shotgun”, it’s very catchy and easy to sing along to! My mum has a limited CD collection in her car (which we travel to events in) the options are Adele or Lionel Richie which means we often travel in complete silence! I did buy her a Bastille CD though which I can listen to all day!
© Matt Nuttall Photography
I live in Suffolk with my partner Steve and our two children, Samuel and Benji. I am a horse trainer and coach and ride a huge variety of horses every day, ranging from eventers, dressage horses, show jumpers and hunters, to some very talented ponies. I particularly enjoy producing youngsters, although I don’t like to do the breaking in any more! Dolly is an Irish Sports Horse and has given us a fabulous season with many placings and finished this weekend with a win.
What are your aims for 2018/2019 for this horse?
I would love to continue building on my partnership with Dolly next year. She has already exceeded our expectations this season, so it would be nice to continue confidently at BE90 and hopefully aim for some bigger events next season.
Is this your first time at this event, or are you a regular? If a regular, what keeps you coming back? If a first timer, will you be back?
This was my first time at Oasby, and unfortunately the weather was horrendous! The ground staff, officials, organisers and volunteers were amazing, particularly the gentleman on the start gate, who were clearly soaking wet and freezing, but remained cheerful and supportive all day. I would very much like to return but in better conditions!
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
I started my career way back in 1986 as a working pupil for Ginny Elliot (then Ginny Leng), so certainly my biggest influences were those great riders such as Ginny, Lucinda Green and Mary King. Now I’m inspired by anyone still enjoying competing into their 50’s and beyond.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
The undisputed hero of the team has to be Dolly’s owner, Joanna Bottomley. She has been a huge support to me with all of the horses that I ride and has also helped me immensely with my own 5 year old, transporting him to shows and training. She’s a wonderful friend.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
I wish I’d known quite how many clothes you’d need in the ever diverse weather conditions of the eventing calendar!
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing.
Not so funny at the time, but we must have looked ridiculous. I turned up at Keysoe, dressed like a show jumper at the Spanish Sunshine Tour and not a waterproof between us, only to get utterly soaked walking the course in pouring rain, and remained very bedraggled for the rest of the day!
Which is your favourite event & why?
My favourite event this year was Burnham Market with it’s big, challenging cross country course. All the horses jumped especially well there.
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
My favourite dinner is a chicken curry, enjoyed with Steve and the boys, washed down with a large Gin and Tonic.
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
“Waterloo” by Abba!!
What are your aims for 2018/2019 for this horse?
Honduras is an amazing horse owned by Emma Brewer. I’ve competed him for 2 seasons now, with Broadway this year being his last event. He will now have a holiday and I will start riding him again after Christmas, getting him prepared for the event season to start in March! Our plans for next year are to go to the Mitsubishi Motors Cup at Badminton, where he qualified at Broadway, and then to take him novice with the aim of doing a few 1*’s towards the end of the season!
Is this your first time at this event, or are you a regular? If a regular, what keeps you coming back? If a first timer, will you be back?
I’ve been to Broadway a few times. It’s a lovely, friendly event in a really nice setting.
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
Definitely my trainer Jason Hobbs, who has worked so hard with me and given me so many amazing opportunities to allow me to get to where I am today!
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
There’s not one person in particular, but the whole team at home that keeps everything running smoothly. They allow us to have days like my win at Broadway, and are so supportive!
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
You’ll have bad days as well as good days! That is if things don’t go right the first time, just keep you head down and keep working hard because things do get better!
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing
It was a couple of years ago, at one of my very first events! I warmed up for show jumping, got called into the ring and then realised I hadn’t walked the course! I had to quickly come out and watch a few riders jump before I could go back in!!
Which is your favourite event & why?
I got the opportunity to compete at The Festival of British Eventing held at Gatcombe this year. It was an amazing experience with such an incredible atmosphere, I’d love to go back!
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
Anything my mum cooks is amazing! Got to stick with the chicken theme, so probably her chicken pie!
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
We tend to have the radio on. Although you can’t resist a sing a long to a Beyoncé song!!
I am an equine veterinary surgeon running the Minster Equine Ripon Branch specialising in equine lameness and poor performance. I own Flash (Black Jack V) and two other horses Mary and my homebred 3 year old Millie.
Flash and I had a very tough year last year. I fell over carrying a bottle of antibiotics at work and severed the main wrist artery to my left hand as well as al my left hand tendons. I had to undergo emergency surgery to repair the damage and I was told I may not gain full use of my hand again. A few weeks after, Flash came in from the field extremely lame. After extensive diagnostics, we found he had split the medial patella ligament within his left hind stifle joint. This is an extremely rare injury and I was told he would not be sound enough to ride again. After 6 months box rest and a further surgery on my hand we returned to walking exercise.
What are your aims for 2018/2019 for this horse?
As he made steady but positive progress my aim for this season became to complete one BE80 ideally at Askham Bryan. Fortunately, both Flash and myself returned to eventing against all odds in June of this year at Speetley. We have won three BE80’s this season and finished 8th at the BE80 national championships. Askham was our first return to BE90.
Is this your first time at this event, or are you a regular? If a regular, what keeps you coming back? If a first timer, will you be back?
Askham Bryan is my localist event so we always support it. It has become a bigger and better event every year and we will definitely return next year! I really enjoyed the change in the cross country course and they have also made quite a few technical questions which made the event more exciting!
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
I have many influences in my eventing career but I think the biggest one is my regular trainer Sue Hirst based at Mowthorpe Hill in Terrington where I keep Flash on livery. Sue has competed at high level eventing herself in the past and she has helped me over the past few years a phenomenal amount both with Flash’s training (which has been rather hair raising at times!) and through his injury. She has a very good knack of pushing us both without making us feel like we are out of our depth.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
The unsung hero of my team is without doubt my mum – she works full time as a special needs teacher but spends her weekends helping me event. She is chief groom, stock tier, boot cleaner, tail brusher, hoof oiler and so many more things! She is always there with a celebratory or commiseration hug at the end of my round and I really could not do it without her. She was also a huge support through both mine and Flash’s injuries last year.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
I wish I had comprehended the number of variables before I started eventing! There is so much that needs to go right for you when you go to an event and I wish I could go back and tell my younger self just enjoy every single minute of it.
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing
My biggest eventing blooper was probably when I did my first ever event as a 19 year old and I had no idea about the timing cross country so just went as fast as possible and pushed myself out of a place by acquiring lots of reverse time penalties.
Which is your favourite event & why?
My favorite events are probably Kelsall Hill or Oasby. I just love the atmosphere and cross country courses at these events!
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
My chicken dinner would consist of a large portion of red meat chicken (I prefer that to white meat!). Accompanied by lots of Yorkshire puddings and some stuffing with vegetables. Washed down with my favourite rose wine.
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
Our lorry Karaoke song at the moment is George Ezra and “Paradise” although my mum said perhaps we should change it to “Staying Alive”!!!
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