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Find out all about this weeks winners, their horses, their plans for the season 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.
Anna Horton © Ultimate Images
What are your aims for 2017 for this horse?
The aims with Classic Affair this year would be the 2* European Teams, Blenheim CIC 3* and after this result he is qualifies for Gatcombe Intermediate Championships which I would love to do.
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 have been to Hambleden several times. I started coming to Hambleden when I was in the VWH Pony Club and there were PC events held there. We have been back for several years now doing the BE event. There is quite a lot of atmosphere in the SJ ring which is very educational for the
horses. The ring is surrounded with trade stands and the XC runs past it. The XC course is well built and has several challenges, and it doesn’t take us long to get there which is always an added bonus.
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
Chris Hall has taught me since I was 11 years old. He has been amazing helping me through the highs and lows and putting up with those pre-season worries and melt downs!
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
Lorna Edgar, from Baileys Horse Feeds. She has been amazing helping with nutritional advice for the horses. We have had a few fussy eaters and she has helped to ensure they are getting all the right nutrients that they need.
Anna Horton
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
How expensive and addictive it was going to be!!
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing
Forgetting my sports bra when going eventing and having to do sitting trot on a very bouncy horse. We ended up stopping in the lorry at Asda to buy not one but two to strap them down!
Anna Horton
Which is your favourite event & why?
Gatcombe Festival. I was lucky enough to compete in the PC show jumping there for a few years and my dream was always to compete there. The dream came true last year when I jumped round the Advanced with my mare Barones. The atmosphere was incredible and there were so
many people on the XC it was surreal. I’d love to go back this year.
Anna Horton
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
Probably a take away, there is a really good Thai and curry house on the way home. You have to take the highs of eventing when they come as there seem to be a lot of lows, so I will definitely
wash it down with some fizz.
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
Kung Fu Fighting, my mum knows all the words, and moves!
Anna Horton
Amey Veal
What are your aims for 2017 for this horse?
All being well, I would like to do a novice this year. I have already qualified for the 90 regional finals but I am going to try and qualify for the 100 reginals before the end of June and go from there.
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 are becoming a regular at Solihull. It is one of the furthest shows we would go to but not a bad drive for us. Our first time here we retired by fence 4. Quiz was completely unruly at a show when I first got him, completely opposite to how he was at home. It has been 2 years of hard work and lots of hunting to get us to where we are now. He is still incredibly spooky out on course but it makes the ride so much more fun when it goes right.
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
I have lessons with Becky Woolven on Quiz. Becky has had a tough job in teaching me as I compare everything to the hunting field. Becky makes me pay more attention to detail and makes me feel so encouraged and motivated to give it all a go.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
There are 2. My mum, who has always believed in me and wants me to enjoy myself and my fiancé Thomas, he is extremely competitive (which I am not at all). Tom is really enjoying it now, I even have him trained well enough to do studs etc for when Mum can’t make it.
Amey Veal
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
I don’t know. I think you learn as you go. I suffer terribly from nerves. Eventing for me is all about personal bests, so at each event I just try to improve from the last one.
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing
Funniest or embarrassing I’m not sure. Out first time at Treborough Hill. On the cross country, I had a stop at fence 2, slid into fence 3 and fell off, legged back up and a stop at fence 4. I have never been so exhausted and embarrassed.
Which is your favourite event & why?
I love Dauntsey Park. It is just down the road from us and you feel like your riding a mini Badminton when you’re there. We are lucky enough to hunt across parts of it throughout the winter and when we go there I always give a running commentary of the cross country. Trying to remind Quiz of his summer occupation.
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
You can’t beat a burger and chips from the kebab van on your way home.
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
I’m usually asleep.
Amey Veal
Natalie McGoldrick
What are your aims for 2017 for this horse?
I am a full time equine vet, running my own practice, South Coast Equine Vets, in Hampshire, so my aims have to be realistic, and fit around my work! This horse is entered for his first Intermediate at Aston in a week’s time, and I would hope for him to be 2* by the end of the season….but he is an unknown quantity above Novice level!
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 have only been to Withington twice before, as I managed to get myself balloted out a couple of times! It is a super event, with a big, bold, XC track. They also do a huge amount to the ground; even the dressage warm up was spiked, and soft.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
Definitely my mother, Jo, who has taken me to pretty much every event since I started Pony Trials at 15! I wouldn’t be where I am today without her giving up her weekends to ferry me around the country! More recently, my aunt, Marina, has also become a big help making sure everyone is fed and watered at home, and grooming the horses for me so I can get as many ridden as possible on a daily basis!
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
How much of an addiction it is!
Which is your favourite event & why?
It would have to be Houghton Hall, mainly for the memories. I finished 2nd in the CCI* there in 2010, having lead from the dressage, until the penultimate show jump! Being an amateur, getting to trot up last, and show jump last, on the final day, was a memory I will treasure forever! And finishing 2nd wasn’t too much of a disappointment!
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
Either a good steak, or chicken fajitas! And it would be a toss up between a few cocktails, or a good NZ Sauvignon Blanc!
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
Sadly, I normally spend the lorry journeys catching up on paperwork, and booking appointments for clients! If I had the choice to sit back and relax, it would have to be Bruno Mars!
Ellie Barnard
What are your aims for 2017 for this horse?
The aim for him is the remaining BE100U18 classes with the hope of being selected for the championship at Frickley Park next year. If he feels confident and ready he may step up to Novice at 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’m a bit of a regular! I love Chilham as the setting is beautiful and it is always a well run event. I have had good rides at Chilham on multiple horses and they all seem to go well there which keeps me coming back.
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
My first pony Harry, who was an absolute superstar. We mainly show jumped and I definitely “caught the bug” with him. He was super careful, keen and just as competitive, if not more so, than I was!
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
My parents, my Dad does all the driving and always gets the least pleasant jobs such as the studding and Mum who usually has to stay at home to look after the other horses.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
How addictive and expensive it becomes!
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing
Although I didn’t find it funny at the time, galloping home at Borde Hill thinking we had gone clear cross country in the time only to find out I had completely missed out the second water is quite amusing to look back on.
Which is your favourite event & why?
My favourite event has to be Chilham or Berkshire College as they are both so well run. BCA provides a lovely course to step up and Chilham has such a beautiful setting.
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
Chicken fajitas and sprite.
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
Whatever Dad chooses to play but I’m usually asleep anyway!
Ellie Barnard
Daniel May
I am riding for a living currently the main rider at a yard aiming to be a professional one day! I’d like to think that I’m very hard working, motivated and driven. I’ve been riding for 11 years and haven’t given up yet. If I can make the next 11 as great as the previous, I’ll be a happy boy! My long term goals are to compete at a 2* and have a nice string of horses.
What are your aims for 2017 for this horse?
I would love to say Badminton, but I think that’s a little far fetch. We will see how the rest of this season goes. Hopefully next year we could go intermediate. Even do a few 3 day events. Possibly a 2*
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 is my first year eventing so my first time at Chilham, I loved it. Such a friendly well run event. I will definitely be back.
Who is the biggest influence in your eventing career to date?
Bryony Holloway as there are dozens of amazing photos and memories around the yard, which makes me want to make my own.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
My boss, Bryony Holloway. She is a true inspiration to us all. She has allowed me to compete this amazing horse, given up so much of her time to help me. Bryony’s drive and ambition with the horses really inspires me to never give up on my dream.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
I knew horses weren’t cheap but no one told me I needed a bank loan for this eventing malarkey!
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced eventing?
I haven’t had many runs as of yet, so I’m sure there are a few more “Oopsie” moments still to come. But so far my most embarrassing experience was my hat silk flying off half way round my xc course (I actually think it was fence 3 or 4)!
Which is your favourite event & why?
My favourite event so far has to be Hambleden, cantering through the blue bell woods was so beautiful. It made me feel as if I was in my own world.
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
After every event I love going down the pub to have a good old fashion sausage and mash with a large glass of red.
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
I may be young but I’m an old boy at heart love to listen to a bit “Spandau ballet” on the way. There album is normally on repeat!
Liberty Taylor-Hopkins
What are your aims for 2017 for this horse/pony?
My aims are to qualify for HOYS and become more confident as a rider.
Is this your first time at this show, or are you a regular? If a regular, what keeps you coming back? If a first timer, will you be back?
I have been competing at shows since I was 2 years old. I think the thing that keeps me coming back is the thrill of competing against others.
Who is the biggest influence in your career to date?
My biggest influence is Charlotte Dujardin. This is because she also started in the showing world to then become a superstar.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
I think it’s my mum because she always encourages me to keep going and teaches me new techniques of riding. She also takes me and Buzz to all the shows.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started riding?
How early you have to get up before the show starts.
Describe the funniest “blooper” you have experienced showing/riding
My funniest “blooper” is when I was cantering round the ring on my pony and I lost my stirrup and managed to steer him out of the ring.
Which is your favourite show & why?
My favourite show is Royal Windsor because of the setting and when the guards come and present the rosettes to you.
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
My favourite dinner is Sunday Roast, washed down with a coke .
What is your current favourite lorry karaoke song?
My favourite karaoke song at the moment is Three Little Birds by Bob Marley because it helps to calm my nerves.
Holly Osborne © Ultimate Images
What are your aims for 2017 for this horse?
To move up to intermediate and 2*
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 competing at Withington, but as it’s a local event I have been for the past few years to watch and I have always been desperate to compete there. I would definitely go back, it was very well organised and they did an amazing job with the ground.
Who is the unsung hero of your team and why?
The unsung hero of the team would be my mum. She is someone that I couldn’t do it without. The amount of time she puts in, from looking after the horses in the week whilst I’m at school, to being top chauffeur and groom at the competitions. I wouldn’t be able to do it without her!
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before you started eventing?
I wish I had known how expensive it is!
Which is your favourite event & why?
I would say my favourite event so far would be The Pony Club Championships at Cholmondeley Castle. The XC is always very technical (which suits my horse) so it never ends up being a dressage competition.
Holly Osborne © Ultimate Images
What will be in your “Chicken Dinner” and what will you wash it down with?
Definitely a roast! With roast potatoes, pigs in blankets and Yorkshire pudding. To wash it down I would have an ice cold glass of lemonade.
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