An unexpected perk of doing 64km, that in my mind I had previously seen as a pointless distance as it didn’t get you your FEI qualifiers, is that I felt no pressure. This was purely a stepping stone for Esrtid’s education and experience. It sounds silly, as surely this is the mindset I should have had all along right? Get experience and have fun? But I have been so goal orientated, so performance and results focused that I had forgotten to just do it for the sake of it, for enjoyment and experience and the memories.
So there I was enjoying camping with my pony, ready to see what the day would bring but with no expectations, actually just enjoying myself. Yet Estrid gave me the feeling as if I had just won a race or qualified for a Championship, she was incredible all day and I couldn’t be more proud of her.
We started off very well, first she was still in her corral when I woke up. Second she had eaten and drunk. Third, we got our lowest starting heart rate ever of 40bpm. We rode the majority of the ride by ourselves, both loops around the 16kph mark. A little faster than I had planned but I was going off how Estrid felt and the speed she was happy at.
Our presentation into the vet gate was around the 8minute mark but I was pretty happy with that as it was the first time she’d ever been in a vet gate hold area and there was a lot going on. She hasn’t quite got used to lots of water being poured on so it is a bit of a waiting game rather than rapid cooling game at the moment, but we’re working on it.
In the vet gate she ate and drank, stayed pretty relaxed and was generally oblivious of the horses being crewed around her. She seems to be much better in a busier environment than back at the trailer by herself.
She went out on the next loop ears pricked, after getting past the banners she didn’t like the look of, and off she went like she was fresh as a daisy another loop at 16kph. We did our first trotting sloshes, she started drinking on course. We even passed lots of ponies and she did it without hesitation and without stopping dead in front of them (her past favourite party trick). She just kept on giving and she didn’t even seem tired.
We came back to the venue for our final vetting between two big groups of horses and I wasn’t sure if this would overstimulate her and we’d struggle to get her heart rate down but she seemed happier than ever. We even got our lowest finishing heart rate of 48bpm.
She was exceptionally behaved, a joy to ride, lovely to crew and she made us all so proud of her. She even won her class! Thanks must go to Dan, Mum & Dad for crewing. A big thank you to the Avon Valley team for putting on a great event and to the Sponsors Zilco for my lovely goody bag. I think I will cherish the memory of that 64km ride forever as I don’t think it gets more feel good than that.
Of course we have things to work on, we have learnt new things about Estrid and we’ll have new challenges ahead, but for now I will bask in the glow of a sweet success.
Beth Endurance 