Now this was a tricky one… if money, annual leave and time in a day were unlimited my goal would be to clamber up the FEI ranks, get selected for Team GBR and go to a Championship…unfortunately for me everything comes at a price, be it money or time.
I no longer want to commit my whole free time to training for Endurance. I enjoy hiking, mountain biking, climbing, surfing and going on adventures. I’m happy to train hard for 1 or 2 bigger events in a season but I don’t want to spend 7 months at FEI Endurance training level.
I don’t have the finances to do more than 3 events a year anyway. Even if I qualify for a Championship again, would I be able to afford to go? Probably not without sacrificing elsewhere in my life.
I have limited annual leave and 3 jobs, so also limited free time for training.
BUT, I’m competitive, I love Endurance, I live for the training, the goals, the ambition, the racing, so where does that leave me?
I decided for now that I would still give FEI a go. Maybe only one FEI competition a year but still try to qualify for a 3* at least. Which means this year I would like Estrid to attempt her first 1*. I would also like to do a national CER and have the thrill of a race ride again. I would love to aim for the Development Squad but unfortunately I think time and money will be prohibitive (keeping my options open though!).
Who knows whether our year goes to plan, we have 6 UK FEI opportunities and lots of 80km CER’s to chose from so hopefully we’ll achieve something, or at least have fun trying!
Beth Endurance 