I didn’t know I needed this! I’ve done a few Pleasure rides this year. One on Tissy, who of course I love to ride, but I expect her to do well, you’d hope so after all her training, I expect her to ace the terrain, be good to trot up. I know her every move, I know she’ll throw in totally random spooks and bucks just for the sheer hell of it, she loves her job and I love her, but there’s still an expectation. One on Qantas, that was brimming with anxiety (on my part and his) because it’s been such a tough road getting him there, he’s a difficult horse on the ground, to ride, to manage. When he’s good he’s incredible when he’s bad he goes all out.

And my third of the year on Roo, who is laid back, up for anything and who I had absolutely no expectations, pre-conceptions or idea of how he’d be at a ride. So I went with an open mind, the goal of just to go with it and enjoy, and that is exactly what I did. I had a great time at the Ranskill 24km pleasure ride. I hadn’t realised up until that point that I hadn’t really been enjoying the rides themselves but expecting the results and using them as a tick box. It was an excellent reminder that although I want to be competitive and I’m always going to have structure to my goals, I also need to prioritise fun!!

Anyway, onto the point of this blog! I’ve had a couple of questions about how you’re meant to conduct yourself out on course so I thought this would be a good time to go through them. It would be interesting to hear if other endurance riders have other ‘unwritten rules’ or things that they expect from their fellow riders out on course?

Firstly I always ask if I can pass, I then always wait until there is a safe space to do so, if I’m behind a slower rider on a narrow track I’m just going to slow down and wait at a respectable distance so they don’t feel pressured into going faster.

When I’ve been given the ok to pass I kind of assess the horse as I’m approaching, if they’re chilled I’ll trot past, if they look anxious I’ll walk. Once I’ve overtaken I will then look behind me for a while to make sure they’re not having any difficulty and the horse isn’t chasing after us.

If you come across someone in need of help or a loose horse, always help them, but only if it is safe for you to do so. Don’t worry about your time, there are more important things in life. But also when you make it to the next check point, let them know you’ve been helping someone and how long it took, because the Technical steward may then grant you that time back.

When opening gates with other people around, say thank you to whoever the opener is of course, but also stay on the other side, a safe distance away so none of the horses have the opportunity to kick each other and don’t continue until everyone is safely back on board. There’s nothing worse than trying to get back on a horse that’s been hyped up by others careering off into the distance without it. Always check the ride schedule too, as if there is a lot of gates out on course, there is usually a gate allowance and that will effect your average speed.

As for checkpoints I always think it’s my responsibility to make sure they have my number so I always shout it out to them and of course thank them for their time. The same with all stewards out on course, without them we wouldn’t be riding, so make sure you say thank you to everyone.

If I come into a crew point and there is a horse across the track but it’s drinking I wait for it to finish drinking before I ask to pass. Now, there’s another point here that crew should really try and take their horses off track for crewing if possible so that they’re not blocking the track but sometimes there’s just not enough space.

I may have been keeping this a little quiet over the past couple of months because I wanted time to make sure it was going to work out and to get to know him.

But I think it’s now time to share the newbie of our herd, Roo! I was offered Roo on loan at the start of 2021 but I was at my maximum capacity and budget of three horses so I had to say no. He went to someone else and I was sad to have passed up the opportunity. The very week I put Azid up for sale, Roo was sent back from his new home as it wasn’t working out, and I was offered him again, knowing I now had space for a new horse. Fate, some might say.

I obviously did not know at the time that Qantas was going to injure himself and thought of Roo as a project pony, a lovely opportunity to have a horse on loan, and see how far we got without too much pressure. Despite now having to step up and be my main focus I’m still going to try and have a no pressure, no expectations attitude, as it’s actually really nice to be so chilled.

Roo is 8 years old and owned by a rider who was my absolute idol as a Junior, Liz, making this an even more surreal and dreamy experience. Liz and her mare Falaina were like my pin- ups, if there were signed posters of them, I would have had it on my wall. Falaina was an incredible mare and to have the opportunity to ride one of her sons is such an honour.

He was also backed by the extremely talented team at Stride Ahead so I know he’s had an excellent start to his training but he’s also not done very much, which I see as a positive, as he’s had time to mature and grow. He’s done a few graded rides but not yet done a 40km or above. So that’s my aim for this year, get his first 40km Novice qualification under his belt, spend the winter strengthening him up and improving his fitness and just enjoy next year and see where it takes us.

I can’t thank Liz enough for trusting him with me and I hope that we’ll have lots of fun adventures together.

Training myself to be as well balanced, strong and symmetrical as I can be is super important to me both physically and mentally. Physically for obvious reasons, I want to be the best human I can be for my horses but mentally so that when I’m out on a tough course I know that I’ve got this and when I cross that start line I know I’ve done everything I can. I was once told my a Young Rider, who was one of my idol at the time, that ‘A fit horse can do nothing with a tired rider, but a fit rider can hold together a tired horse’. That’s stuck with me and something I’ve tried to live up to.

Now I won’t lie I’m failing a bit on the tip top condition human part at the moment. When I’m training for FEI I have loads of motivation to train myself, because I need the extra muscle to make weight. But when I don’t have that goal I sometimes find it a bit harder to motivate myself to go hard at the gym. Couple that with multiple injuries over the past three years; two sets of broken ribs on different occasions, dislocating my shoulder twice, breaking my hand, three concussions, multiple bike crashes and horse falls, and I’m no where near where I need to be.

But actually that’s ok, I know that, I know what I need to do and sometimes taking a slightly easier, slower route is fine. It means than when I get back to the bigger distances I won’t be sour about training, I’ll be excited. That’s where mixing it up really comes in handy, keeping it fresh, interesting and fun is so important, otherwise it just becomes a chore.

So at the moment I do three strength/weight sessions in the gym a week. Two bodyweight sessions at home following either Madfit or Yoga with Adriene on YouTube. Then one to two cardio sessions either on the rower at work or on my mountain bike.

Is it my fault? That’s the question that’s been bobbing around my brain recently. I have had three horses since retiring Tissy from international competition, in the hope of returning to FEI and Team selection. It’s been 7 years since I was last selected to represent Team GBR. So what am I doing wrong? Or is it really just luck?

I am very grateful that both Pria and Azid have been rehomed to wonderful owners, who enjoy them and care for them, that they have been able to have a ridden career and continue to compete and have adventures. But both couldn’t cope with the higher level training. Qantas has recently pulled his bicep muscle in the field and is out for the rest of the season. Was it my fault?

I keep a detailed diary of my training and the care of my horses and when I look back through the training I see nothing that could be deemed too much. I very very rarely train over 20km at a time, they only train 3-4 x a week in their novice years, day on day off up to 80km and 4 days on one day off above that. I mix up my training throughout the week and change the training focus every 6 weeks. They have three months off every year to just be horses and have a holiday. I don’t over compete with only 3-5 competitions a season and those aren’t at high speeds. They have weeks off after competition and are always bought back slowly into work.

So when I analyse my training I can’t see where I’m going wrong and I wouldn’t change what I do. But maybe something does need to change? But what? A conundrum I have been mulling over for a while, is it me, is it luck, are there external factors, do I need a major overhaul?

But for now Qantas is actually recovering well, he’ll get everything he needs to help him through and then we’ll make a plan and see how he goes. I’m remaining hopeful that this is just a blip in his endurance horse road and not a full stop. The hardest part is seeing all the potential in your horse, being excited about that spark they show, having hope that they’ll get there and then it being taken away. That’s why equestrians are so emotionally resilient, we have grit, we get back up again and we don’t give up, but most of all we always put the horse first.

Now please remember I have accumulated all this kit over many years, this is in no way a bragging look at what I’ve got post, but purely an exercise in answering the regular questions about what endurance kit do I have, or what brand my water bottle is or what I find comfiest to ride in.

I will try to link as many bits of my gear as possible and as always would love to hear what you use or any ways in which you may think I could improve my equipment. So lets get into it.

First up: Tack!

Reactor Panel Saddles

Stubben Girths

Sheepskin girth covers

Stirrup leathers

Free jump stirrups

Pionneer Numnahs

Pioneer Custom Endurance Tack

Myler bit

Water bottle holder

Next we have my kit:

Training Helmet

Competition Helmet

Competition Gloves

Ariat Paddock boots

Intercuir Champs

Edwin Bell Belt

Gaston mercier socks

Noble Equestrian Tights

Kerritts Ice-Fil top

Equipment:

Brushing boots

Stethascope

Heart rate monitor

Thermatex rug

I know many people would not be particularly proud of completing a pleasure ride, and even more so would not expect a rider who’s ridden at FEI level to be proud of completing a pleasure ride, but here I am, REALLY DAMN PROUD of completing a pleasure ride.

I see the novice years as the ‘education’ years for my horses. It’s where I have the opportunity to practice as many of the scenarios that will come up when they eventually get to FEI as I can. I try to emulate the processes they’ll be doing in years to come as closely as possible.

The week running up to a pleasure ride is exactly the same as my run up to a big race. I like to take them on overnight stays and to busy venues. I like to get them out of bed early to watch the race riders warm up and start together, walk through the vet gate the night before and generally be exposed to as much competition atmosphere as possible.

Now in the past this has gone pretty smoothly with Azid and Pria, they have taken everything in their stride, doing their novice rides at FEI venues, but Qantas is a little more sensitive. But that’s ok, it just means the education part of his training is even more important and it may take us a little more time to get him to be at ease at a competition.

Which is why I’m so proud that Qantas was well behaved for his first sleep over, walked around the busy venue listening to me and not freaking out, that he went into the vetting, that he started calmly. He was ace out on course, really forward going and sure footed, he never pulled to follow any horses that passed and he accepted being sponged down by the crew out on course like a champ. He went in front and behind and kept a lovely even pace.

I like to do the shorter distances like a mini race ride. Start slow and then increase the speed as the ride goes on, just like I would each loop of a race. If the conditions are right I also like to canter across the finish line, this gives me a better idea of what they are going to be like to crew in vet gates and gives them a teeny bit of practice for any potential racing finishes.

Qantas then stood beautifully still to be untacked and crewed at the end of his ride and did the most wonderful trot up to finish. His mind was well and truly tired ,you could see it in his face and body language but his body was in top notch form and by the way he turned out in his field later that day he still had plenty of energy left in the tank.

It would be so easy to focus on the negatives, that we had to downgrade to a pleasure ride because his heart rate was too high at the start to risk it, that he panicked and bucked me off, that his initial trot up was sideways across three lanes, that he hates the sound of sloshes, that he spins and bronks at the sound of horses coming up behind him, but to me those are things we can work on. It’s the improvements that make me happy and are what I want to focus on.

Every training session and every competition I do with Qantas I see as a stepping stone to our long term goal, the results don’t really matter, it’s the journey and giving him the best foundation I can so that one day when we are competing for a win I’ll know I did everything I could to set him up for success.

The run up to competing Qantas for the first time in 2021 has not been smooth. His sarcoid wounds took much longer to heal, he was being funny about having a girth on and it seemed like the weeks were flying by without us even starting training. But thanks to Readwood reahabilitation livery Qantas had three weeks on the water treadmill and then I got a solid three weeks of riding in before our first 40km of the season in July, better late then never!

It’s not my normal pre-season routine and without that usual structure I wasn’t exactly my usual confident self. In the week running up to the ride Qantas got me off twice, he’s just so spooky, but, he was going well and all his pre-ride checks were great. So I packed everything up the night before. I use this list to help me:

I gave the horses a bath and off we went to Cirencester. Last time Qantas went to a ride we didn’t make it into the vetting so in the hope of giving him time to settle we decided to go the night before. He also had the added advantage that Tissy was coming too.

Once I got to the venue and set up the corral I gave him a couple of hours to take it all in before taking him on a walk around the venue and most importantly practicing getting into the vetting and doing his trot up. This actually went remarkably well, by the end he was actually getting in the entrance tent and his trot ups were perfect. I went to sleep hopeful that we may actually get to start our ride tomorrow, but the big question was, would he be settled enough to have his heart rate taken and do the 40km GER or would we need to downgrade to just a trot up and do the 30km PR.

Getting Qantas going again after his long winter break and laser surgery has been quite the mission. He’s always been pretty sensitive about his girth area and very easily gets tense in his lats. The laser site took longer than expected to heal and has healed as a little bump rather than flat, which isn’t idea as it’s right under the girth.

Every time I thought he was ready to start again I’d take him out and after 20mins the tail swishing would start, he’d turn to nip the girth and then freeze on the spot and if asked to move would throw himself sideways. So I gave him more and more time off.

Thankfully the wonderful guys at Readwood Rehabilitation Livery took him on for 3 weeks, he was getting fat and unfit and I was a bit stuck with what to do with him. They did a great job of getting him back in shape and ready for ridden work, softening up the scar tissue, getting him checked by a Physio and doing sessions on the underwater treadmill. I couldn’t recommend them enough and would love to send my horses for pre-season training with them every year.

Once we starting riding we’ve had a few hiccups with his sensitivity, but considering he hadn’t been ridden since November he’s actually come back to it great. He has a 40km planned soon and I’m just hoping that this time we make it into the vet and across the start line at least. We’re taking Tissy with him to hopefully keep him calmer and going the night before to give him a chance to settle, so fingers crossed this may be the start of his endurance career and end of his current issues.

Alongside that, Azid has found a lovely new home, he’s on a lease for now, if the owners like him then the rest of the sale price will be paid and they can keep him, if it doesn’t work out then he can come back to me. I feel it’s the best of both worlds between sale and loan and really makes sure everyone is happy and Azid is looked after.

Going on a hunt fun ride is something completely new to me, so when I was asked to help plan a route for one, I really wasn’t sure what the expectations of such a route would be. In endurance we have clear rules regarding routes, no more than 10% tarmac being one, and we all know how I love rules and planning. We managed to plan a lovely route using woodlands kindly opened up for us by the Duchy, bridleways and a bit of roadwork.

In the UK Bloodhound hunts follow the scent of a human runner over a pre-planned course during winter hunting. In the summer they need to make an income to look after the hounds and to pay hunt staff so they put on fun rides.

This particular ride we had 42 horses in attendance all setting off together on a guided route of approx 11miles. It took about 3hrs in total and was definitely a different experience for Tissy, who is used to to doing that distance in under an hour. But I had great fun getting her pretty for the meet and using my leather tack, although my presentation know how is next to nil and my plait lasted about 10mins!

It would make excellent training for an endurance horse that’s experienced but is about to start their racing career as they could practice warming up with lots of other horses and keeping calm in a big group. All the jumps are optional, and Tissy will literally stand on poles and step over logs rather than jump them, so I was very surprised when I thought I’d have a go at a teeny tiny cross pole that she actually picked both front feet off the floor.

First, some excitement. As some people know I am now supported by Kevin Bacon Horse care. I have been using the hoof dressing for years and have spent the last few weeks testing out their other products. So I’ll be keeping you updated with how I get on with them in the future.

Qantas is back from three weeks at Readwood rehabilitation livery. As I still couldn’t ride him due to the laser site being so sensitive under his girth, he went to loose some weight and do some training on the water treadmill. He’s come back looking great and ready to start being ridden, finally!

Probably the biggest update is that Azid is looking to find a new home. I don’t want to keep pushing him, he’s only 8 and has so much to give in other aspects away from aiming at FEI endurance. I don’t want his happiness and welfare to be at the detriment of my ambitions. So now he’s sound and has proven he is happy at the lower levels of Endurance or hacking and lightly schooling I felt that I should give him a chance to do just that.

I’ve thought about continuing to try and get him up to FEI level but I don’t feel comfortable pushing him and I would always have at the back of my mind ‘is this right for him, am I going to break him’. If I was to keep him I know I wouldn’t give him the attention and work he deserves as my focus would be on the horse that’s going to perform at the level I want to compete at. He loves attention and he loves his adventures so I want him to have a home that will give their all to him.