It has been a big month or two here in WA, especially for the eventing side of things.
I have been sitting on the other side of the fence this past month, putting my hand up to help out committees. Locally, I helped with the Dressage co-ordination of Dryandra CIC event, organising helpers, putting up dressage arenas (Pythagoras theory will be the death of me!) and making sure judges were warm and happy with coffee and good food.
I also rode at this event, with Tempus Fugit in the CNC 3star class and Major Moment in his second Eva105 class. Both horses scored well in the dressage, sitting in the top 3 at the end of the day. Major Moment was one of the first horses out XC on Sunday morning, and upon me attempting to go around a rider in front going slow (I assumed he’d had a refusal, but turns out he just got lost!) I managed to jump into a low hanging tree branch and scratch my eye. It was flushed and I had to wear this very attractive eye patch for a few hours before being cleared to continue.
It was lucky that I was cleared, as Tempus Fugit jumped a super round XC to come home in first place!
I have also been the XC Coordinator for a newly formed Futures Eventing Committee, made up of mostly young riders who haven’t been a committee before. We had a very successful inaugural competition last year, and this year was looking to be even better – but it also meant we were very busy! Knowing I would be needed on the day, I elected not to compete any horses, but my good friend Elizabeth Moore took one of my oranges, Hope Springs (aka Bradley) along for a run.
It was good fun being able to live the life of an owner, and hard work seeing what goes on behind the scenes – organising jump judges, measuring XC courses, printing course maps, etc. I dare every rider out there to put their hand up to help out one committee a year, and I think we would all learn to be more forgiving when you realise just how much goes into running an event.
On an end note, Elizabeth did a great job, and they took home first place! Very proud of Hope Springs (who is for sale), and is powered by Pryde’s EasiResult.
Coming up next month we have the Perth Horse Trials Three Day event – the biggest event on the WA calendar, and one of my personal favourites!