Amy Jones’ Eventing
Equestrian Life
Hi, just to introduce myself my name is Amy, I’m 21 years old, based in Lincolnshire and am an amateur event rider, as well as a law student. My two horses are Ella and Pumpkin. Ella is a 15.2hh chestnut mare who defies looks and conformation to be an Intermediate event horse. She lives out and spends the majority of her life caked in mud! Pumpkin was given to me over a year ago now and she is the funniest horse I know. She is another chestnut mare but whereas Ella is clever and nimble poor old Pump is totally the opposite. Her long legs don’t always know where they are going. She is a fun horse to hack though and mum enjoys schooling her when I am concentrating on Ella. The other major horse in my life is Tick. He does not belong to me but I ride him for his owner and treat him as my own. He is a 17.2hh warmblood who let’s say, is rather quirky and knows what he wants but despite that I know he trusts me and will jump pretty much anything I ask. Dancer is my new ride for the 2013 season. He is a 15.2hh palomino welsh x.
Photos kindly supplied
So it has been a very busy couple of months for the team and there has been a real mix of thrills and spills! So to start off with Ella. We completed our first Intermediate run of the season at Belton Horse Trials in April and I could not have hoped for a better day. Ella was relaxed in the dressage to score 36, had a couple of silly rails show jumping but flew round the xc like a pro’ to be inside the time! I was over-the-moon to finish 7th in a strong field. We then were out a couple of weeks later to compete in the Novice Regional Final at Keysoe. This day did not go as I had planned it at all. Ella did a reasonable dressage and was jumping out of her skin in the show jumping, so much so that she out-jumped me and I ended up eating rubber! The typical thing was we would have been clear had I had not had a tumble! I set out on the XC but after a faller ahead of me on course when I was held, I made the decision to retire and save her for another day. I then set off to Brigstock International at Rockingham Castle. It was a new event but was an amazing venue. Ella did a bit of a dodgy dressage but made up for it by jumping clear round the show jumping which Henry at Cranwell ODE
was a massive relief after the fall at the previous event. However, disaster struck on the xc. To people who know me if I’m going to have a fall it will always be at the water and Rockingham was no exception. Ella jumped boldly in over the log then had to take one stride to canter through the water. However, on landing she stopped dead and spun and I went straight over her head falling just short of the water. I was a bit shocked as Ella never usually does things like that but I got back on and Ella flew the rest of the course and we got to jump the Olympic Legacy fence which was very exciting! Upon retrieval of my air jacket from the water it turned out a few other horses after Ella had done the same and it was decided where the sun was in the sky it was causing a strange reflection into the water so for everyone after me they were throwing stones into the water to cause ripples. It really was just very unlucky but these things happen and I would like to say a massive thanks to Sara Ashley of Red House Stables for sponsoring the event and coming all the way to support. Typically our fall also made its way into Horse and Hound, how very embarrassing! Tick has had a quiet couple of months following an unfortunate accident out XC. However, he has just had his first outing again at Cranwell Unaffiliated ODE. He had not been out jumping since his accident so I was hoping for a nice, inviting course but the show jumping was up-to-height, full of bright fillers and rather twisty and the XC was kind, apart from a roll top jump into water which I would never have expected to see at 95cm level! In the dressage Tick is improving and I was happy with his score. In the show jumping, he coped well in the tight arena and just had one down. XC was going to be the real test for us as I wasn’t sure if he would have lost any confidence but he was fab taking everything in his stride and did the most massive leap into the water I thought we were going to land on the step out! A few time penalties meant we finished 4th but could not have hoped for a better return to eventing. I also had the ride on Tick’s half brother, Henry, as his owner, Becky, has been ill recently. Henry did a lovely dressage for a score of 30 (why can’t my horses do that?), coped well with the difficult show jumping then flew round the xc to end up winning the section! This was not a bad result considering I have only ridden him a handful
Ella at Keysoe NRF
of times but is just typical I can win on someone else’s horse but not my own! Thank you to Becky for turning him out so beautifully even if he did smell of cherry and lavender! Dancer has also had a successful month. We went to Shelford to compete in the BE80(T) which was a new experience for both of us. I think it’s a brilliant format to have the trainers on the ground to help the competitors and makes the whole event more friendly. Dancer did a nice dressage for 37 then did a double-clear inside the time to finish third. Apart from the accident and the falls, this past couple of months have been exciting. Tick’s farrier, Dan Miller, has agreed to sponsor Tick throughout the eventing season this year which is a massive help. Tick is not the easiest horse to shoe and Dan does a brilliant job working with him. We are now also kindly sponsored by Helen Choma who is an equine touch practitioner. She has been working with Tick and Ella the p ast six weeks and already I can see the impact. Ella is working much softer into her contact and is much more flexible so I am really excited to see how the equine touch will help us with our eventing. I would also like to say a special thanks to Zoe from Fenland Folk for sponsoring my BE membership this year. The help from sponsors is really invaluable to me and without it I would struggle to keep Ella and Tick competing. Ella is off to do the Intermediate at Catton shortly where I am hoping I will not have any more tumbles! I have also just received the call up to ride for team GB for the student riders in Sweden in June so there is plenty to look forward to! Something not so fun is all my law finals starting soon so hope everyone is having fun in the sun whilst I’m stuck inside studying!
74
www.equestrianlifemagazine.co.uk
EL-JUL13-S5.indd 74
21/06/2013 20:09:20