Wednesday 9th May 2007- May 3rd to 6th BADMINTON!!
Wow!!!

Well I can’t believe it, we have managed it, and it was fantastic experience, and I am still on cloud nine about it. Wally was an absolute Star.

We spent much of the day on Monday preparing the lorry, and making sure we had five hundred and fifty nine of everything, just in case. We included four bikes, red, blue, black and little tiny. Two Jack’s got in on Monday, were most disappointed to learn they had to wait yet ANOTHER day.

Tuesday morning, after not much sleep as I am too excited, I rode all my other horses, before leaving at 1pm after a quick shower. Clare (Wally’s owner) drove down too, following us in my car, known as ‘the green bogey’, and our two Jack’s, Toot and Tottie, six hundred pairs of shoes, two cocktail dresses, and almost my entire clothing collection.

We arrived three and a half hours later, and Wally was vet-checked in, and yes, his flu certificate was all in order!! He was stabled in the Portcullis yard, just below the house, and it was lovely there with the sun spilling into the centre of it.

My Mother then decided to do her normal behaviour of finding the best, most level spot to park in the “first timers” lorry park at the top of the hill. Much moving went on as the exact spot was selected, and then we had to assist whilst levelling equipment was brought out and the lorry was then subjected to spirit level treatment. “All very important Gem, if you do not wish me to roll on top of poor Louise in the middle of the night” I decided, on balance, that it was better to have Louise a normal shape than to argue.

We then decided to visit the very popular stable canteen, which provides for the grooms, owners, riders, slaves, anyone really, a superb meal and pudding of old school type, but very much scrummier, and we are generously given pink vouchers and grooms vouchers for the purpose.

Off to bed, as have a lesson at nine with Nick Burton, so reasonably early start.

Wednesday dawns sunny, and is the most beautiful day, my lesson went well, and I am feeling good about it, despite knowing that the flying changes (Four of them) will be an issue. We have decided not too attempt the first one as Wally gets very stressed, and I do not want to mess up the rest of the movements. I popped him away, briefly and then Mum and Clare set about washing him again. He had some little brown marks on his side that have come from the saddle flaps and have stained him slightly, so they suggested putting the purple shampoo on neat to try to lift the stain. This done Clare and I set on starting to plait the 21 plaits. This took some time, particularly as we were being very fussy. Suddenly, as I reached the last few, Clare remembered the purple shampoo, now been on half an hour in the sun!!

              The fences at Badminton are not small!  (Photo courtesy of John Britter Photography)

“Umm it will be fine,” she said, “ Ummm yes, no ,yes it will come right , it will be fine………..”

Next, to the briefing: this is where you meet all the important people, and learn what you are supposed to do (and not to do) and all in the correct order. It’s quite hard for us, so we have to concentrate.

So, off we go to trot up at Badminton for the first time, looking as immaculate as I can, with my hair ironed, skirt and jacket, face on, 21 plaits and purple sides!!!!

Wally went through the archway at the house and stood up in front of the ground jury, turned his head to look at all the people in the stand. “Hey Gem, I think those people are looking at us, come on lets show them how clever we are!!”

He was an absolute Star and looked beautiful.

Popped Wally to bed, changed, and off to walk the course for the first time, armed with J R s, portable toilets(!), water bottles and course plan.

Yes, it looked quite big really, and quite tricky on first inspection, and I was worried about the ground which seemed a bit rough in places and without much ground cover.

The doggies had a lovely time running about the park, whilst I decided which of the jumps looked impossible, possible, and definitely needing the alternatives.

By the time we returned, Clare was gently turning into the shade of a lobster, having caught the sun badly with the wind. Mum had just gone brown, and I was still going through the jumps in my head for at least the third time.

It was now getting late, and after finishing Wally, we then cycled down to the stable café, looking forwards to our lovely cooked dinner. By now it was getting on to about eight thirty, so we were all very hungry, and tired.

On arrival, we realised we had forgotten the tickets, and with a very scary matron on that evening, Mum said she would cycle back to get them from the lorry. Clare and I stayed and chatted and before long she was back, but alas, with the wrong tickets for tonight.

Time was ticking on and serving closes at nine and dinners were getting fewer. Never mind she says, I will go and get the pink tickets, and before you could say Jack Robinson, off she went again.

                                              Waiting before the trot up  (Photo courtesy of John Britter Photography)

Back she came, armed with the pink tickets, and handing them to matron, we dutifully got our trays and Clare and I selected our dinners and went on to collect salad, all put in little plates onto the trays. Mum was behind us and the scary Matron scooped the last of the casserole into her plate and popped it on the tray. “This is lovely” she says enthusiastically, “I am really looking forward to this”, and moves onto the salad bar. I turned at that moment to witness her selecting some coleslaw, whilst the rest of her dinner slid unceremoniously, and very slowly off her tray, face down, into the lettuce bowl.

Sometimes, I guess it’s just not meant to be!!

Thursday is a rest day as my dressage is Friday so I have decided to graze Wally first thing, up by the house, then do some jobs for my sponsors Puffa, then walk the course, and ride Wally later on. The day seemed to go very quickly, and I walked the course with Robin, who gave me some very sound advice. One of his comments was at fence 9, - The Oxer: “Gem, don’t miss at this one!”

Wally was again a good boy, and settled - felt very loose and lovely tonight. He has gone on Hunger strike now, though as he knows there is a competition to do, and is getting himself ready. He also prepares himself by sleeping in his bed and covering himself with lots of snowy woodchips. I plaited him up tonight and put his silk hood on so the wood chips did not stick in his plaits. The rest of the family arrived today and also Louise, she will stay in the lorry, and my Dad and brother Jack with Clare and Rob and Gran , and last but not least Mandy, who has seen me through thick and thin, and been the most fantastic support to both my Mum and myself. They will all stay at the cottage kindly hired by Clare up the road in a local village.

Friday dawns early and Cindy has also arrived to help me warm up before my test.

Oli has also arrived to watch and support me, so I can have a lovely cuddle with him too.

Wally has a walk out early with Louise and a pick of grass in front of the beautiful house. I go over my test in my head, and Mum cleans my boots (it’s become a tradition). Everyone else makes themselves scarce, so I can think what I am doing.

My test is at 10am, and so I am on him at 9.15, and he sparkles, as I go to meet Cindy, who as usual warmed me up beautifully, and keeps me calm before the test.

I ride into the arena and feel very excited about the test and have a feeling of just wanting to do the best that we both can. I know that he finds some of the movements hard, so I am prepared to accept that I will miss out on some of the marks.

This is good.         This is not so good!

(Photo courtesy of John Britter Photography)

He was a good boy, and only dropped behind my contact a little. He was a bit cramped in the extended trot, and I bypassed the first flying change. We did the second and then went on to the third: as I asked, he knew what was coming and expressed his displeasure by giving a huge buck in the middle of the arena. I then had to capture it all back, and try to re-focus for the next movement. He was now very tense, so I asked for the fourth change, which he did late but at least it was there. We went up the centre line at speed, and added another new movement to the test…the jog-halt.

I was just so pleased to be there, I was not worried. He was a good boy really, and we had fun. If you are going to do something, you might as well be remembered for it!!

Before long the picture of the buck was on the web site, so he got noticed, perhaps not quite in the right way…..Never mind we will keep practising!!

Off to walk the course again - this time with the ever patient Cindy, and we took our time and walked carefully around the whole way. The jumps did not seem to get any smaller each time, but the lines were in my head, and I made the final decisions on which fences to go long at.

Later on I gave Wally a Jump and a pipe-opener, and he felt pretty jolly lovely actually, and filled me with confidence. Everyone went back to the lorry park and Clare cooked sausages for everyone, but I am already thinking of tomorrow and finding it hard to eat. Very soon, everyone goes off back to the cottage and leaves us to pack off to bed after seeing to Wally once again for the last time. During the week there have been several meetings about the state of the ground and everyone is worried about it. The Ground Jury have taken out one of the drop fences later on the course (at the Quarry), and are working through the night on the going. I am confident that Wally will be OK, as he prefers to be on the top of the ground rather than in the mud, and we have all agreed that if he begins to feel it I will pull up and save him for another day.

Waking early on Saturday morning, I find that I have already jumped the fences at least fifty times during the night, and now know my way round. I think I can do it in my sleep! The times are posted in the morning as the officials want to wait for everyone to decide if they are running before announcing them. There is to be quite a bit of coverage this year by the BBC, so they want to make sure lots of people are going round at the right time.

My time is at 2.05pm, so at 8.00am I am out on the course again walking it for the final time. There are already many people out and about, and crowds of them walking around to see the jumps. Mum also walks the course again, but separately, and we compare notes at the end. She walks the dogs at speed and they are on their last paws when they return.

As soon as the XC started I went up to the tent to watch on the TV so I could see the first few go round and see how the course was jumping. Everyone else in our camp was around and about, but was giving me my space, which I needed at this time. All my good luck cards are pinned on Wally’s door and it is so kind of everyone to think of me and him and when I see them there it gives me an extra boost to go out there and show everyone I can do it.

One o’clock comes soon enough and Mum and Louise have Wally ready for me, and off we go to give him a good warm up before the start. It is really important that I have this time with him, as we get into each others way of thinking, and I link into his mood. He knows what is coming, of course and is a little trembly, but that’s quite normal, so I am not worried.

                   Tottie took the water jump at speed on Sunday  (Photo courtesy of Daddy Photography)

There is a hold on the course with about 9 to go, so I dismount from him and Louise walks him round, whilst I sat down, and then laid down on the ground. At this point I once again focus on each fence and see myself jumping it. Then I blanked my head and tried to relax, whilst the long delay was sorted. I did not know what had happened, and at that point did not want to, I was just thinking about Wally and me.

On the announcement that the course has restarted, I remount and begin to work Wally again to raise his heart beat up, so he is ready for the test ahead. We then go forward to the other collecting ring through the crowds of people that have come to watch. I am now in my serious mode, and really am not distracted by them. Wally loves a crowd and is not worried either, and at last I go through to the start. An amazing mixture of feelings of being sick, joy and excitement run through me. Sarah Verney is at the start and she makes me feel confident just by being there. To the count down and now away to the first. He feels good immediately, and I gallop to the second, the Keepers Brush, a huge ditch with brush on the back, but he flies it like it is nothing, and I set sail for the little houses on top of the hill. He jumps these fantastically despite the undulation of the ground and now towards the Staircase. A big box followed by two large steps and three strides to a very skinny box at the bottom. He pops over the box, and I brushed the flag with my foot. A long gallop slightly up hill to the Puffa fence, and then to the Shogun Hollow. This fence I have opted for the long route as the corner is very angled and the distance is long. The long route is good and we are away quickly to the bank. This is a big step up, but Wally comes in well, and I sit and ride the stride. He pops up, bounces to a rail, down the bank and then we ride forward to the skinny brush. He is super, and really listening to me. Now to the big Oxer, (where Robin told me not to miss), off the turn, which helps with the stride, Wally flies it, and away towards the Grandis Choice which is a massive parallel, followed by a really skinny thing under a tree, that looks like a spider.

I have decided on the long route here, as the parallel is big and I do not want to compromise this fence. He jumps it well, and turns round the tree to the log out. Now to the ditch-to-rail, which seems big when you stand on the ground, but rides fantastically well. On to the famous Vicarage Vee, and this is one of the fences that has caused so much trouble in the past. I remember Ginny Elliot’s words in my head, and get Wally into a precise canter. I have a good shot, and we are over. I can feel a big grin and I secretly whisper to Wally “Hey, we’ve just jumped the Vicarage Vee”; “oh, gosh, come on, concentrate Gem” and away to the Colt Pond. Here once more, I select the long route, as I do not want to upset Wally by pulling him sharply to the right after the bounce. He jumps well, and whips round easily to go onto the next fence, which is a Hay Cart. Wally still feels good and I look towards the next fence which is a roll top with a brush on top. This he jumps big as he does not want to touch the brush sticking out of the top of the fence.

The next fence is the Sunken Road, and this is quite a tricky fence, as the distances are all a bit strange. Wally jumps the rail in and then thought he should bounce, but at the last second put a stride in to drop off the side of the Road. He slightly lost his back end and although came up the other side OK, I quickly decided that I must take the long route so as not to get the wrong distance to the big box house at 17d. This jumps fine and then to17e and away. Now, there is a long gallop to the Giants Table and I feel Wally take a deep breath. This is normal, it is almost like that second wind. We gather up, and fly the huge table and gallop towards the sea of people that are watching by the lake. Turning to the big drop, I close my legs around him and urge him forward, as it is a big fence. He jumps in with no hesitation and does three big strides and leaps up the step in the wrong place, missing the flag and the skinny on the bank. He did not sight the fence and thought that’s where we were going, and although I tried to straighten him, he had his idea where he was going, and in a split second we where sailing past. I quickly turned him back into the water, so I could jump the alternative back out, which he jumped easily. A loop took me to the Mitsubishi Pickups, and again we were off towards the beautiful house. We popped over the barrels, and then to Huntsman’s Close. Taking the longer option here, as the light and dark in this area is tricky and the corner was a left run out and very narrow. He turned well, and finished over the gate and now we are on the homewards run. The logs at the quarry jumped well despite the big drop in, and he still feels full of running as we approach the Rolex turn, 2nd last.

It’s still a big wide fence, but we gain the correct stride and he pops over, as I gallop into the arena for the final fence I say to myself to be careful at it, it’s still a big enough test. No worries for Wally, I can not believe the feeling I now have.

Clear round show-jumping    Completing my first Badminton!

He still feels so good, and pulls up well, and I am just so delighted with him and the ride we have had. Everyone is so pleased, and whilst we look after Wally, spongeing him and cooling him, walking him and making sure he is ok, everyone congratulates me and many people around seem to be in tears!!

I also found out later on, when there was a knock on the lorry door, and Ibby Macpherson appeared, that she had nearly had her arm broken as my Mother stood next to her and kept grabbing her in the tent, while watching me ride the course. Thanks Ibby, for being there!!

It was the most fantastic feeling and the biggest adrenalin rush I know. Now it is very important to look after my boy and ice his legs and see to his every need. Everyone is helping and once back at the yard he is cared for as the first priority. He seems fine, and has a small bump on his stifle, and a little graze. Louise later took him for a lovely graze once more, and now he knows his XC is over, he begins to tuck into all available food. I am starting to receive many text messages, and it still does not seem to sink in that I have just ridden round Badminton.

Eventually, everyone ends up back by the lorry, and we all have a much needed drink of Pimms and a very jolly time, mainly led by Mandy and my Gran, who manage to drink their way through a couple of bottles of red wine. Trying to keep them under any sort of control was virtually impossible, and by the end, they all staggered off to their cottage. Mum, Louise and I saw to Wally once again and tucked him up for the night, getting ready to be up early to plait and walk him, ready for trot up at 9am.

Sunday, early rise and Wally still seems good, so he has a gentle leg stretch and then down to the plaits. After this I take him for a gentle ride to loosen him up, and make sure he is good. He feels amazingly well and then, on arrival back to the yard, he has his final wash and brush up ready for our final trot up.

He once again perks up in front of the vast crowd, and trots beautifully beside me.

Now, to the Show jumping and I am in the first bunch of riders as I had the little run out, and a number of time faults. Walking the course it seems quite big and long, but usually we do well in the jumping. As I return from the Show jumping, my mother and Mandy are seen biking along together. Mandy is yelling to my mother that if she ever gets hold of her its going to be hell, as I realise that she has the blue bike, which has no front brake and a wobbly front wheel. “I wont be able to walk for a week after this” she yells, but my mother as usual is taking no notice and just yells back “oh stop whingeing on and get on with it woman” They are like a couple of school kids, the pair of them.

Off to the Show jumping and Wally looks lovely and feels good in the warm up. In the ring again, he loved the crowd and jumped the most super spot-on round. He could not be faulted.

Big pats all round - I was delighted with him again, and am on such a high. I think that part of that is because Wally feels so good and has not had one problem from the cross country course.

All the horses are asked to Parade, and this was quite hairy, as they all got very excited. We only walked, but the crowds all clapped and cheered, and it just felt amazing.

I was then told that I had won the best under 25, which was such a bonus to me, so I was so honoured to be able to go into the ring at prize giving. I can not express how I felt. It was really just fantastic.

Wally went to his bedroom for a little while, whilst we all packed up the lorry to go on home. Everything away, we left Badminton at about 5.30 pm to arrive safely home at 9ish. Unpacking the lorry even did not feel that bad, although putting my entire clothing collection away has not been as easy as packing it!!

Finally it’s off to bed, Zebedee, but despite being exhausted, why am I still jumping over fences?

(All photos below courtesy of John Britter Photography)

 Photos courtesy of John Britter Photography