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On the evening of July 15^th, Paul, Grace and I left Newark on our flight to England, with 4 very large suitcases, 3 carry on cases, a purse, and a top hat box. At this point we had already managed to forget my side saddle cane which was residing in the trunk of our car. It’s amazing how much gear we use to ride Side Saddle.

One of my personal challenges of participating in the National Show was that I did not just want to compete as just an overseas rider. If I could get the qualifications, I could also compete as an Open Equitation Rider, which would allow me to compete for the Side Saddle Rider of the year. To qualify I would have to place in the top 4 from the Equitation Test and then the Jumping Phase of the competition. I had already gained five points from winning the qualifying class at the USET Show. So I had set myself no small task to win another qualifying class- to earn a total of 10 points required to qualify.

My British riding Instructor Pat Templeton managed to find a wonderful horse for me Florino ( Stanley) owned by Zee Robinson to enter in a local show to chase the remaining 5 qualifying points. He was a 17.2hh warmblood , competing regularly in dressage competitions. In fact he became Novice Champion and Preliminary Reserve Champion, at the Dressage Championships at Stoneleigh.

I had entered to ride in the Equitation Class at the Royal Lancashire Show and I had a day to try him out. He had only carried the side saddle once before. I went along to Christine Pollit’s ( a side saddle rider I used to compete against in England ) . We fitted him with a borrowed saddle and Chris and Pat were my eyes on the ground. The horse was a natural and we were all very excited about the show. Then tragedy-- the Royal Lancashire Show was cancelled due to RAIN!!! (Paul could not believe it….as far as he was concerned it always rains in England!)

I was then frantic trying to find another show, there were 3 to be held on the Sunday but all were over 100 miles away. I was unable to find any way of getting Florino to these shows. So then began the phone calls to Patricia Drake (National Show Coordinator) who despite an enormous workload took the time to assist me in finding a horse to ride. She told me to call Dale Atkinson who on the return from Judging a Horse show all day, not only returned my call but went on to find my horse - Badger Pie, a 5 year old Cob to ride at the Area 4 show.

Paul and I drove 3 1/2 hours to Bury St. Edmunds to Beyton House, for the Show. What a spectacular location and such wonderful people. Here I finally met Patricia and Dale in person. They introduced me to Clare Simper, whose horse Badger Pie, I would be riding. We then realized I was riding in the equitation qualifying class in the morning and I only had a top hat with me and stock tie. Donna had a spare shirt and tie and also a bowler hat which was only about a size to small…..Paul pushed it firmly onto my head, feeling a bit like a vice, but at least I now had the correct outfit - our thanks to this wonderful group.

I then had about 20 minutes to ride Badger around to get the feel of him. I think I was more nervous than I thought as I went into the ring. Badger took on a slightly different persona and became quite animated, putting in a small buck behind the judge! I then sat very quietly and kept everything simple. We won the class! I was ecstatic …I now had my much needed points to qualify. The photos are with kindness of a lent camera from Sarah Moreland (ours was still on my mother’s kitchen table) We then had time to relax and socialize with the members of Area 4 what a wonderful group they were…we had a beautiful lunch in the summerhouse. Paul and I then took the long drive home. I called Roger Philpot to let him know that we had the qualifying points and we arranged to go to Pittern Hill a couple of days later.

Laura Dempsey had kindly offered to allow Paul, Grace and I to share her apartment located at Pittern Hill. This was great as a base as it gave somewhere for Grace to go play. Laura also had some great videos that Grace watched. Paul and I quite liked Toy Story as well.

Roger had arranged to try out a couple of horses from the local college, the first a bay mare I rode at the college first …we knew she had not had a side saddle on but we had been told she was a useful tool. She seemed ok at the college so we put her in the horsebox and took her back to Pittern Hill. I rode her later in the day…now she was not so much useful as unpredictable….both Roger and I agreed it was not a case of if she would explode, it was when. We promptly returned her to the college and brought home a very large ex-vaulting horse called Xenon. Later as I thundered around the indoor school on him, I began to realize that he may not be suitable for my needs. To do an equitation test to include shoulder in, counter canter, a canter serpentine with changes through trot, extended trot and canter and then go on to do a 3’ show jumping course including an in and out. I was struggling to keep him in a frame for 2 laps of the indoor school. I spoke with Roger later and explained my dilemma, he told me that this was the best he could do.

Laura, then went into overdrive on my behalf calling everyone she could think of….at this late stage obviously horses that were already going to the Nationals were not really available. Some were not available due to injury or owners with other commitments. Laura and Dale Atkinson left no stone unturned on my behalf. Clare would have let me ride Badger but really felt he was not ready to compete in the open equitation. At the eleventh hour, Laura found me a possible ride. Nikki Copeland and her daughter Anna, clients of Laura’s, had a horse Catherston Dolphin. He was a 16 year old ex-event horse, whom Anna was now competing in dressage. He was bred by Jennie Loriston Clark who competed in dressage in England and rode many of her horses side saddle. We did not know if Dolphin had been ridden side saddle or not.

We all went over- Laura, Paul, Grace and I to meet Anna, Nikki and Dolphin. They agreed we could try him side saddle. Laura worked hard to get the best fit possible with the borrowed Side saddle from Margaret; I then had a couple of days to try him out. With the help of Anna’s instructor, we had some practice sessions. I certainly struggled to get him to soften onto the bit for me. We put him into a double bridle which certainly helped. He was quite a comfortable horse side saddle and when he did soften for me he had amazing paces, and a wonderful jumping ability. Anna, his 14 year old rider sat on the side lines and watched me ride and gave advice which was helpful. It was very clear he was a very special horse and a very strong bond with Anna.

Paul, Grace and I then made the journey north (again!) to collect the hired horsebox - a truck, which carried both horses and had living accommodations. This was to be our home for the duration of the show. We then drove back to Warwickshire to collect Dolphin. Grace enjoyed traveling in the horsebox it gave her a great view of the countryside. She kept pointing things out to both Paul and I, it made it more fun for her and passed the boring journey that Paul and I had now done several times.

We collected Dolphin and set off for Addington Manor on the Friday morning. The showground is a lovely setting; as we drove into the entrance towards the stabling area we could see the dressage arenas and the other outdoor rings. We settled Dolphin into his stable and took a look around. I found the indoor arena where the open equitation test was to take place on the Saturday, it was quite impressive.

We thought it would be a good idea to for me to compete on the Friday in one of the dressage tests and then the clear round jumping. I was to ride a preliminary test…having not much time to try to learn this test we thought it would be better for someone to call the test out as I rode this. Unfortunately the person I thought was going to do it could not so we had to find someone else at the last minute, I ended up being very tense and being a dressage test, Dolphin was in his snaffle bridle. While it was not a winning performance, Dolphin did give me some of his wonderful paces even though I could not get him on the bit at all.

The Friday evening has a welcoming reception where the overseas riders received a memento, a small silver engraved tray which was very nice. Saturday morning arrived with mixed skies; there was rain on and off. I initially took Dolphin out astride to warm up, I felt I got a better tune out of him as I warmed up. I then went to get ready for the open equitation test. Nikki and Anna had come along on the Friday and had made the journey again to watch Dolphin perform. As I rode him around in the warm up area I still had not found his key. I had moments where he really went quite well but I could not keep it consistent.

We entered the magnificent indoor arena to do the open test. Once again it was not to be a winning test….I know it was down to me and I was tense at the onset. We did not start well but there were moments in the test that were not bad. Our jumping round was not the best as we had a couple of fences down but did complete the course. I really can not fully express my gratitude to Nikki and Anna who lent me this wonderful horse. Their continuing support was so greatly appreciated even when the equitation and jumping were not going as well as any of us had hoped.

Initially I did feel that I disappointed Nikki and Anna as well as friends and family that had made the journey down to watch. In hindsight, I now realize that we did amazingly well in going to the National with less than a week of training with a horse new to me. In fact, we finished in 8^th position in the most challenging part of this national competition. Additionally, I was Reserve Overseas Champion. While it would have been wonderful to have possibly made the ride off, it was not too be.

It is a wonderful show and we learned a great deal from the experience and met so many amazingly friendly people. The greatest reward from this experience was to opportunity to meet and compete with such a welcoming and supportive side saddle community who did everything they could to help us. I would certainly recommend the experience to everyone. Hopefully we will make the trip again in 2010.

Bomb Proof Your Horse Clinic taught by the Morris County Police

May 27, 2007

Photos Courtesy of Martin Kavanaugh

Click here for Martin's website and more photos

December 19, 2008