I had some great times - (L-R) Emily Littlejohn, Graeme Potts, Imogen Mercer, Nathan Anthony, Amy MacGregor and myself at WEG
Two years in the UK have come and gone and it has been a pretty amazing experience. I have made some amazing friends, learnt a lot and been to some fairly amazing events and destinations. Being involved in eventing at the elite level is something not to be taken for granted. There are always new experiences and a highly professional team to learn from. My visa runs out in January and the horses are all enjoying a holiday so I am heading home to Australia to start a new adventure but what is next is yet to be decided.
Winter in England is a fairly uneventful time, most of the horses live in stables as the paddocks are too wet and the mud fever can be horrendous. Luckily the horses at Burto's have lovely massive boxes with good light and ventilation making it rather nice for them to live inside. There are also a couple of rubber, sand yards which they are all rotated through so they can all run around a little.
With minimal horses in work it is the perfect time to catch up on the maintenance jobs such as fixing, painting, cleaning, reorganizing scrubbing and sparkling up the yard to make it look as nice as possible. With it still being dark at 7:45am and pitch black by 4:30pm there are very few days that you find yourself working back late.
But it doesn't allow for many after work fun outside activities that I am used to at Bimbadeen, no cricket or frisby and there's definitely no chance of an after work BBQ. The pub and movies are the best choices.
HP Leilani with her winning rug and trophy at Aachen 2013
As much as I have enjoyed my time over her it certainly has had a few bumps in the road. My first UK three day was at Badminton 2013 with Leilani. It was great for her to finish in the top ten for her last ever three day in her career. By this stage Lani definitely had more 3 Day Event experience than I did and I was grateful she was so easy, so I could get to know how Burto wanted things done whenwe were travelling.
A major highlight was when Lani had her last ever competition at Aachen in Germany, she put in personal best scores across the board and took out the event just in front of this year’s World Champions Sandra Auffarth and Opgun Luvo. Also in 2013 Tempranillo proved she is a performer taking out the CIC*** at Hartpury beating around 100 horses. Graf Liberty showed what he was capable of finishing 2nd in the 8 & 9 year old championships at CIC*** level.
TS Jamaimo and Sam Griffith's winning mare Paulank Brockagh at Badminton 2014
With a new bunch of horses on the team for the 2014 season it was a fresh start and new adventures across more levels. Burto's Adelaide catch ride Jamaimo arrived in February and there was automatically another 4* horse to have some fun with and aim at some big events.
Again the first three day event for the year was Badminton and with Tempranillo being the first horse on the wait list to not be accepted we went along with Jamaimo; although having run out at the Vicarage V put him down the list a little he put in one of the best showjump rounds of the day to finish within the top 20. Graf Liberty finished a strong 5th place at the wet and soggy Saumur CCI***.
We then traveled to Luhmuhlen 4* with Tempranillo where Burto had an unfortunate dismount into the water and then onto Aachen but Graf Liberty couldn't finish the event when he came down with a virus.
Graf Liberty about to enter the dressage arena at Aachen 2014
However we then had a very successful weekend at Hartpury with Graf Liberty winning the CIC*** and the fancy Santano leading from start to finish in his first ever CCI followed by a very unsuccessful trip to the World Equestrian Games with Jamaimo being withdrawn after the dressage with a sudden onset of colic. The Aussie team had a disappointing showjumping day being pushed out of a podium finish.
The WEG was still an event to grow and learn from, being my first championships you could certainly see how each country treats this type of event even differently to a 4****, there is certainly limited communications between countries and security is lifted a few gears.
It isn't all about top level eventing horses. This is ''Catching Dreams' or Charlie, a favorite of the yard, he is our pet Labrador. Chris used to event him but he likes to knock too many rails down so I was riding him while in the UK and he is used to give lessons to 7yo twins. He is dressed up here in a shirt and tie for a fundraising evening for 'The Brooke' charity that was held at the yard. Charlie and I greeted everyone when they arrived and we taught him to bow to all guests when they came in
Supreme stable and horse management is vital. This is where a groom’s job becomes more than just brushing some ponies, we have to know the horses inside out and every horses is different. What their normal temperature is in the morning, after work, at night, before and after exercise, on a hot day, on a cold day.
Know how much each individual horse drinks on a regular basis, again on a hot day, on a cold day, when stressed, or when out in the paddock. How much hard feed the horse eats when away and does there intake of roughage (hay, haylage or grass) change when they go away. Know the horse’s behavior inside out, is the horse behaving in a ‘normal’ fashion at events, is it dull, is it stressed? It is also vital to know what your horses legs look and feel like, are the lumps and bumps new or old, are they hot or a regular temperature, does the horse have any scabs, mud fever, boot rubs, splints developing, does the horses legs swell from standing in a stable?
Anything as small as a tiny boot rub can prevent a horse from finishing a three day event so it is vital that any changes are noted and treated accordingly. Some things are not preventable - they are animals, not machines and sometimes horses, like humans, can just get sick or get an injury. But if something is going to happen it is a lot better to pick it up early and seek professional veterinary help if needed before a normal virus turns much worse and your horse will not only miss this event but many more in the future.
I have said goodbyes to everyone in England but I know one day I will have to go back, you can’t just walk away from the amazing events over there and not want to go back, whether it is this year or the one after that I don’t know but it will be quite disappointing not putting some events like Badminton, Aachen and Boekelo into my diary! I will miss everyone including the guy from the yard at home, taking the piss out of each other for how we speak and the different words used on a daily basis.
