SPORT// EQUESTRIANISM
EQUESTRIANISM
THE ROYAL
WINDSOR
HORSE SHOW
We have been talking about competing
at The Royal Windsor Horse Show
for a while. Although the team of
Georgina Elliott, Bea Nicholson,
Hattie Thompson and Amelia Jackson
have trained regularly leading up to
the event it still came as quite a shock
to us all when the weekend actually
arrived. Horses and riders started their
adventure on the Friday, travelling the
long way south in glorious sunshine in
order to compete on the Saturday. The
girls were feeling positive, apparently
not nervous, and were ready to enjoy
the whole experience!
Saturday arrived, horses were plaited
and groomed (which can take a long
time as the entire team are greys) and
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THE POCKLINGTONIAN
the team were virtually ready to go.
Riders and horses looked exceptionally
smart; the horses sported new rugs, fly
hoods and saddle cloths, with thanks to
our kind sponsor Alsim System Building
Ltd. The magnificent back drop of the
castle and the fact that the girls had been
less than a foot away from the Queen
(and managed to snap the moment too)
really made the occasion special; even
the none stop rain and cold couldn’t
dampen the team spirit.
There were twenty-seven schools in our
class and we were nearly last to go. The
first part of the course looked relatively
straightforward; the timed part,
however, had a few imposing uprights
and oxers, often without natural lines to
them. It soon became apparent that the
course was more challenging than it had
initially seemed; should the team play
safe and go for the clear or take risks?
First into the ring for us was Georgina
on Windale Thundercloud, better
known as Eric; they rode an elegant and
impressive round going clear in a very
good time. It was hard to contain our
excitement.
Our second rider in was Hattie, on
Killough Queen, probably not a very
apt name given the surroundings!
Everything was going according to plan,
until the tenth jump and Queenie lightly
tapped the fence – we couldn’t believe
our luck, nor could the commentator, as
the pole fell. All was not lost as 4 faults
would still have been a competitive
result.
Bea entered the arena next; we were
all willing her to get round as she
had experienced two nasty falls earlier
in the week and her mare Blue, really
had been quite a ‘mare’. We needn’t
have worried though as they both rose
to the occasion and jumped a solid
round. The smile and relief across Bea’s