Askeaton - 7 Year Old Qualifier AEJC Hickstead - Photo Elli Birch, Boots and Hooves Photography

I leapt into 2020 with unusual enthusiasm by taking Khalissy and Heidi to Merrist Wood on 4th January, and also to the three day show at Addington at the end of January. Askeaton only started walking on 11th January after her pedal bone injury so she didn’t get to a show until the end of February. I sold my old lorry and bought a swanky and slightly younger second hand lorry and started entering for shows. During February the whispers that there was a new virus in Wuhan got louder, and louder and as March wore on it became increasingly clear that this was something different. We had a family outing to the Ireland v Scotland Rugby March at Twickenham on 23rd February after which most of us were ill. Obviously we’ll never know what was wrong with us as we thought it was just a very bad cold, but it certainly took me longer than normal to recover because I had such a bad cough and was so exhausted, so we managed just two more shows, one at Coombelands and one at Felbridge before COVID stopped play. Our last family outing was to see Hamilton on my Birthday, 5th March. Since then we have been together as a family only once, which sometimes has bordered on the unbearable, and I have seen only one of my siblings in a whole year. I know for many families this has been even worse, but it has been very, very hard. Thank goodness for Facetime, Zoom and WhatsApp which have eased things somewhat, but it certainly hasn’t been the same.

Luckily after an incredibly wet February and March we were gifted a beautiful spring and summer, which took a little bit of the sting out of lock-down. We had quite a few friends and family who were very ill either after skiing or Cheltenham, but of course with no testing they are also not part of the data. There were also lost jobs, lost house moves, missed birthdays, anniversaries and red letter days and a complete change to our yard which we locked down completely for three months. On the positive side Mark, Twiglet and I walked for miles and miles every beautiful evening, and discovered some beautiful new walks from a place we have lived in for 25 years, we had some very long walks when we got completely lost - I have a famously poor sense of direction. The weeks stretched into months and finally we could go for a walk with the girls one at a time, which was wonderful. We managed one family lunch with Anna, Tom & Rory and Sohpie and Alex, and one family lunch with my brother Andy and his family, and a few socially distanced evening meals with friends.

Our family holiday in June was cancelled and rescheduled for 2021 with considerable sadness, but I was able to collect Emma and Culana from Bea Fuller’s and bring them home having not visited them since March. We were also able to have April back to work, but sadly with only three horses in work there was no place for Camilla who had been such a huge part of our set up, and such an important part of Askeaton, Heidi & Khalissy’s upbringing - something I would have probably not survived without her. Once again we were allowed to hire venues for schooling and then in July we started going to shows. I actually love the new shows and I hope the pre-entry, start lists and civilised collecting rings are here to stay.

At long last Anna, Tom and Rory moved into their own lovely house in Teddington after nine months of living with Tom’s very heroic parents.

I had some great training with Trevor Breen and in July April and I found ourselves on the way to Peelbergen in Holland for two weeks. We had a great show, incredibly hot weather, and a very high standard of jumping, and in retrospect the horses acquitted themselves very well. Khalissy was very babyish to be at an international show and was completely flummoxed the first time she jumped on grass, but she got the hang of it and did very well. Heidi was amazing, the six year old classes started easily enough, but by the end of the second week the final was seriously big, and she pinged round it. Askeaton was seriously short of outings to be flung into proper seven year old classes and she rose to it brilliantly. At the time I was bitterly disappointed with myself, but in retrospect it was a big ask for her and she did really well.

From being absolutely boiling in Peelbergen (Kronenberg) April and I next set off to Bolesworth where we were in more danger of drowning. Once again the horses came up trumps, winning a class each and all recording clear rounds in the National Young Horse Championships. We were also able to catch up with my lovely step-mother Zandra: little did we know that would be the last time in the year. Then to the AEJC at Hickstead, Nexgen at Hickstead and then to Vilamoura in Portugal. Right up to the moment we left for Vilamoura the trip was uncertain. COVID was increasing Europe-wide, and even once we had arrived I wondered if the show would continue as restrictions in Portugal increased week by week. We seemed to be in a little oasis of calm for which I am so grateful. I am so glad we grabbed the opportunity to spread our wings and go. It’s a long drive, very expensive and a big responsibility to take the horses such a long way, but it was definitely worth it. Not only was it very educational for the horses, but it was wonderful to bag three extra weeks of summer, minus two days of rain, and actually get away and see a little bit more of the world. Driving home April and I sat in the lorry in Dax, Southern France, and listened to Boris’ doom laden broadcast. Once we got to Le Mans it started to rain and we arrived in England to the news that the M25 was blocked Westbound - yes, we were nearly home!

Obviously we arrived home to self-isolate followed by lockdown 2. So the minute I was allowed out I went for a walk with Sophie and then with Anna. Sophie and Alex moved into their new house in Brighton while I was away. By the time my hair was cut on December 2nd I looked as if I lived in a cave - a look which will be back for at least the rest of January. We had one last show at Pyecombe before Christmas. This was a great sign-off for the year, and many thanks to the Light family for always putting their all into providing great competition.

Heidi leaping into Christmas at Pyecombe

To sum up 2020 this was a year when I gave up drinking wine, bad for my arthritis, and took up drinking gin - can’t think why that took 58 years; have not worn high heels once - for me that is a big deal; have bought two pairs of tracksuit bottoms - a much bigger deal than you would think; have mainly survived without physiotherapy, acupuncture or chiropractic help - life is better with all three; and have seen far too little of my family and friends. I have largely given up supermarket shopping and learned to shop local which has been a huge improvement. I am so lucky to have horses and horsey friends who I have been able to see, and to live in a beautiful place. Mark has worked from home since March, and the biggest thing I will miss if life returns to normal will be having him at home. We have had lovely lunches every day, have completely exhausted Netflix and Amazon Prime and have adjusted to a very quiet life. Twiglet and the cats will be devastated when he goes back to work.

Looking forward I pray that the vaccine roll out goes smoothly. My step-mother and her friend David have had their first dose, they have done so well and been so philosophical and stoical throughout this year. I cannot imagine how hard it is to forego so much independence and have so much stress and worry in their 80’s. Our first big excitement of the year will be Sophie’s little baby, which is due at the beginning of February. Let’s hope all goes smoothly and we can see her and support her as soon as possible.

My plan is to go to Spain for the last four weeks of the Sunshine Tour in March and we will prepare as if we are going to go. The horses came out of Vilamoura well and we can afford go quite gently at our preparations. Brexit seems to have gone marginally better than expected, but we will sit back and watch the first month of travel, and I think that it will be COVID rather than Brexit which will have the final say. Failing a trip to Spain there are lots of nice shows planned in the UK for the summer and hopefully there may even be some county shows.

At least for the moment I can teach, which I am loving, and we can hire venues for schooling. It’s no bad thing to have time for improving flatwork and enjoying hacking and catching up with maintenance jobs. I am having some dressage lessons with Duncan Gipson - the first one really inspired me and helped me with Khalissy so I am off for another tomorrow.

Culana Z set off for her new home with Jill and Daisy Williams on New Year’s Day. She is lucky to have found such a lovely home where she is to be a hack and hopefully a beautiful wife for their young stallion. She is the sweetest horse and I have had a great time riding her while she has been getting fit.

So Happy New Year, fingers crossed it does actually get better. Twelve months ago we could never have expected this, but really a lot has been achieved and people’s resilience and their brilliance at pulling together has been amazing.

As always many thanks to the people who make life easier and better, Mark, Anna & Sophie, and April, great sponsors and supporters in Saracen Horse Feeds, MacWet Gloves, Premier Performance CZ, Just Equine Ltd, and World Wide Tack, and great help from Trevor Breen and Duncan Gipson.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year & 2020 in Review