Coral Keen’s eventing blog: all change — in a good way
Hi everyone,
I hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the lift in restrictions, alongside staying safe. It’s been all change my end and I’m pleased to report, in a very positive way.
At the beginning of May, my partner Oli and I became the proud owners of two old cart barns and some beautiful land in Wiltshire. It is such a special spot, but also a big project, which we have already started making some headway into. Friends and family have been incredibly supportive and it is amazing what you can get done. I cannot thank everyone enough for all the help and well wishes.
We now have our mobile home in situ, ability to take on grass liveries and have taken our first cut of hay. I still have to pinch myself that we have found this place and I am so excited and ready for the next chapter.
The plan for the property is to convert both the cart barns into residential and build up a yard. With this in mind, I have set up a new company — Coral Keen Equestrian. There is still quite a lot of work to be done to create the new yard, but it is on the horizon and I cannot wait to run my own equestrian business again.
The new property will give me a base to really build up my team of horses, with the ability to take on new rides and opportunities in this wonderful spot. We will also offer training, full, part, DIY, breaking and grass livery. Watch this space, as I will make sure to keep you updated on all our project news and the inevitable highs and lows of starting a new business.
It has also been great to be able to get out and about teaching since restrictions have eased. So far, I have held cross-country clinics at Rabson Manor, Rosamund Green and Mendip Plains — it was brilliant to be able to catch up with clients old and new. All three venues were fantastic and offered riders great facilities to get their eye back in after lockdown. I have a released all my clinic dates for the rest of the season, which can be found on my website.
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Another recent highlight has been, being able to go back to WG Stud and ride the lovely Kuwait Silver. He felt on great form and is a really lovely young horse to be able to ride. I am looking forward to hopefully being able to do more with him this summer.
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For eventing as a whole, it seems to be looking a lot more positive for everyone. I haven’t been out competing yet, but having seen reports of people being out and about at Aston unaffiliated last weekend, it seems like the event organisers are going above and beyond to make competition possible for us. It may not yet be eventing quite as we know it, but how lucky are we to be able to start up again? Fingers crossed it can continue in this positive way and we can all play our part by being vigilant with the event guidelines that have been put in place.
With that in mind, I want to wish everyone the best of luck as the BE season kicks of again this weekend with Barbury, Tweseldown and Aske. Enjoy the opportunity to be back out there!
Until next time.
C x
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Coral joined H&H's stable of bloggers after we followed her as a first-timer at Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. She is a British event rider (DOB 08/07/1987) who is based in Wiltshire. Her top horse is Wellshead Fare Opposition, born 2004, by Fleetwater Opposition.