Lauren Shannon’s eventing blog: Louie makes a guest appearance at a wedding
After coming down to earth with a bang last week and missing my last run at Oasby as a result, I was keen to spend a week doing less with horses than normal.
Luckily, I had a wedding to attend last week to take my mind off not riding. Kerry Walsh, who is a very close friend and has helped me at all of my big events, married her long-term boyfriend Marcus Smith.
I met Kerry 8 or 9 years ago (I can’t quite remember now!) and she started helping me at my 3-day events from when I did young riders in 2007. She has been at all of my big events since then, looking after Delphi (Quixotic), Louie (Zero Flight) and Lux (Gentel Lux).
I do believe that Louie holds a special place in her heart, as she has been through so much with him through the years. She knew him when he was a misbehaving 2-star horse and when he finished in the top 10 at Burghley. I am sure that most of the time he prefers her to me, as he always has his ears pricked and seems to be smiling when she comes in. I’m that mean lady who kicks him!
Anyway, Kerry and Marcus married last Thursday, in a gorgeous local church. Kerry managed not to laugh through all of her vows and the service was beautiful. We were so lucky to have gorgeous weather, as the rest of the week seemed to be horribly windy and rainy.
We had Louie standing in the sunshine at the bottom of the hill so that when Kerry came out the church she saw him waiting for her. It was a brilliant moment and I think they got some gorgeous pictures.
We then all had a great night partying and realised just how old we are all getting by spending Friday in the recovery position!
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I sorted myself out enough to ride one of the 4-year olds at Vale View on Sunday in their 85cm arena eventing. It was the first time I’d ridden since my fall, so I felt a little out of breath, but Freya was an absolute star, giving me a steady double clear to finish 8th. She will now head home for a bit of a holiday and the event horses who have been having a rest will start their walk work next week. It only feels like yesterday that we were at Osberton… I suppose time flies when you’re having fun!
Lauren
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Event rider Lauren Shannon blogged on Horseandhound.co.uk from June 2011 until September 2014. Born in Brighton, she lived in America from the age of three to 16, returning to the UK to go to university after she finished school. After university she worked for Mark and Tanya Kyle before setting up her own yard in Leicestershire. Her best result to date was finishing 9th at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with her top horse, Zero Flight.