Simon Grieve's eventing blog: my staff were like a mirage

Simon Grieve riding DRUMBILLA METRO in OI Section C, during Great Witchingham International (1) Horse Trails held at Blackwater Farm in the village of Great Witchingham near Norwich in the county of Norfolk in the UK on the 23th March 2018

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

A couple of weeks ago at 7am I got a call from my groom Amanda saying “I’m really sorry, but we can’t get through the snow to get to work… it’s carnage out here!”.

With 14 horses in, I very quickly began to feel my age as the prospect of mucking out 14 horses and working 12 ‘solo’ unravelled in my mind. So off I went, stoically working my way through the mucking out, when about half an hour later, like a mirage, I saw two figures in the yard who looked like… wait a minute, my staff!? Maggie and Amanda had dug their way through with a handy shovel (which of course all normal people have in their car boot) and had walked across the fields to get to me. Throughout this weather they have been amazing and I can’t thank them enough for their attitude and dedication to their horses in getting to us EVERY day — finding dedicated help like that is nigh on impossible these days… don’t I sound an old fart? But it’s true.

I’ve never known a season so reluctant in wanting to begin with Isleham and Oasby cancelled of the events I’ve entered. As we drove to Lincoln through persistent rain on the Friday, I was convinced that we would be turned away, but the ground and drainage is amazing and it ran. Bertie (Bonhunt Bertie) went beautifully for second in a BE100 section — I’m sure if there had not been snow settling, the event wouldn’t have been abandoned midway through as the ground was holding up surprisingly well. It’s soul destroying for the organisers and seems so unfair on them when it takes so much time, effort and dedication to run an event. Let’s hope the worst is over.

Douglas was his usual gorgeous self skipping round for a super double clear. He’s such a lovely horse. Freddie (Mr Fahrenheit III) just missed out on the win and was second in the open novice, but it was a relief to get him out, as out of all the horses he has been climbing the walls the most with lack of a run — he was very happy! Bertie, Bob (Wish He Was Yours) and Wally (Wallstreet VB) jumped really well, with the latter pair picking up prizes too. It was a great couple of days for us and so the season is starting to roll which is a relief.

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Professional event rider Simon joined our blogging team in spring 2015. Simon runs a busy eventing yard, with horses competing across the levels up to five-star.

Simon Grieve’s eventing blog: my staff were like a mirage

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