‘It’s been really hard: Gemma Steven bounces back from Aachen disappointment to four-star win
Gemma and Cooley Park Muze won the Scone Palace CCI4*-S (27-30 August).
Gemma Stevens has discussed “picking herself up” after disappointment at the World Championships – as she bounced back to win the Scone Palace CCI4*-S (27-30 August)
Gemma and the Rex Syndicate’s 10-year-old Cooley Park Muze led the 100-strong class from the start in Perthshire, having posted a 28.4 dressage. They maintained their lead in the showjumping and in the final cross-country phase, where only two had made the optimum time, they stormed home with 10 seconds to spare to win. Gemma was also third with Chilli’s Jester and seventh on Chilli Morning IV.
Gemma told H&H the Scone result was “a relief after the World Championships” – and that Aachen had been “a really low point for me”.
Gemma was part of the gold medal-winning team with Flash Cooley but they were eliminated at fence 8 on the cross-country, silver birch rails into a steep coffin. The pair had a stop at the rail on the direct route; they diverted to the long route and jumped the second element successfully, but had two stops at the third.
“It’s been really hard. I’ve tried to pick myself up and come to Scone with three wonderful horses,” she said.
“I’m much better when I’m busy, I try not to think about it too much and just refocus. As soon as I got back from Aachen we’ve really put some work into them and been playing around at home just getting them really with me, and it’s really worked. All three of them could not have performed any better.”
Gemma said “we don’t understand” the reason for Flash Cooley’s uncharacteristic stops in Aachen.
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“No one understands,” she said. “At the end of the day, they’re horses. We’re working with a living creature.
“He must have seen something because he’s never stopped at a coffin before in his life. He’s done God knows how many. I even looked back over his record to see where he’s jumped; we’ve been to Millstreet twice, there’s loads of ditches there, he’s jumped the ditches and coffin at Blenheim twice, he jumped that coffin in Aachen last year.”
Gemma said Flash Cooley is “perfect, sound and happy”.
“He will go to Cornbury and do the three-star and just have a nice run around just so that we don’t leave it on that note,” she said.
“He’ll have a fun run and then he’s going to have a holiday and we’ll start again next year.”
Gemma said it has been a mentally tough situation to overcome.
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.