Top British rider rebuilds after nasty rotational fall to enjoy win in more ways than one
Imogen King’s win at Aspen Cooling Osberton (1-4 October) on MS Team’s Camaro was a triumph in more ways than simply the colour of the rosette.
Imogen and the 10-year-old added nothing to their dressage score of 30.1 to head the Arena Saddles CCI2*-L.
“I’m really pleased with him, we’ve had an up and down year and came here to have a nice party at Osberton and hopefully have a really enjoyable end to the season,” said Imogen.
“To come and win, I can’t really believe it! We only came to have a good time.”
She added: “I had quite a nasty rotational fall last year with a different horse. I wasn’t feeling overly confident across country before that anyway, and it really knocked my confidence.
Imogen explained that she has been regaining her own confidence, but as her current string is relatively inexperienced, it has also taken time to feed that back into her horses.
“It’s just taken a bit of time to put all of that back together,” she said. “He’s a good horse, he’s done a couple of three-stars, we just hadn’t been seeing eye to eye across country, so I’m more pleased that he came out on Saturday, flew round and had a good time than I am about winning. The winning is a bonus, more importantly we both enjoyed the cross-country.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Imogen said that the key to rebuilding her confidence has been time and finding the right plan for herself and her horses, rather than feeling pressured by what she felt she “should” be doing owing to the level a horse is capable of jumping or has competed at previously.
“I’m not a particularly brave cross-country rider, everyone thinks I am because Sir Charles [Ivar Gooden, Imogen’s late five-star horse] was really good across country. But to be honest, most of the time I used to hold on and he would jump all the jumps,” she said.
“Since then, we’ve had horses who are really capable in all three phases, but probably just need a little more of a hand-hold across country. I found that quite difficult and it’s just been a case of time, backing off, taking the pressure off and trying to make it fun.
“By stepping back and saying, ‘Let’s do a level that’s fun for everyone’, then everyone is having a good time and then the horses have actually gone up the levels. You’ve got to do what’s right for both of you, not necessarily what you think you ‘should’ be doing.”
Will Rawlin and Mackenzy were second – they finished on the same score as the winner (30.1), but Imogen was closer to the cross-country optimum time. Third-placed Dani Stewart-Richardson (Oblensky’s Heartbreaker) and Harry Dzenis (Arkadium) in fourth also finished on the same score of 31.8, also separated only by proximity to the optimum.
- To stay up to date with the latest equestrian news, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website
Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.