When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When cross-country gives Caroline Powell a bad day, she makes (well, eats, ice cream). And so it was on Mars Badminton Horse Trials cross-country day today (9 May).
Having fallen with her first horse, High Time, Caroline retired her second, Greenacres Cavalier, on course after a stop at the LeMieux Village (fence 18ab). Shortly afterwards, she was spotted on the live stream licking an ice cream, still mounted…
Caroline’s ice cream came courtesy of Lucy Ayton and her family. Lucy was at Badminton with her mother Sarah, aunt Kathryn and friends Kay and Virginia.
“Virginia and I were talking about getting an ice cream and after Caroline retired, we saw there was no queue so headed over,” Lucy told H&H.
“We’d just got ours and saw Caroline walk past with one of the hunt horses. She looped back towards the ice cream van and said, ‘Ooh ice cream’. We asked if she wanted one and she replied, ‘I’ve got no money on me’ so we offered to get one for her and she kindly accepted.”
Lucy reports that the chosen ice cream flavour of Caroline Powell was vanilla, with no flake.
“We didn’t manage to get a photo as we were all far too excited and Greenacres Special Cavalier was still in cross-country mode, but Caroline was absolutely lovely and seemed really grateful. It definitely made our day and will be something we talk about for years to come!” said Lucy.
Caroline reported that both her horses are safe and sound after cross-country day.
“The bonus of the day was the Beaufort Hunt’s Jason Wood escorting Cav and I off the cross-country via the ice cream van. Cav was in her element waiting in the queue! And I definitely appreciated a bit of kindness after a tough old day,” she said.
Lucy and her group are from Hertfordshire and they attend Badminton every year on Friday (for shopping and dressage) and Saturday (for cross-country) before heading home on Sunday to watch the highlights and showjumping on television. We wonder if they’ll spot themselves on the highlights tomorrow?
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How to watch Badminton Horse Trials live from anywhere in the world
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