Lauren Shannon’s blog: cancelled events throw a spanner in the works
Hello everyone… It feels like an age since I’ve blogged (probably because it has been!).
The Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials being called off has somewhat put a spanner in the works for my top horse, Louie (Zero Flight). He loves running on any ground, so I was hoping they could put the event on despite the wet weather.
But having woken up the Monday before the event to news that it was cancelled and the photos showing just how wet it was, there is of course no way the hard-working teams there could have run an event. Realistically, the idea it has messed up Louie’s plans is dwarfed by the heart ache of all those involved in the planning and running of Badminton.
Badminton seemed to be setting a trend though, as Chatsworth was cancelled the following weekend, along with everything else in the country!
Us riders are in a better position than anyone else, as we can re-route and make contingency plans. The organisers are somewhat more left out in the cold, with months of hard work suddenly put to bed. Luckily, our sport and everyone involved in it are always keen to keep events going, and places like Aston-le-Walls and Little Downham have put on extra days to make up for ones lost.
Badminton final scores
The only problem is that now we’ve not evented for a couple weeks, I feel very out of the swing of things! The horses on the yard have all been going out showjumping to keep them busy and not too fresh. Having said that, I took four horses to World Class training last week at Weston Lawns and all of them were as fresh as they’ve been all year! So maybe the sooner I get them out eventing again, the better.
As far as re-routing my horses goes, I have basically entered as many places as I can, and tried to get on every wait-list possible to start getting runs again. Spring three-days with a few of the horses have been postponed as they have now missed vital qualifications.
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I was ready to get really annoyed about this, but a lot of people are in the same boat and realistically for the younger horses, a few more novice or intermediate runs will do much the same for their education as a spring one- or two-star. Hopefully it means that this autumn we can crack on and be competitive!
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.