‘He’s the gift that keeps on giving’: meet the Blenheim first-timer and her ‘pride and joy’ campaigner on an incredible journey
Alexandra Munn and The Spice Merchant at Blenheim Horse Trials.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
When South African event rider Alexandra Munn bought her four-star ride The Spice Merchant (“Basil”), the hope was that he would be a great horse to gain some experience at novice and intermediate. Four years later and the pair are making both their CCI4*-L and Blenheim Horse Trials debuts at the 2023 event.
“He’s been the gift that keeps on giving,” said Alexandra, who bought the Irish Sport Horse gelding from Lizzie Baugh when she moved over to the UK to work for William Fox-Pitt in 2019.
“I bought him as a stepping stone horse. Then we took him to his first two-star and he was amazing. We worried about the time, because he’s quite solid bro, but he just has all these engines and all these tanks and he never runs out of steam.”
The pair finished sixth in their first intermediate, and has continued on that upward trajectory.
“We just kept going, kept stepping up, and he kept performing. He was double clear and 11th in his first four-short. He loves his job and I just love him so much,” she said.
The 26-year-old was horse-mad as a child.
“I actually started in showing because I was a complete pup, terrified!” she said. “I wanted to be on a horse, but didn’t want to go beyond maybe a medium canter and I was a bit scared of jumping,” she said. “Then my mum took me to the Rand Hunt’s children’s meet (drag hunting), and that’s where I learnt to be brave.”
Alexandra rode across in a variety of disciplines while riding in South Africa. She worked for Zimbabwean showjumper Charley Crockart, helping in the production of horses, and jumped to 1.35m and competed to the equivalent of advanced medium dressage.
“I dipped my fingers in all the pies and just loved it,” she said. “But I kind of got to the point where I wanted to take it further. I’ve got a British passport, because I was born here and grew up in South Africa – and I represent South Africa, because I identify as South African.
“I wanted to come over and see what I could do with the big fish. It’s been one hell of a journey and it’s all thanks to the amazing coaches and support and family I’ve had along the way. I’ve got an army of people behind us that makes it happen, it’s not just me and Basil.”
Her career has taken along several paths, including eventing full-time, and she is currently loving the balance between campaigning Basil and working as an estate agent.
“I’ve narrowed down to just having Basil. He’s my pride and joy, and he keeps me sane after the long days of trying to sell houses,” she said.
“We’ve got big dreams. We are hopeful for Paris, for the individual spot to represent South Africa. We’ve got a very competitive zone, so it’s all about points and obviously now I’ve only got one horse it’s difficult to accumulate those. We’ll try our best to qualify, but if we don’t then we’ll aim for a five-star.
The pair head into the cross-country on a score of 40.8 and are scheduled to leave the start box at 1.12pm tomorrow (Saturday, 16 September).
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