Do you miss the eventing season? We do too. So, to brighten up your coronavirus lockdown day, we have looked back at H&H’s March 2019 eventing reports to bring you the best quotes, our favourite stories and a top tip for when we get back to competition…
Quote of the month
“I’m getting long in the tooth so I’m only eventing eight horses this year” – Pippa Funnell after her second (Maybach) and third (Billy The Biz) in the open intermediate at Poplar Park.
“My boyfriend Harry [Wallace] says he’s like an overpaid football academy squad member – cool haircut, flash car but yet to score a goal. This is his first goal” – Lucy Jackson on Superstition II after his win on Gatcombe’s open intermediate.
We love…
Lizzie Forbes won a BE90 at Aston-le-Walls (1) on a coloured mare called Rosie XIII who began life pulling a trap. “I saw a picture of her on Facebook standing at the bar inside a pub and figured that she ought to be bold,” she explained.
Top tip
From Yasmin Ingham after her advanced intermediate win at Lincolnshire: “Chris [Bartle] has totally transformed my cross-country riding. I was riding with my reins too short, meaning that my weight was too far forward. He has taught me to tuck my tailbone under and lean back more, meaning that I’m in a much more stable position.”
The theme
Piggy French (now March) set the tone for 2019 when she dominated throughout March, winning the open intermediate at Isleham and continuing from here. In total, she won 14 British Eventing sections in March.
After her victory at Isleham on Quarrycrest Echo, she said: “He’s not a horse you can just canter round an event in second gear as he’s got plenty of character and as soon as I ride him like I think he’s God, he makes me look like a prat!”
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Being outside in the British weather – cross-country was temporarily suspended at Lincolnshire because of horizontal sleet, with Susie Berry and Gemma Tattersall forced to pull up mid-way through their cross-country rounds as they couldn’t see…
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
