Jess Robinson gave birth to her first child, Teddy, on 15 March, and on 4 May, she and Shannondale Annie came out of the start box at Badminton.
Jess told H&H she was seven weeks’ pregnant when she and Annie qualified, at Frickley last August, but she was determined to ride in the final.
“We knew it would be very, very tight!” she said. “But I had to do it.”
Jess said her pregnancy went smoothly, and after she stopped riding at 30 weeks – “although I did get back on at 38 weeks to try to get things moving, which didn’t work!” – eventer Holly Richardson, whose horses are on the same yard as Jess, took over.
“She very kindly kept Annie going,” Jess said. “So at least one of us was prepared!
“My labour was about 10 hours and the midwife said ‘Should be here shortly’. Between contractions, I said ‘We’ve got to get on as Badminton is in seven weeks’, and the look on their faces said it all!”
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In the end, Jess had to have an emergency cesarean, but was back on board a few weeks later. Neither she nor Annie had properly run since Frickley; they did go to Blair but Jess pulled up as she was “very conscious of being pregnant and being sensible”.
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“I took her cross-country schooling on Sunday [30 April] but didn’t go round, we probably jumped about 12 fences,” she said.
“But when we went, it was amazing. On paper it wasn’t the perfect day; we did an average dressage and got 38.5 but she knows the score and gets very excited, then clear showjumping, which was amazing. We had two really silly run-outs on the last part of the cross-country when I was a bit out of puff, but she was fantastic.
“I just wanted to cross the finish line; when I walked the course, I thought no way but with the number of spectators, cheering you on, it felt like you were going round the CCI5*.”
Teddy was there too, supporting his mum, and Jess was delighted to have done it.
“Some people said why didn’t I just try to qualify next year,” she said. “But there was nothing to say I would have done so I had to take the chance, and it was absolutely worth it.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
