Holly Woodhead riding PARKFIELD QUINTESSENTIAL in CIC** Section H during Belton Park International near Grantham in the county of Lincolnshire in the UK on the 14 April 2018
A leading British eventer turned disaster into triumph after a last-minute reroute following the cancellation of Ballindenisk resulted in a win and full house of top-10 placings.
Holly Woodhead was among the many Brits who had caught the ferry to Ireland to compete at the international event (20-22 April).
But unforecast heavy rain forced the event to cancel after many had already arrived.
“I was about 20 miles away when we got the phone call to say it was cancelled,” said Holly.
“So I quickly thought ‘what can we do while we are here?’
“I wanted to give the horses a good rest as they had travelled a long way, so my friends at River Lodge Equestrian gave us some stables and we had a great two days there.
“Holly Bishop, of Parkfield Breeding [who owns Holly Woodhead’s Wiltshire base and several of her rides] managed to get me and all the horses registered with Eventing Ireland and entered into Tyrella one-day-event.”
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They drove the seven hours up to Northern Ireland, where all five of Holly’s horses scored sub-30 dressage tests and jumped double clears in intermediate and novice sections.
The result was made even more impressive as the 24-year-old had been in hospital the previous week for a stomach ulcer.
“I was in hospital the day before we left [for Belton the previous weekend] and initially I wasn’t going to ride,” said Holly, who finished third in the Belton CIC2* aboard Parkfield Quintessential (pictured, top).
At Tyrella, Holly took home a win aboard Parkfield Quintessential, second on Global H, who is part-owned by Carl Hester, fourth on E Warrantson, fifth on Findus PFB and 10th on Mr Sneezy.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” laughed Holly, adding the horses coped “amazingly” with the journey. “We did an awful lot of miles, but it was worth it — I can’t praise the Irish hospitality enough.”
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
