Getting to Grassroots

Our journey to Grassroots started back at the end of 2010 when I came across this little orange horse with four big white socks and a heart of gold.  He more closely resembled a giraffe on the flat and had a reputation for being exceedingly sharp.  He was a push button showjumper though which was just what I needed having not showjumped for years after losing my confidence following a nasty fall from my old horse.

We set about a winter of hunting, showjumping and a mission to turn the giraffe into a presentable dressage horse.  Then I decided I fancied a crack at eventing.  We started at Tweseldown 80cm in April 2011 where he jumped double clear, bagged a rosette and eventing suddenly became my new purpose in life. I discovered the challenges of juggling work as a full time small animal vet with keeping three horses on DIY livery and all the training that goes into producing a successful event horse.  We competed in a BE90 Regional Final at BCA but the giraffe wasn't fully tamed leaving us last after the dressage.  Even his trademark double clear couldn't rescue us from that situation!  2011 was an awesome year though, starting in April having never evented before and finishing with a double clear in the BE100 at Munstead.

Another winter of hunting and dressage and he started 2012 with five top ten finishes at BE90 but still his dressage just wasn't quite good enough for the top 10%.  Sadly, disaster then struck when he tweaked his  tendon getting caught in some fencing in the field and our quest to Badminton was over for another year.

2013 soon came around and it became apparent that months of walking in straight lines had finally banished the giraffe and I had a cracking little dressage horse on my hands.  He started the season with a bang by leading Tweseldown BE90 from start to finish, winning on his dressage score of 29.  However, 2013 was soon to became the most frustrating year yet as we battled with a mysterious foot lameness.  We thought we had it sorted for July's Tweseldown BE90 when he stormed round to win on his amazing dressage score of 24.5 but he wasn't right again the next day.

Thanks to Liphook Equine Hospital's amazing remedial farrier we finally got him back on track just in time to make it to the BE90 Regionals at BCA on 1st October.  Our dressage test wasn't up to his new found potential but this time his trademark double clear brought us home to 6th place, the final qualifying spot for the Badminton Grassroots Championships.  We had only gone and done it!  I couldn't hold back the tears - me and my little orange horse have come on an incredible journey with setbacks a plenty but I always knew he had it in him to take me to Badminton and I can't wait to get him there and show everyone what a superstar he is.