competition news
Natalie and Gorgeous George enjoy a winning
lap of honour at a Petplan Area Festival. Image courtesy of Kevin Sparrow, International Equestrian Photographer
Gorgeous George... a journey to success ‘‘ Equine Page 24
Natalie Widdowson from Scarborough in North Yorkshire, is like so many riders, determined to give her horse every chance to reach his full potential. She tells her story with honesty and there is much that will strike a chord in every rider.....
“In the summer of 2006, I was at a local unaffiliated dressage competition with a couple
of girls that I teach when I saw George for the first time. He was trotting round the warm up arena and it was love at first sight. He was so smart with his long white stockings, white face and expressive paces. I approached his rider Sarah Vermont’s mum Kathy and asked if he was for sale. He was for sale but they intended on buying him so I forgot all about him till the following spring. I consequently bought another youngster and it was on her first outing when I bumped into Kathy again. I immediately asked after George and was informed he was now up for sale. However, it was too late because I had already bought my little mare and she was going really well, so I never thought much more about it. Then, during a lesson with Becky Moody in the August Becky suggested I should sell the mare as she probably wasn’t going to be scopey enough for what I wanted to do. The minute I got home I was on the phone to see if George was still for sale and luckily he was. I arranged a viewing and had bought him in my head before I even sat on him. I couldn’t ride one side of him when I got on
and can remember being pinged out of the saddle as he trotted. I had never sat on anything like it. I got him home and started working him with help from Becky Moody about once a month. He was always quite a character and not easy to deal with on the ground or on board. He bites, he kicks, he’s cold backed, he napped, he bucked, he refused to go forward, he took off and his spooks were always pretty tricky. However, I always had faith he would one day be something special. He would never stand still to be brushed or tacked up he’s just a big ball of energy and is on the go all the time. He was the sort of horse you could never give a day off and never ever just think, ‘oh I’ll give George a quick 20 minutes’. If I was getting on, it was important to leave about an hour and a half just in case I had an issue because I had to see it through each time and win every battle. There was a point where he spooked, spun round, lost his footing and fell on me resulting in a broken ankle and he put me in a pot for six weeks! It was about eight months before I was brave enough to compete with him. He’s always been a very spooky horse and that got worse as he got older and stronger. Some venues he likes and some he hates. So we could sometimes get 70%+ or other times less
than 60%. Judges have always had mixed views on him too, just like marmite; some love him, some hate him, but as we have progressed up the levels there’s now far more love for him. Our first good win was at the British Dressage Northern Region Petplan Area Festival at Richmond at Novice level; it was a big class and I had no expectations at all. When I saw my score I was absolutely amazed. I had already entered the British Dressage Northern Region Manor Grange Area Festival two weeks later and we won that too. I always wanted to get involved with the British Dressage Northern Region and ultimately become a Northern team member, so that was the first goal I set myself. I signed myself up for BD Northern camp and went totally on my own and didn’t know a single person there. It was pretty daunting, but everyone was so friendly and I couldn’t have been made feel more welcome. It was also brilliant for George at getting a taste for staying away from home. I put myself forward for team selection and was beyond exited to be selected for the Inter Regionals at Elementary level. I can remember when my Northern team clothing arrived; I was and still am so proud to wear it.
Unfortunately the Inter regionals
was definitely a show to forget! George took a massive dislike to the arenas at Keysoe and decided that going past ‘X’ would definitely result in certain death. Think one of our scores was actually in the 40%’s. So disappointing and frustrating! The next big team competition was the home international and again I was selected, which again was beyond my wildest dreams. I was gobsmacked and got to wear a George cross flag on my jacket. I put a lot of work into George’s spooks and did every arena walk possible. I also entered three warm up classes just to get him in the arena. It all paid off as after the first team test I was lying in individual third place. Amazing! Unfortunately on the last day and in the second team test, George had a complete meltdown and we dropped right out of the top ten. I was absolutely devastated. Fast forward and we finally put our Keysoe demons to rest the following year when we were selected at Medium level and finished individual fifth. The following year we finished reserve Advanced Medium champions at the home international. Along the way, we had some good top ten finishes at British Dressage Regional Championships through the levels, but never qualified for British Dressage National Championships until 2013,
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