A Day in the Life of Novato Salvatella, PRE Stallion
at Royal Windsor Virtual Show 2020 By Emma Taylor
R
oyal Windsor was one of our big goals for 2020; having competed there a few years ago with my Lusitano Arquerio (aka Rchi), I knew I wanted to go
back. Novato Salvatella aka Sparky had also been once before, but this would be our first time as a duo. We were entered into the English Ridden and the Parade classes this year. When I found out it was cancelled, I was truly heart broken.
I worked closely with Jenni of Flying Changes Coaching to reset my mindset and outlook on the season ahead. My motivation had dropped and I was a very deflated. When the opportunity came about to compete in a Virtual Class, with a considerably bigger turnout, Jenni and I set about with a newfound excitement.
Royal Windsor were very innovative with their new virtual show format. Twenty four classes were put on the programme, and anyone could enter simply by sending in a photo. There were over 4,500 entries across the show, so it proved to be incredibly popular! So, first thing for us to do was select the photo which would be our entry into the Iberian class.
On picking a suitable photo and there was a clear choice for us – the one from our first show together, which was 18 months ago.
Just 6 months before the show I had met Sparky and his then current owner, Lynne, and had started to ride him under her guidance. We met Lynne & Sparky at the show where she competed him in the first class, then I competed him in two
more classes. He won all three classes, took Ridden Champion and then Supreme; he then came home with us. It was a very special day, as not only a successful one but the day that Sparky joined our family.
When the day of Royal Windsor came round this time, it was a little unusual. We had of course originally planned to be up in the small hours of the day to plait, groom and allow plenty of travel time to make the journey down to Windsor from Warwickshire. We would have been competing in the Ridden English and Parade classes, had we have been there for real. Instead, it was a very leisurely start to the day.
During lockdown we have still been fortunate enough to keep visiting Sparky. Leys Farm Livery have been very supportive and organised throughout this difficult time. We have had allocated timeslots each day and ours meant that we would be at the yard with Sparky when the Windsor Iberian Class results would be announced through the Virtual Windsor Live Stream on Facebook. On a normal show day we would have the distractions of the class and rough idea of placings, but it was far more nerve-racking to just sit and wait for the results, especially knowing that they were being broadcast live to a big audience with a live critique from the Judge.
The live results were for the final 10, which we had been selected just a few days beforehand. As the placings crept up from 10th towards 1st and Sparky’s name didn’t appear, I dared to hope that we maybe we might make the top 3, which would have been incredible. couldn’t believe it when I saw us down to the top 2 and
I 34 THE SUMMER SPECIAL 2020 For the latest news visit
www.centralhorsenews.co.uk
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