RIDING CLUB


SADDLE UP FOR SUCCESS By LauraLucas


M


yjourneybegan as Iamsure manyofoursdid -riding from the age of about 5, having staredlongingly at


the horsesinthe field behind our house forhours on end, feeding and stroking them wheneverthe owners were kind enough to letme. Irenamed one of them Chilli ConCarne (it wasabay!). Everywaking minutewas takenup thinking about horses– building jumping coursesinthe garden (using old paint tins as wings –mymother wasMOST unimpressed when awingwas knocked overhours before we had aviewing on our house,spraying whitepaint all over the lawn), using the netball court linesat school as aBadminton course,begging and borrowing ridesoff everynaughty and feralbeast in the local vicinity. By the age of 14 my parentsFINALLYcaved


and bought me acheap as chips 4yoNew Forest pony, fatand barely broken. Whilstarelatively competent rider,I had neverhad the consistency of my ownpony, coupled with fairly non horsey (but supportive) parents, in hindsight, it’s not acombination I’drecommend!! Iused to spend hoursatthe stables,hack milestolocal shows, even taking the poor ponytorepresent our school at adressage competition at Hickstead. What we lacked in training and knowledge,I made up forindetermination and passion!!! Then came along A-levels, boys and university,


meaning Ibid farewell to lovely Zara,but the passion remained. In abid to manage the unfulfilled horsey flame,I found aclassical dressage instructorclose to my university. A friend and Iused to forgoall sortsofthings to be able to fund our weekly lesson, in the dark, followedbychips in alocal pub!! Ilearnt SO much –Ithink that is when Itruly learnt howtoride!! Roll on another 6years and Iwas fortunate


enough to get aride on a17.3hh ex-racehorse (straight from racing). Iam5ft on agood


32 FEBRUARY/MARCH2021


day. Whilstlovely,hewas not aconfidence giver.The morenervous Igot, and the moreI hung on, the higher he jumped, resulting in me falling off prettymuch everytime Ijumped him. Iusedtoregularly take himtoRugbyRiding Club’scompetitions, with aparticular highlight wasfalling off 3timesinone XC session!! At this point, Idecided to buy ahorse.Ona


shoestring. Ibought twoex-racehorses-straight out of training- whynot?!!! Again, possibly not the mostsensible decision forsomeone with 100%


keenness,but not with matching experience, and who’sconfidencewas on the floor! Following afew lessons with atrustedfriend


to begin piecing together my confidence, I stumbled acrossRiding Clubs. Ihad neverhad the opportunitytodoPonyClub,and so Ifeared Riding Club might come with the perceived stereotypes, and that Ihad to have anysort of abilityand talent to attend. Howwrong Iwas!! Ispoketothe Chair of Cherwell ValleyRiding


Club one sunnyevening about what training and competitions theyoffered, and wasso excited about howinformal, relaxed and supportiveit sounded, and to topitall, theyhad aXCand SJ training session the following weekend a fewmilesawayfromthe yard Iwas at. Off I trundled. Ihad the BEST time.And theyhad a photographer (it is all about the photos, right?!!!) Confidence boosting, fun, supportive. I


washooked. Ispent afew yearsgoing to regular training and representing at afew competitions (with no placings!!) but having abrilliant time.Thisjourneytook me from being terrified (and mostly falling off)tojump


Forthe latestnewsvisitwww.centralhorsenews.co.uk


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