HAPPY DAYS AT HICKSTEAD

What a fabulous but exhausting two days at Hickstead. No bikes were allowed so I had to put in lots of steps without my trusty EcoVoltz bike!

Ellie and our two homebreds Upsi (Upsi Britannia) and Daisy (Upper Class Brit) did us proud with Upsi winning the Foxhunter, coming 6th in the other Foxhunter class, and only the last fence preventing him from winning the 1.25 as well. The ground was fabulous in the outside grass arena and of course, as expected, the tracks were up to height and technical.

The highlight of the two days was Ellie being invited to take part in the Ashby Underwriters Eventers’ Challenge, 21 years after I won it with Brit. I wouldn’t normally think of taking a 7 year old into that environment but Daisy’s got such a good brain and is jumping easily round 1.20’s and 1.30’s, so it wasn’t the height that was the issue, just the quirkiness and atmosphere going into the main arena at Hickstead. I said to Ellie, whatever happens make a good picture and she certainly did that!

They had a fantastic round and were only 10 seconds off 3rd place, amongst some elite riders, but most importantly Ellie gave Daisy a foot-perfect ride and they were one of only two clear rounds in the whole competition.

The Eventers’ Challenge is a brilliant competition to gain the experience of riding in the iconic main Hickstead arena. We’ll certainly be back and have another crack next year at speed!