It's a family affair as Australian eventing rider Rob Palm, his wife Cassie and children Harry and Poppy prepare to leave for an overseas campaign they are hoping will include Aachen and the World Equestrian Games
Rob and his 11 year old chestnut thoroughbred gelding Koko Story are almost ready to leave their home base just outside of Melbourne, Australia to be based with friend and fellow Australian rider, Sammi Birch and her family in the UK in the lead up to the World Equestrian Games in Tryon later this year. Like Christine Bates, who left last week to be based with Andrew Nicholson in the UK, Rob is hoping to be selected for the Australian Nations Cup team in Aachen and ultimately the WEG in Tryon but he also has a Plan B which may include Burghley or Les Etoiles de Pau CCI4* events
This is not Rob’s first trip overseas; he competed at Burghley in 2006 with The Regulator, the horse that Rob’s racehorse pre-training and breaking business is named after, but he admits “when I went in 2006, I was just a young kid”
Now 33 years of age, Rob is heading back to the UK but this time his wife Cassie and their two young children, two and a half year old Harry and 10 month old Poppy, will be joining him during the trip.
Cassie has competed at 3*/4* level but now focuses on bringing on young horses for sale and their Koko horses are now competing around the world (think 2018 Melbourne CIC3* winner Koko Popping Candy in Australia with Amanda Ross, Rockingham International 1* winner Koko Doro with Japan’s Ryuzo Kitajima and William Fox-Pitt’s Koko Pop, winner of the 2015 Melbourne CCI1* - more about the Koko horses coming up soon) but while they are overseas she will be busy managing the children, ‘It’s going to be tough but it will be good for Rob because he loves his children’
Travelling with a young family makes the trip slightly more complicated and of course Rob has to also leave his business interests behind for several months, something which other eventing riders such as Tim Boland and Shane Rose manage to do but, as Rob points out “From the outside it probably looks really easy … but, maybe it’s not easy, you just make it happen. You just do what you have to do”
Rob was in the throes of last minute preparations and final packing with his groom Ash who is travelling with him (“I’m only taking two bags” says Rob but it’s likely that Cass and the children will have more luggage than Rob and his horse!) when we caught up with him and Cassie at home for an interview before they leave Australia. As they say, don’t work with children and animals and we did both so there are a couple of bloopers that we decided to leave in!
Rob flies on Thursday but is very aware that things can go wrong at any stage, including just before he leaves
“I made the decision (to go overseas) after Sydney International but four weeks is a long time in horses …. I’ll be very excited when I get on the plane”
We’ll be following their journey, starting at Barbury International and keep you updated ….
