Meg Bishop won the Promectin CCI1* at the last Victorian event of the year at Lakes and Craters on her off the track thoroughbred Sovereign Venture. This well travelled horse, that was born in Queensland, moved to NSW, then moved to Tasmania and now lives in Victoria, is ‘one of the cuddliest horse you will ever meet. I always joke that he would get on the couch and watch the Bacherlotte with me but honestly my couch isn’t big enough so I haven’t tried… yet’ says Meg
Meg talks us through how she and Charlie won their first CCI class together thanks to floppy ears, her show jumping coaches and their ability to avoid loose horses
“Last week for me was one of the busiest weeks I've ever had. I started a full time Engineering internship in the city and they were nice enough to give me Thursday and Friday off to go to Lakes and Craters, but it was a bit of a shock after four years of University and part time work to have to pull a 15 hour day Wednesday, come home, pack till midnight and then get up at 5am on Thursday to drive to Camperdown. I got a quick ride in, accepted through trot up and Charlie was back in his yard eating before I passed out in Meryl Dekker’s truck for two hours.
Luckily my dressage test wasn’t until 2.20pm on Friday so I got to sleep in Friday and woke up feeling like a human again. Dressage has always been Charlie's strong suit and he loves a bit of a crowd so I don't get nervous on dressage day. He is well known for his floppy ears, which he gets when he's working hard and relaxed. These were ‘on’ from the second I got on so I knew he was going to do a nice test. We got 74.68%, I think that is a new PB for us, and gave us a two-rail lead, which was a relief for show jumping.
I walked the cross-country twice on Friday and once Saturday and felt confident about the new course. Minute markers walked really evenly so it was just a matter of getting in a rhythm and sticking to it. He warmed up well for cross country and went out of the start blocks super even, until three strides before fence one when the jump judge told me there was a loose horse that had escaped from the cool down and was coming for the gate. There wasn't really anywhere to go other than forward so I jumped the fence and got out the gate as quickly as I could so he wouldn't crash into us.
Panic over and back into my rhythm? Nope. I jumped fence two and locked onto fence three before another loose horse came galloping flat stick behind the fence down the hill. I didn't see him till again about three strides out but, other than being a little confused by the extra entertainment on course, Charlie wasn't too fazed. Then we were in the clear. He was super even over the course and saved me on a few fences I didn't ride as well as I could have. He can get strong and I felt this towards the end coming down the hill when he was getting tired and wanted to lean and pull, but I had a few serious half halts and he kept it together for me for to finish clear and under time.
It was ice and walk and ice and walk for the rest of the day. Being thoroughbred he has heaps of stamina and was super fit so his temp and heart rate came down really quickly at the finish, but he can get tight and that was my main concern. Much to my delight he pulled up really well and I managed to sleep Saturday night, although I think I had nightmares about show jumping.
Show jumping and I aren't friends on the best of days but reverse order show jumping and I are enemies... until Sunday. Em Anker walked show jumping with me and the course looked great -nothing tricky or difficult, just a nice test of their fitness. I was walking Charlie down on the cricket oval and the riders around me slowly started to disappear, Barry was on the loud speaker and all I kept hearing was clear round after clear round and that it was a tight competition - so not what I needed.
Finally I got up to the jumps, got going and started to feel better. Em helped me in the warm up and kept me calm till I could go in. I had my coach Adam Wootten's voice in my head the whole time telling me to 'keep my canter' and Em telling me to 'land and count'. We cleared fence one, I relaxed and actually started to enjoy myself (although I'm not sure I breathed for 88 seconds). Charlie tried so hard and jumped his socks off for me, which was great to know he wasn't feeling much of a burn from the day before. One rail (which was 100% my fault) and 4 time seconds (I was a little on the cautious side getting to my fences straight) Charlie bought home his first and very well deserved CCI win and 3rd woollen rug for the year
I think from this weekend I've learnt that, aside from having the best horse in the world, sometimes all you need to do is just believe in yourself, your horse, your training and trust that your hard work will pay off despite the setbacks you may have faced. I also learnt that I actually do really enjoy show jumping, and reverse order isn’t that bad… And nerves are 100% in your head and you can channel them into good energy if you just do the above and believe in yourself… Funny how that’s a bit of a revolving circle!
The committee did an absolutely incredible job and it’s a true credit to the hard work they put in! I will definitely be back in April for Camperdown, especially if they are going to give me another rug” 
