Our HKG team bus! Each team were supplied with a bus and driver for the duration of our stay,
mainly to get to and from the hotel and the venue, which was about a 15mins drive
I have just returned from an amazing trip to Thailand for the first ever Asian Eventing Championships. They were held in Pattaya at The Thai Polo Club. As you can imagine, the facilities and setup was brilliant and all the horses looked happy and relaxed in their environment. I flew my own horse Super Combed (Harry) over for the competition. He had to undergo 30days of pre export quarantine at home and various blood tests before he set off to Amsterdam, where he was flying from. My Groom for the event- Mark Swan travelled with Harry all the way to Thailand. I, along with my team vet- Frank Low arrived at the venue slightly before Harry and Mark. We had a quick tour around the venue and made sure everything was ready for Harry's arrival. The flight was on time and they arrived as when expected. Harry looked to have travelled well and was pleased to go into a stable!
The main arena and judges box. The dressage and showjumping took place there on the sand arena
Over the next few days, Mark and I kept harry relaxed and generally as happy as possible. I exercised him once a day and he was walked and grazed. The heat wasnt too bad but the flies were! Luckily I had packed his fly rug and used a lot of fly spray. During the first few days, Mark and I was able to go to some tourist things during the day. Our driver, Mr Dam was excellent and suggested a few places we should visit. This included a ride on an elephant and a visit to the floating market!!
Mark and I took our chance to go for an elephant ride
As the competition got closer, the rest of my team arrived. Suzanne Baker my physio and Howard Green the chef d'equip. The organisers had arranged an opening ceremony for us which was magnificent. The highlight of the evening was when 2 London Olympic event riders on polo ponies, lit a flame. It was wonderful to watch.
Ready for trot up
Trot up went smoothly with every one accepted to start the competition. I was drawn 16 out of 19 to go which was ideal and harry did a good test to take the lead on 46 penalties. The Thai riders were closely behind me and I was just over two penalties ahead before the next day. The cross country course was a fair track with alternatives at the more difficult fences. The optimum time was 5min 20 seconds which was very tight. The course caused a lot of problems early on and there were a few falls and eliminations. I was confident about the course and kept with my approaches and lines despite the problems caused. Harry felt super and was jumping well. I took all the direct routes and made it round the course in the fastest time of the day, which was three seconds over the optimum. We retained our lead after day two and with one of the Thai horses not presenting to the ground jury the next morning it meant one less to go forward to show jumping.
Prize Giving
The jumping took place in reverse order of penalties hence I was last to go. The course was quite twisty with several tight turns which actually suited harry. As I went in, I knew I had a few fences in hand but to jump clear was fab and I was so so proud of him. He is such a mega star and tried so hard for me over the last few days, What a champion!!! The whole event has been such a memorable experience and being the first Asian Eventing Champion has definitely made it the best week of my life!
Team photo - from left to right:
Suzanne Baker (physio), Annie Ho (rider), Mark Swan (groom), Howard Green (chef d'equip), Frank Low (vet)
Photos: With thanks to the Thai Federation, Annie and friends!
