Another month has passed and another month of minimal riding 
BSP is still not rideable and I put the word out on social media to see if anyone was able to lend me a horse for two upcoming events that I had entered; the HRCAV Top Teams Trophy Combined Training and the Police and Emergency Services Games.
I was extremely surprised to be offered three horses and with a deadline looming for scratchings and entries closing, I chose the pony closest to home, as getting time off work for a mid-week grading was not going to happen. My good friend, Jayde Stuart offered me Sprite, a Palomino Paint 14hh pony. He is totes adorable! I organised a grading with a local HRCAV assessor who was able to come out at short notice and, as expected, was graded Level 4 which is the same as BSP and I.
In the lead up to the event, which was only two weeks away, I was actually unable to ride as I was deployed with Red Cross to do two first aid shifts at the Port Fairy Folk Festival over the long weekend which, even though was busy first aid wise, was fantastic as I also got to see Sinead O’Connor, John Butler and Christine Anu live! I travelled up Friday after work and back very late Sunday night as I had to work on Labour Day.
I had entered TTT CT with my associate club, Wagga where I have some very close friends and I was extremely excited and nervous. I had only ridden Sprite once prior to the comp for around 20 minutes in the assessment. I had no expectations and no hopes for placing. So I set my goal for the event - to beat all of my dressage test scores with BSP to see how I fared as a rider on another horse.
Jayde was amazing! I asked what I could do to help her prior to the event, perhaps pick up gear to clean it etc, but she had it all under control as most of the tack was to be shared with her own horse. So, I had it very easy and felt a bit lost and underprepared to be honest.
I arrived at the event at 7:30am on Saturday morning and caught up with Renae and her horse Tark (the one I’ve ridden previously in Wagga) and then went and “checked in.” I had contacted the organisers of the event about a month or so ago to see if there was an award I could sponsor on behalf of my Disaster Team. I really wanted an encouragement award for a Level 5 rider and we discussed many options and in the end we decided upon a cotton rug show set for the “Best jumping round for a level 5 combination who completes the cleanest round closest to the optimum time.” The winner of the set was Aleisha Mastroianni. CONGRATULATIONS!! We were very proud to be able to do this and will be doing something similar at the Police and Emergency Services Games.
Jayde arrived with the horses just after 8am, the morning went really fast and before I knew it, it was time to watch Jayde’s test, which I thought went really well and then I had to get organised and hop on and warm Sprite up. I presented at gear check and was showered in compliments of “how well presented and beautiful we looked” and had Jayde help me with the warm up before I headed over to Ring 5 to ride my test.
During the test, I rode to the best of my ability on a horse I didn’t know well but Sprite was a little champion. I knew there were obvious mistakes, I didn’t ride him forward enough (as Jayde had warned me!) in the canter and we dropped back to trot etc but in the end I was mostly happy just to get through it! Leaving the arena with a big (relieved) smile, I then untacked and watched part of Jayde’s SJ round.
Not long after that, it was my turn. I couldn’t believe it had been over a year since I had last competed on BSP at this event in 2014. I hadn’t jumped in all that time and was feeling nervous, but again, Jayde helped me warm up and soon I felt my confidence return. My only issue was not to over-ride and mess up Sprite’s striding. To me, it felt like he was always too slow and going to stop. I set myself the goal of a clear round and not to worry about time.
Finally, we headed in and had a lovely chat with the judge. Off we went and as I was cantering the l-o-n-g way around to the first fence, I realised I wasn’t sure if the judge had rung the bell and I was near the start flags and then he also must have realised and finally rang it. Phew! Off we went, feeling a little rusty, we managed to clear the course. I was a little disappointed with my riding as I felt it was rather a messy round and I fussed too much, but it was what it was and I had finished my event on a happy note.
I took Sprite back to Jayde’s float and untacked, unplaited and fed him a hard feed and copious amounts of carrots before I headed over to help Renae. A few minutes before Renae was to present to her judge, I got a call from Jayde asking me if I wanted to know the results of my section. I said, “No, thank you!” And she said, “Well, I think you might!” I had placed 4th! I honestly couldn’t believe it. I am sure I said something very inappropriate in my shocked state and still didn’t truly believe it until the actual presentation and I was handed my green ribbon with a dressage score of 70.83! Of course I immediately texted my two amazing coaches, Megan Jones and Kirsty Beard with the results.
Photo courtesy Sam Mizzi
I would like to thank Jayde Stuart from the bottom of my heart for her encouragement, her time and her friendship and most of all for trusting me to ride Sprite. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to place at such a big event. I hope you enjoy the Möet, Jayde!
Thank you also to Whittlesea ARC and in particular Simone who made the sponsorship effortless. The event was well run, on time, staff/volunteers were super friendly and presentations were quick, which meant those who had a long way to travel home were able to be on the road well before dark.
Sunday morning, I headed home as I had stayed the night with my Wagga team and I did the usual - unpack, wash clothing, comp clothes, saddle blanket, clean boots etc. Just after 1pm I got a call from Anne, saying BSP was very unwell and he was not good and to get over there ASAP. I asked what was wrong and she described all the symptoms of colic. I told her to call the vet and headed over. I spent the 10 minute drive trying to keep myself calm and not over react and think the worst - I think my emergency management experience really helped me here! When I pulled up in a cloud of dust, Lisa had managed to get him up and was walking him. She said he’d been pawing the ground, rolling down the hill and lying stretched out with his eyes rolling back in his head and groaning. I was really worried. He must have been in so much pain the poor thing! I walked with her for about half an hour before she handed him to me so we could get some water to drink and an update on what was happening with the vet.
I continued to walk him and a car pulled into the driveway and the vet stepped out. The first words out of my mouth were “Thank God!” and we had a chat before she began her assessment. BSP was quite agitated but had recently done a poo when I was walking him so I felt some relief when he did that, as I suspected it wasn’t a blockage.
Fortunately, we had caught it early and she gave BSP an analgesic and left us with some Buscopan in case he needed it later that day/night and he became more settled. While the vet was with us, we also got her to remove the proud flesh from his current wound and he was re-bandaged and she departed. BSP was now more comfortable and sleepy so we returned him to his paddock and kept an eye on him for a while before I felt safe enough to leave him. After about half an hour, he had a drink of water and began to eat. I don’t think I have ever felt so scared as I did when I got that call. Thank goodness BSP is well again now.
My next event is also on Sprite at Werribee on the 16th and 17th April. I hope to be able to ride well in all my events and do Jayde proud again.
Until next time,
Keep calm in a crisis and be ready for surprises!
Love, Jenna, BSP and Sprite. Xox
