As Head Girl for the UK based Australian eventing rider Sam Griffiths, Imogen Mercer has been photographed on many occasions this year, most notably at Badminton Horse Trials where one of her charges, Paulank Brockagh and her boss stormed ahead in the difficult conditions to win one of eventing’s most coveted prizes. At the end of the year however the photographs of her took on a much more relaxed feel as she spent nearly five weeks holidaying in Australia, first visiting the Australian International 3 Day Event and then travelling around the ‘sunburnt’ country which is Sam’s birthplace
Travelling with eventing rider Caroline Harris, who is also based at Sam’s yard, it was Imogen's first visit to Australia and, despite having attended some of the biggest eventing competitions in the world, she found the Australian International 3 Day Event a very different experience.
“It’s actually very odd to walk out of a city straight into a Three Day Event, quite amazing though” said Imogen when we spoke to her just before she left to back to the UK “But we certainly had a great time in Adelaide. Then again, pretty much the whole trip has been fantastic; from Adelaide we went to Brisbane and a few days on Fraser Island then 10 days sailing on the Whitsundays followed by time in Sydney and the Blue Mountains. We wrapped it all up in Melbourne visiting Sam’s parents and a friend who worked for us at the yard and now I have to fly back to the freezing cold!”
Relaxing in Australia at the end of a big year
A long holiday at the end of the year is one of the perks of being Sam Griffiths’ hard working Head Girl, especially after a big year.
“We’re really lucky, Sam is really good about us having a good long break in the winter while the horses are out and each year I do something to get away from it all. During the season I try to take one day off a week but that can be difficult. It really depends on the competition schedule and our travel plans but, if I haven’t managed to get a day off for a while, I’ll try and schedule a few days off when it quietens down again. It’s a case of swings and roundabouts and knowing that I’ll have a lovely break like this at the end of the year keeps you going”
2014 has been a watershed year for the Sam Griffiths team with a CCI4* win at Badminton, being part of the Australian team at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, third at Burghley and many other good placings at other key events. And wherever Sam and his top horses travel, you’ll find Imogen
“Luckily I do like the travelling as I do a wide spread of competitions with the ‘babies’ and then always travel with the advanced horses. All of the staff go to the competitions, whether it’s grooming or riding their own horses. Over time on the circuit you build up a group of friends you look forward to seeing which makes it a good social occasion as well as work. Quite a few of the head girls are good friends – I don’t know what I’m going to do next year without Rachel Watts (Chris Burton’s head girl who is moving back to Australia) as we always have a great time together”
The Australian team grooms check things out
This year the travelling has been quite intense with the team preparations for the World Championships adding to the time away from home. The short lull in competition in the middle of the year which usually allows eventing riders and their staff to draw breath was taken up with an Australian team camp followed by the World Equestrian Games in Normandy before heading straight to Burghley. However she was lucky enough to steal a few days in sunny Marbella courtesy of Paulank Brockagh’s Badminton win! It has, Imogen admits, been a whirlwind year
“Badminton was unexplainable, it was just crazy. It was so unbelievable that I can’t describe the experience even now. Every time I see a photo from there I can’t quite believe it! And it didn’t end there, the World Championships were pretty special, Burghley was great and Boekelo was memorable for me as one of the yard favourites, Favorit Z, went so well. I’ve been looking after him since he came to us at Novice level and he jumped double clear around his first 3* there which was fantastic. It’s not just all about the big wins, I love having those moments when you see all of them do really well, especially when you’ve been working with them to get there. We’ve had such a lucky year”
Luck usually follows hard work and determination. A core staff of six consisting of Imogen, a rider and four grooms look after around 20 horses most of the year at the Griffiths’ yard in Dorset but in the summer that number can increase with working pupils and extra horses, “I couldn’t do it without our team at home” she says . For Imogen it’s important to have a good atmosphere in the yard, “Happy staff and happy horses, that’s the aim!!”
A happy horse for sure and a bit of a favourite - Imogen with Favorit Z
“Ever since I’ve been a child eventing and horses have been passions of mine and I really love my job. It’s quite a responsible job but I get a huge amount of support from Sam and Lucy, their door is always open and I couldn’t have taken on what I have without them. And I’m lucky that we’ve always had really easy staff to deal with”
Imogen’s daily routine consists of doing the yard every morning with the staff, tacking and untacking the main string of horses that Sam is going to ride and hacking out or lunging any horses that won’t be ridden by him that day. “I always like to go to the gallops with them. I think that the consistency and knowing the horses when they gallop is important and checking them afterwards as really small things can make such a difference. I travel pretty much everywhere with the horses.”
There is not much time for her own horses now but Imogen still has her own horse ‘Cher’ and, when the schedule permits, she’ll ride in the afternoon quite often when Sam helps the working pupils with their own horses too. “I do actually compete myself too, however my horse isn’t the easiest and we’ve had our ups and downs this year to say the least!” She may be Head Girl but keeping everybody happy is important to her.
“I try as much as I can to keep it on a level playing field so that I do as much of the general yard work as the rest of the staff if I can. I feel it creates a good atmosphere within the yard if everybody is doing similar workload on the yard”
Imogen and her own horse Cher
Talking to her, it’s hard to believe that Imogen is only 22 years old and only came to work for Sam by chance. Having finished school at 18 and applied for University, Imogen’s gap year turned into something so much more than she imagined.
“I’d always thought it would be great to work in a yard leading up to the London Olympics and work for someone who was in contention to ride at the Games, just to be involved in the build up and see what actually happens. It was just pure luck that the day I looked on an online site the job with Sam as a working pupil was advertised and, as I’d done quite a bit of eventing with my horse and Sam was based in Dorset which was quite close to where I lived in Bath, it seemed like a good opportunity. So off I went with my horse for what I thought would be a year but I ended up becoming the Head Girl after the London Olympics in 2012 and I’m still there!”
Although the plan was to study Business Management at University, Imogen admits it wasn’t a burning passion of hers at the time. In terms of her career, things may change down the track, but not in the foreseeable future
“2015 isn’t a championship year for us but it’s quite important in terms of qualifications and busy in lots of other ways. Sam and Lucy are expecting another child, we’ve got a lovely brand new lorry arriving and we’ve got a really exciting team of horses, including a few we’ll be preparing for Rio. Being the Head Girl of a yard wasn’t something I’d planned to do, however I’ve definitely committed to Sam until after Rio and I’m really looking forward to it”
