An Eventful Life is delighted to be partnering with the Windrush Equestrian Foundation in 2021
For those not familiar with this great organisation, the Windrush Equestrian Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in memory of Christina Knudsen and her passion for the sport of eventing.
Christina was also the very proud owner of 5* winning horse, Wesko, ridden by New Zealand’s Tim Price. Tim continues to compete Wesko, his ‘horse of a lifetime’, in tribute to Christina and as an Ambassador for the Windrush Foundation
The Young Eventers’ Programme, offered by the Foundation, provides young riders, between the age of 21 and 25, with in-depth training opportunities for both in and out of the saddle. With mentorship from Pippa Funnell and support from Yogi Breisner, plus a surrounding support bubble of education, training and welfare advisors, the programme aims to deliver a 360 degree focus on the skills required to succeed as a professional equestrian athlete.
The partnership will allow members of the Foundation’s Young Eventers’ Programme to benefit from access to their cross-country videos from a range of events across the UK. The videos will provide the programme’s riders, and coaches, an additional tool to review performances and analyse what went right and where marginal improvements can be made.
5* eventing rider and one of the #TeamWindrush riders in 2021, Alicia Hawker says that “As riders we love seeing the videos after a cross-country round - it’s great as a training tool and the horse’s owners really enjoy seeing their horse run (particularly at the moment when it’s hard to get to events).
Having a video you can watch back from a special event is something you have forever and definitely cheers up a rainy day in the middle of winter when motivation is dwindling! We’re very grateful to An Eventful Life for their support.”
All of the current Young Riders Programme riders will benefit from an allocation of cross-country videos throughout the 2021 season, along with the original cohort of riders who form the Windrush Academy.
“We’re very grateful to An Eventful Life’s team for their support of the programme” says Windrush Equestrian CEO, Mariachiara Apruzzese “Not only will the provision of cross-country videos offer the riders a positive marketing tool and an additional communication opportunity with owners, but most importantly it provides an incredibly useful training resource for riders to be able to review their rounds, and to learn and grow from the reflection upon previous rides.”
The Windrush riders are lucky to have some of the best mentors in the sport and we hope that, combined with Pippa and Yogi’s feedback, the regular use of video review will play a valuable role in the riders’ skills development.
There will also be regular updates from Team Windrush throughout the year in our Blog section and you can find out more about the Foundation in their Blogger Bio here.
Stay tuned for Blog updates - we’re sure that everyone will enjoy watching their videos and ‘riding along’ with them this year too!
