This is a quick recap from Sharon White about her derby cross Burghley fundraiser. The derby cross was a huge success, as it has been for the past several years. Thanks for writing this Sharon and thank you for reading.
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Photo of Sharon’s course walk by Josh Walker
From Sharon:
“As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more” ~ Jules Renard
On the morning of our third annual Jump! derby cross event, I was approached by a person encased entirely in orange spandex – being led because apparently you can’t see through orange spandex – and I thought it just doesn’t get any better than this. I could not in my wildest dreams have imagined how much fun this event would turn into, how much enjoyment so many people would get out of it, and just how meaningful the whole experience would end up being.
In a nutshell, Jump! is a derby cross event where you jump half a dozen showjumps, straight into a cross country course, then straight into a different half a dozen show jumps. We have from elementary (18 inches) through the preliminary level, and we run it with the idea that everyone will be successful. There are no eliminations, I do course walks and coach for every level, we have a lead horse for anyone that needs one, everyone gets encouraged the whole way round and there is a fabulous cheerleading section! A special shout out has to go to Kerry Blackmer’s Miles Ahead group who are just unbelievable in their enthusiasm and energy. This year they came dressed in orange spandex bearing Boston cream doughnuts and carrots for Reg and orange flowers for me (if you’ve been reading your EN blogs you’ll know what I’m talking about!) I have never seen anything like it and it was truly amazing. I asked if I could borrow the orange suit to wear at Burghley.
One of the greatest parts of the day is to watch both horses and riders improve. Young horses come down and their eyes are bulging out of their heads and by the time they are done they look like seasoned competitors. In the same way, riders will come down white as a sheet, and by the time they have done one round they’re hooked and they come back again and again for more rounds. It’s truly special.
The other amazing part of the day is how many people come out to volunteer. I could NEVER do this without the amazing people who help- from 6 in the morning to 8 in the evening. I could never say thank you enough to everyone, so my plan is to be the 2011 Burghley champion sporting orange spandex!
