Samantha Clark

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Rachel Wakefield – Building Uptown Eventing

By Samantha Clark on Aug 20, 2011 1:06 pm -

All pictures with kind permission of Rachel Wakefield and Uptown Eventing

Rachel on Uptown at Saumur CCI ***

Uptown Eventing is an extremely successful business sourcing and matching some of the best event horses in the world with top riders. Named after Rachel Wakefield’s own beloved advanced horse, it’s probably her passion for the sport that has enabled her to thrive in a lifestyle that demands long hours, travel, research, a certain level of organisation and of course, superior people skills and a giant Rolodex in all weathers and conditions,

“I had a really good horse called Uptown which I rode at three star level, and I was what I call a good amateur rider. I had two advanced horses, both of which I produced to being entered at four star, but they were only ever wait-listed. Uptown was just an amazing horse, and he retired when he was about 14 years old, but during all those years I’d built up an enormous contact base, and I’d also been based with various people around the country, and trained with possibly every trainer there is going! I’d been based with the Tuckers (Mike and Angela) with my first Advanced Horse, Remember Spartan, and I’d particularly met a lot of people there.”

Rachel had always combined her eventing with a career as a PA, but on Uptown’s retirement she told me she struggled to replace him, and instead ended up selling her novice horse to America after giving the ride briefly to Dan Jocelyn. Following that, she then sold a couple of other horses as a favour to a friend, but this time for a fee, the first of which went on to be on the Young Rider Team, and from there the seed began to grow…

” I was really unhappy because horses were what I loved doing, so I decided that I would try and make a business out of it. I’d taken redundancy where I’d worked, for quite a high-powered blue chip company called Compass Group. Then my french contact found me a horse called Kachemire le Beau, which we sold to Libby Soley who then went on to win medals on the British Junior Team”

Rachel was already quite well known in eventing circles due to her own riding career, and also because of her burgeoning journalism,

“At the same time as I was riding Uptown I was asked to be the Eventing Magazine Diarist. I led quite an interesting life because I had a ‘proper’ job, I had one horse that was going to Blenheim having done one Advanced because in those days you could do that, and I had a bit of a whirlwind social life, going to polo, parties, this and that! Because I only had one horse I wrote about everything else too – suddenly everyone knew what I was about! They followed me for a year, and competitively I probably had the worst year of my life because I was supposed to go to Burghley and I ended up having a fall at our final run and couldn’t go, although the story behind it was all quite amusing at the time, being helicoptered off in the same helicopter that Blyth (Tait) had just been in. Then after my diary year was up, I had a rather gossipy lunch with Eventing Magazine editor Julie Harding and I was asked to write Stable Talk, which I’ve done for about five years now, and which has been quite helpful, as people automatically know who I am.”

The writing also helped in other ways,

“When I was doing the journalism, because I was asked to write event reports, I suddenly realised that what I saw, and what I was riding, was correct – the writing gave me confidence. I hadn’t always believed in myself as a rider, but the writing reinforced in me that I did know a good horse when I saw one, and the lines that I walked to ride were the correct ones.

I also spent rather more time than I should have done trawling the internet watching the results, writing up articles when I should have been working in the office!”

Behind the funny, gossipy exterior though, is still the high-powered career woman who’s making Uptown Eventing work – a happy marriage of horse sense, business smarts and instinct,

“What I decided to do, and I saw a bit of a gap in the market, was I just wanted to sell the best horses in the world, so that people could have a successful time eventing. I’d had such a fantastic time eventing and really enjoyed it, I still absolutely love the sport, and I wanted other people to have that too when they went out on a horse. It was really important to me that if someone rang me up looking for a horse that I could then find them ‘The’ horse even if it was someone looking for an Olympic winning horse. Obviously we find horses for all sorts of people, but that is what I wanted to do, and I’m really proud of the people I’ve matched up with horses and the list is fairly substantial. We’ve had 3 horses finish in the top 3 at CCI 4* level this year. We don’t sell hundreds of horses, what we try and sell is the best horses and they’re few and far between.“

Rachel and Michael at Saumur

About four years ago, Rachel was approached by what ended up being quite a special client: it took her about a year to find a horse for Michael Wynne (he was very fussy, her words not mine!) but since then they’ve become business partners, romantic partners, and parents to 21 month old Lily. Rachel tells me that Lily, who has travelled all over Europe with Uptown Eventing, is dying to ride but Michael would rather she play tennis! The horse Michael eventually bought was William Fox-Pitt’s ride Mr Dumbledore, and they kept in touch after the sale,

“I really do follow all the horses that are bought through us because I feel it’s really important that I’ve done my job properly and take great pride in seeing them succeed with their new riders.”

Uptown Eventing however has flourished with the addition of Michael, making it a tightly run ship of two,

“Michael’s show-jumped internationally, he had a team of 35 horses when he was show-jumping, is highly respected by all the British top show-jumping riders and is a lovely rider to watch. He played polo for a couple of years and then he took to eventing. In three years he went from nothing to winning an advanced and coming second at Chatsworth in the 3* Class, only beaten by Bettina on the grey horse (Ringwood Cockatoo). Michael is a real horseman, he’s really perceptive about what a horse is, about how it’s brain works – he can watch a horse come to a fence and he’ll know how that horse is, whether it’s sensible or not, and he’ll be right every single time.”

So what is life like for Rachel now?

“Michael developed the website and the pair of us spend our time on the road and at the computer. We always have our phones with us 24/7, and if someone rings me, they’ll always get a call back. The website gets about 50,000 hits a month, it’s our shop window, although we don’t put all the horses for sale on there, and we like to keep the business details quite private for the sake of discretion. We try to get to as many events as possible as you never know when you’re going to spot ‘the one’ – our favourite saying is ‘we’re not going to spot a horse in our back garden’ so we get in the car and go and look!

Michael rides two horses for one owner, and I’ve yet to find a horse for myself which is silly really because we see so many nice horses, but a) I’m quite picky, and b) we haven’t got the budgets that some of these people have got to spend. I do want to ride again, it was my whole life. I did want to have a child, but it wasn’t until I met the right person that it enabled me to do all that. I’d love Michael to move up the grades with a horse, that would be really fantastic too.”

I asked Rachel to explain the very basics,

“If somebody rings me looking for a horse, and gives me their criteria, I will then analyse it and decide what I think is the best solution for them to meet the needs of what they’re looking for. I may know of one or several horses in the UK, but if not I may send them to Ireland, France, Germany, Australia or NZ if I think that’s the best decision and the right horses are out there for them to see – we’re not into wasting people’s time seeing the wrong horses. Then we make arrangements for them to trial the horses and will accompany them so they get our input too. If they like it they buy it, if not, we keep on looking!

We do spot horses out and about, and we will approach people to see if they’ll sell, and sometimes that means offering a lot of money, and sometimes that means people turning down a lot of money. I kept my advanced horse until the day he died; I’d been offered a lot of money for him and I’d turned it down, but nowadays I’d have to think about it differently. We like to take people through the whole sales process so everyone’s comfortable about what we’re doing, we do all the negotiating for people and we’re not frightened to bargain a bit on behalf of riders because it is a business, a lot of riders aren’t very practical about that side of it. There’s no hidden agenda, everything is clear and out in the open, and I have what I believe is a very good reputation for being straight and honest and helping people to find a top horse.”

Sinead Halpin & Manoir de Carneville, 3rd at Rolex 2011

Perhaps one of the most well-known matches Uptown Eventing has made in the US has been Sinead Halpin’s Manoir de Carneville (Tate), highest placed US combination at Rolex this year, and heading to Burghley,

“Sinead contacted me and came over from the States, and we went on a trip around the UK. We did find a horse but they actually took it off the market which was really annoying, but watching her was a delight, because she made every horse she got on look wonderful, she improved everything she sat on. As a result of that trip we became friendly and struck up a bond; then when she was at William’s (Fox-Pitt) she rang me up and told me she had a potential owner looking for a horse, so I arranged for her to go to France to look at Tate. Having been a top PA at board level, I’m very instrumental at organising people at getting from A to B, I love fixing things like that, if someone has to get to the middle of Siberia – I’ll look at their best options to get there, I like all the logistics! So I got Sinead a day return on the ferry for thirty pounds, got her picked up at the ferry port, she went and tried the horse, loved him and bought him.”

Uptown Eventing has also recently sourced a horse for another US rider, Julian Stiller, based in the UK,

“Jules approached me at an event and said she was looking for something to ride at the London 2012 Test Event. I’d been following Gunstone Wallstreet for a couple of years and thought he’d be really suitable for her. I’m delighted that we’ve found Jules a really nice horse, she’s really happy with him. He’ll certainly go three star, and hopefully 4 star. I think Jules has now built herself a really good team of horses and I think she’ll have some really good success in the next couple of years, but it takes a while, and you’re only as good as the horse you’re riding.”

Mary King and Imperial Cavalier

Another high profile relationship for Uptown Eventing has been the matching of Mary King with Call Again Cavalier, Imperial Cavalier and Fernhill Urco,

“When Caroline Pratt died, she was riding Call Again Cavalier, and the owners Sue and Eddie Davies and their daughter Janette (Chinn) are close personal friends of mine. They were at a bit of a loss as to what to do because obviously they had people ringing up wanting the ride, and I knew that Mary was slightly short on horses. The Davies’ and I discussed riders for Call Again Cavalier, and Eddie is a man who wants results, and I told them that if they wanted a top rider who’d produce a top ten result at a four star then Mary King would do the job, and funnily enough the first time Eddie came to watch Mary ride the horse she fell off!”

However this didn’t put the Davies’ off, and they went on to buy more horses for Mary to ride, with Rachel’s help,

“I’d spotted horses for them in the past, and I’d seen Imperial Cavalier as a young horse and told Sue and Eddie about him, and they’d asked me to keep an eye on him. For a long time his former owner Vicky didn’t want to sell him, and then one day she changed her mind and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Mary didn’t even know anything about it, Janette just sent her a message telling her to go and pick him up. With Fernhill Urco, I’d heard that he was on the market, told them about him, they went over and tried him, liked him and bought him.”

Rachel told me that things don’t often go wrong, but they had a near miss last year,

“At the end of 2010, when majority owner Sabine Kreuter took German WEG World Champion La Biosthetique Sam from Michael Jung’s yard back to her home in Germany, Michael (Wynne) took a client to see the horse, and naturally we do everything fairly discreetly anyway, but especially in this instance we didn’t want anybody to know we were trying the horse. However, as Michael and the rider were sitting in the airport lounge on the way home, they heard an announcement over the tannoy, “Could Mr Jung and Mr Scherer (Rodolpe – French rider) please come to the information desk”. It was probably just a name coincidence but Michael and the rider hid in the airport because they didn’t want anyone to know they’d just been to Germany to see the horse!”

Yet another high profile sale – Regent Lad. Lily shows Mark Todd how the ropes (Lucky Lily!)

I’m intrigued to know what kind of horse tempts Rachel?

“I’d go for an old-fashioned Irish horse. Out of the horses I’ve sold Imperial Cavalier is definitely one you’d want to have had a sit on. Regent Lad is another lovely horse, I’d love that one! If you had a million pounds what would you pick? It would be so difficult…”

It’s quite fun just to browse the Uptown Eventing Successful Matches Page, and I’m not at all surprised to see one of my favourite horses from Gatcombe there, Zara Phillips’ ride, Silver Lining,

“That horse is amazing, and she will get it right, but he’s not completely straight-forward and he’s quite cheeky. She will have her day on that horse. “

Zara Phillips on Sliver Lining

Uptown Eventing will also be represented at the Pan Am Games by Mexico after a phone call from a previously unknown rider, Carlos Cornej,

“In the UK we know all the riders within reason, their capabilities, what type of horse they like and what does or doesn’t suit them, but when someone from Mexico rings you up looking for a horse you really don’t know what to expect. Carlos sent us some video footage of him riding, and he was coming over just before Christmas for a fortnight, so we organised for him to go to France for 3 days, Ireland for 3 days, Germany for 3 days, and then spend 5 days in England traveling with us, and he had an amazing time. He was such a pleasure to take around. He did end up buying two horses in Germany, one of which, Sammy Equus, is hopefully going to the PanAms, so in his spare days in England I then had to book him into a hotel in London and he went Christmas shopping and he loved it!”

Rachel and Michael will be following the European Championships closely this year, on tv poolside on their annual holiday, and they’ll have Eventing friends join them too – last year a certain Burghley competitor prepped for the big event by spending the week prior to the event on vacation with them, and swore that he was so relaxed when he rode there it definitely contributed to his top ten finish, so much so that he’s already booked back in for this year hoping for another good performance.

If you’re looking for a lovely horse, Rachel and Michael’s contact details are available on their website, and even if you’re not strictly in the market for a new horse, it’s a wonderful site to window shop! A big thank you to Rachel for her time, I kept her chatting for far too long and could have gone on even longer, for that I apologise also! Thank you for reading, go browsing, go day-dreaming, and go uptown eventing!

Rachel Wakefield – Building Uptown Eventing

By Samantha Clark on Aug 20, 2011 12:57 pm -

All pictures with kind permission of Rachel Wakefield and Uptown Eventing

Rachel on Uptown at Saumur CCI ***

Rachel was already quite well known in eventing circles due to her own riding career, and also because of her burgeoning journalism,

The writing also helped in other ways,

I also spent rather more time than I should have done trawling the internet watching the results, writing up articles when I should have been working in the office!”

Behind the funny, gossipy exterior though, is still the high-powered career woman who’s making Uptown Eventing work – a happy marriage of horse sense, business smarts and instinct,

Rachel and Michael at Saumur

About four years ago, Rachel was approached by what ended up being quite a special client: it took her about a year to find a horse for Michael Wynne (he was very fussy, her words not mine!) but since then they’ve become business partners, romantic partners, and parents to 21 month old Lily. Rachel tells me that Lily, who has traveled all over Europe with Uptown Eventing, is dying to ride but Michael would rather she play tennis! The horse Michael eventually bought was William Fox-Pitt’s ride Mr Dumbledore, and they kept in touch after the sale,

Uptown Eventing however has flourished with the addition of Michael, making it a tightly run ship of two,

So what is life like for Rachel now?

I asked Rachel to explain the very basics,

Sinead Halpin & Manoir de Carneville, 3rd at Rolex 2011

Uptown Eventing has also recently sourced a horse for another US rider, Julian Stiller, based in the UK,

Mary King and Imperial Cavalier

Another high profile relationship for Uptown Eventing has been the matching of Mary King with Call Again Cavalier, Imperial Cavalier and Fernhill Urco,

However this didn’t put the Davies’ off, and they went on to buy more horses for Mary to ride, with Rachel’s help,

Rachel told me that things don’t often go wrong, but they had a near miss last year,

Yet another high profile sale – Regent Lad. Lily shows Mark Todd how the ropes (Lucky Lily!)

I’m intrigued to know what kind of horse tempts Rachel?

“That horse is amazing, and she will get it right, but he’s not completely straight-forward and he’s quite cheeky. She will have her day on that horse. “

Zara Phillips on Sliver Lining

Uptown Eventing will also be represented at the Pan Am Games by Mexico after a phone call from a previously unknown rider, Carlos Cornej,

Puerto Rico Eventing – Represented

By Samantha Clark on Aug 18, 2011 12:23 pm -

All pictures used with the kind permission of Lauren Billys

Although Lauren Billys lives in California and attends Fresno State where she’s double majoring in Chemistry and enology – winemaking (think ‘Sideways’!), her grandmother is Puerto Rican, and as a third generation Puerto Rican she’s hoping to be the first and only eventer representing her country at the Pan Am’s later this year. Lauren started the process of joining the Puerto Rican federation in September 2009, and it became official in June of last year. Since then, she told me, her grandmother and that side of her family who all still live in Puerto Rico, have all emailed her to tell her how proud they are, and her grandmother hopes to make the trip to Mexico to watch her compete.

Lauren’s partner in her endeavour will be her mare, Ballingowan Ginger, her only horse,

“Ginger’s an Irish Sport horse; she’s 9 years old. I got her in February 2007 so she was five when I got her. She was imported from Ireland, and had only done novice when I got her. When she arrived she was a short, fat, bay mare and she’s turned into a really special horse. She’s by Master Imp and BallyDavid’s Girl was the dam. She’s a great dressage horse and really excels in the show-jumping and cross-country, she’s a great horse! She’s very personable, very sensible, and a great partner because she’s really fun to spend time with. That’s probably been the most enjoyable part about the whole thing, she’s a great horse to have this opportunity with.”

Lauren trains on the flat with Loris Henry who’s handily based in Fresno also, and travels three and a half hours every other week to spend a weekend with Derek and Bea di Grazia. Combining the distance, school and eventing is just part of the juggling act,

“It’s a lot of improvising; I gallop at a racetrack, I swim my horse at an aqua therapy place for fitness because there’s not a lot of terrain here, and it’s at sea level, so it’s not prime for getting horses fit, but I have a good barn, and I have good footing where I go, so I’m lucky in that respect.”

Lauren started riding when she was 8 years old, in a “backyard kind of riding facility”, and found her first horse, Ranger, when she was 15 years old, in the local classifieds for $2,500, taking him to training level before graduating to Ginger.

Making the decision to ride for Puerto Rico was, of course, not one Lauren took lightly. Eventing is an emerging sport there, and as such, Lauren will enjoy much less financial and practical help than she would if she were representing a more established nation such as the US. Lauren looks to Derek and Bea, with their vast experience to help her with the myriad of questions that have come up dealing with competing for your country overseas, and has started to fund-raise in earnest, approaching local businesses in her community. If you’d like more information about attending her benefit, or to help her in her efforts you can donate here.

Although Lauren tells me she sometimes feels as though she has three majors with the riding, she has one year left in college, and says that she would ultimately like to make a career out of her eventing,

“I’d love to ride, and I want to pursue whatever opportunity arises for Ginger and I. I’m in the process to find members to invest in young blood and syndicate a second horse for me, so I’m doing that, but if I were to pursue my major I’m looking into going to graduate school to be an applied chemist for wine-making and grape-growing, but ideally I would love to ride, so we’ll see what happens.”

What could happen is that it’s not totally inconceivable that Lauren could get a shot at wearing her new Pinque coat for Puerto Rico at London next year. She explained the extremely complicated qualifications to me,

“As an individual, because Puerto Rico doesn’t have an Eventing Team, what I’ll have to do is qualify individually. The biggest my horse has ever done is the most I’ve ever done, and we’re looking to move her up to advanced here soon. We’ve got to complete a CIC and a CCI 3*, and then if we’re one of the top-ranked pairs in the North American Hemisphere, after you knock out all the US riders, all the Canadian riders, and pending maybe all the Mexican riders, then her and I, if we’re qualified, can go to the Olympics. In all reality there is a possibility that we could do that if we move up and have a few successful qualifying rounds this coming spring, which is exciting!”

Incredibly exciting, indeed! I do remember idly gossiping in horseboxes back in the day in England, about what nations we could adopt so that we could ride in the Olympics one day, but Lauren is living the dream! Wishing Lauren the best of luck in getting to the Pan Ams, and onward to London; many thanks to her for talking to us, and thank you as always for reading. I couldn’t remember the name of a great documentary I’d seen a few years ago about winemaking when Lauren and I were chatting, but it’s called Mondavino, and brilliant, I wholeheartedly recommend it! Go and pour yourself a large one, and Go Eventing Nations!

Puerto Rico Eventing – Represented

By Samantha Clark on Aug 18, 2011 12:17 pm -

All pictures used with the kind permission of Lauren Billys

Lauren’s partner in her endeavour will be her mare, Ballingowan Ginger, her only horse,

“I’d love to ride, and I want to pursue whatever opportunity arises for me and Ginger. I’m in the process of finding members to invest in young blood and syndicate a second horse for me, so I’m doing that, but if I were to pursue my major I’m looking into going to graduate school to be an applied chemist for wine-making and grape-growing, but ideally I would love to ride, so we’ll see what happens.”

“Because Puerto Rico doesn’t have an Eventing Team, what I’ll have to do is qualify individually. The biggest my horse has ever done is the most I’ve ever done, and we’re looking to move her up to advanced here soon. We’ve got to complete a CIC and a CCI 3*, and then if we’re one of the top-ranked pairs in the North American Hemisphere, after you knock out all the US riders, all the Canadian riders, and pending maybe all the Mexican riders, then her and I, if we’re qualified, can go to the Olympics. In all reality there is a possibility that we could do that if we move up and have a few successful qualifying rounds this coming spring, which is exciting!”

Iona Legge-Bourke – Eventing at it’s Very Best

By Samantha Clark on Aug 17, 2011 1:32 pm -

All pictures used with kind permission of Iona Legge-Bourke

Lochy, Harry, Serena and Iona Legge-Bourke with Shelley Timms

Let me preface this by saying that I realise my job is something of a dream job – talking to anyone and everyone involved in Eventing, and attending the premier competitions in the calendar, but today it’s my absolute privilege to bring you a story that sums up what we all love about our sport, however and at whatever level we’re involved. It’s about the camaraderie, the giving it a go, the heart, the fun and the eventing community, and I’m thrilled to be able to share this with you.

It’s hard to pin down exactly where this all starts – was it three years ago when Iona and Harry’s second child, Serena, was born with laryngomalacia, a condition that affects 1 in 20,000 new born babies, closing the passage to her stomach and meaning she needed 3 operations in the first 6 months of her life? Was it five months ago when Iona watched International Velvet and decided to ride in the event at Glanusk to raise money for the Children’s Hospital in Wales where Serena and Iona spent so much time? Or was it just 8 short weeks before Glanusk Horse Trials when Iona began intensive training with Shelley, learning about dressage and jumping for the very first time?

The best person to tell us is Iona herself, and she says she last rode when she was about twelve years old on her rescued pony, Ginger,

“He was 12.2, very sweet, but didn’t do anything, didn’t really want to do gymkhanas, never jumped, so I never jumped either, and we would just potter around the place together. He was sort of my friend, and every weekend I would spend all my time with him when I wasn’t at school.”

Boarding school, living abroad and a job in London all meant that Iona didn’t ride again until very recently. Three years ago her family moved to the stunning Glanusk Estate, where they run not only the BE Horse Trials, now in it’s second year, but also polo, weddings and corporate events among other things, and here Iona picks up the timeline again…

“Two years ago I bought a hat, Sophie Price told me to buy a hat, but I never put it on! In February of this year I downloaded International Velvet onto my computer for this eleven year old girl to watch who hadn’t seen it before, and we watched it together, and I thought, ‘Gosh, I’d really quite like to have a go at this!’

Iona dutifully logged some “time in the saddle” but didn’t get much further until Fate played a hand. The Pony Club also comes to Glanusk, and in May Iona accepted the generous offer of the ride on Merlin, a beautiful grey 14.3 Connemara cross from Ben and Sara Herbert, but only after making sure it was all okay with his regular rider, Ben and Sarah’s 10 year old son, Milo. By this time, it was probably early June before Iona actually started riding Merlin, with the help of uber groom/instructor Shelley Timms,

“We just started from scratch with everything basically – my seat, the way I sat, everything! Then we did a little bit of dressage, then we did a little bit of low poles. Shelley was absolutely brilliant and we had a laugh as well. I think when I arrived she wondered what on earth she’d let herself in for!”

Iona tells me a very funny story about the “starting block” which unfortunately she told me not to repeat, and when I gently remind her that it’s called the mounting block she laughs and exclaims that the lingo was just one more thing she’s had to re-learn all over again – “starting block, getting-on block! It’s been 25 years, Samantha!”

Let’s backtrack a little bit and find out a bit more about Serena, the reason behind Iona’s incredible endeavour. I inquire about her health now,

“I’d say she’s 100%. They’ve said there’s a possibility that it could grow back – it could, but it’s unlikely.”

Three years ago when Serena was born however, nothing was certain,

“She was taken away from me and put in intensive care on her own, and I wasn’t really allowed to see her, I didn’t pick her up or anything, and I held her when she was ten days old when she had an operation, and then not after that for another two weeks because she was all wired up to everything, and we then came home, and basically, the operation had failed. We ended up in the Children’s Hospital For Wales because they identified that she wasn’t putting on any weight, so she had two life-saving surgeries there, and then ended up being tube-fed to basically build her weight up, she’d had reflux as well. So we spent probably three months there, her and me all week, and then I’d come home at weekends to spend time with my son (Lochy, now 8), and then go back again on Sunday nights.”

The Children’s Hospital For Wales where Iona and Serena spent so much time is the only one of it’s kind in Wales and has been open since 2005. You can donate via the Noah’s Ark appeal, or via Iona’s page on Just Giving called Iona’s Challenge, and I urge you please to do one or the other. Iona told me she was incredibly touched to discover that a local lady celebrating her 70th birthday next year at Glanusk had written to all her guests asking that they please donate to Noah’s Ark in lieu of presents. When I spoke to Iona she had raised 18,000 GB pounds; her goal is 50,000 GB pounds, but once she gets to 25,000 GB pounds she’ll be able to give them a room exactly like the one she and Serena lived in.

I asked Iona why she decided to do the event to raise money?

“I think these days it’s so hard asking people for money, you know it’s a tough thing. The way things are at the moment in the UK, people don’t have money to just give away, and I felt I had to do something that was a bit different, a bit risky in a way, and completely bizarre, and a proper challenge. This was something I actually had to work at, it’s not like going and jumping out of a plane which you don’t have to practice; I had to get up every morning at 6:30, I swam for three quarters of an hour, then I drove half an hour to the yard and rode for two hours before coming back to run my life here, and with the children, and I did that every single day. I had to get fit at the same time as learning all these different disciplines all in two months.”

Fast forward to the actual event, I’m longing to know how it all went,

“My slots were so close together, and when I found out about it I thought it was going to be a bit tight because I didn’t realise you had to wear different kit for each thing! As well as a white numnah for dressage, I think?! Lovely Shelley was utterly fantastic. The dressage was okay, considering Merlin is only six and had never done anything like this before, and of course neither had I. He’s not really that keen on dressage, and he’s teaching me as much as I’m teaching him. We got 43 points in that; we had a little trip at the end, and we don’t really do straight lines either, and on our circles we do a lot of skipping in the air – thats quite entertaining, anyway, I just talked the whole way through! We did a quick change and went to the show-jumping bit, and there was a high bank looking down over the arena and all my friends and family were there, it was amazing, absolutely fantastic. The gate was in flat cups and he knocked that and I looked back at it, and then got too close to the next jump, a big spread and had that one down too, so we had two down which is a pity because actually he’s quite good at jumping, and I probably should have gone clear.”

“After the show-jumping I only had about 15 minutes to change and get all this other kit on, it was a really hot day. I’d been given a body protector by Racesafe, and Point Two had given me the blow-up one, so all my colours had been donated to me by those two companies and it was incredibly kind of them. You have to walk quite a long way to the start, through the gardens and everything, and even looking at the starting bit – I didn’t know what to do or what angle to go in because I’d never done anything like this before! This was the bit I was most worried about, but there were three faces in the commentary box, and they all smiled at me. I thought I was going quite fast, but I’ve since seem some of the video footage and I actually wasn’t going very fast at all! I had a problem at the trakehner which I knew was going to be an issue for me. I refused it, and I turned round and I saw Shelley and I told her that he just wasn’t going to do it, and she told me to whack him! There was a ditch on the left hand side and I had my crop in my right hand, and it makes my palms sweaty even thinking about it, but I put my reins in my left hand, and I did, basically, whack him, and he did this sort of bunny hop over the top, and as I went over everyone cheered. Someone had told me never to take my hands off the reins because I’m not good enough, but it was an automatic reaction to put my hand in the air and go, ‘Woohoo!’ I got to the top and had a little potter at the top, and saw another lady who said, ‘Oh, Get on with it, Iona!’ I got to the end, and I was telling Merlin it was the last one and he just did it, he is such a dear horse, he is utterly fantastic, and I couldn’t believe it. It was the best feeling knowing I’d done it, knowing I’d got over that trakehner.”

Now that’s it all over and Iona’s had time to process it, how does she feel?

“I did worry, I worried about it a lot and I had many sleepless nights thinking I might have bitten off more than I could chew. I’m not a great person for attention either, but in the back of my mind I kept telling myself why I was doing it, and Serena’s with us today for that very reason. It was extraordinary. Absolutely the most fantastic feeling to be able to achieve something like that. I loved it, I smile about it now, I’m really pleased, I’m so pleased I did it.”

Although Iona hasn’t ridden since completing Glanusk due to time constraints, she’ll have plenty of company if she decides to continue riding. Lochy started riding about a month ago, and Serena, although she has only sat on a horse a few times, “would do it all day if she could.”

I asked Iona if she thinks she’ll event again?

“I love the idea of the dressage. I have to say, even though I really struggled with it I thought dressage was really quite fun, I’d love to have a bit more of a go with that one. My favourite phase was the cross country though, despite the trakehner! I’d like to do it again, with a smile this time! I was so worried the whole way round if I was going to make it or not, whether I was going to come off, or am I going to refuse, that my face looks quite pained! Now I know I can do it I would like to get a bit better at it.”

Although there’s some racing background in Iona’s family – her great-uncle is David Cecil, trainer Henry Cecil’s brother, she assures me there’s no chance of her re-creating National Velvet at any time in the future, which news she tells me will draw giant sighs of relief from her immediate family who were all quite nervous enough for her at the event!

Iona wanted to make sure I thanked Ben, Sara and Milo Herbert for all their help, and of course Merlin, not to mention Shelley, as well as everyone who’s donated and helped in countless other ways. She also singled out Sophie Price who told her to buy the hat two years ago, and who she said was always there for her the whole time, helping her get back in the saddle, telling her she could do it through all her “wobbles”!

I’d like to thank Iona for sharing her story with so much wit, humour and grace. She did say that her husband Harry was inspired to give eventing a go after watching her go round this year, so I look forward to perhaps writing up the Team Legge-Bourke story next year! Go Iona, Go Serena, Go Pie, Go Glanusk, please go and donate, and go Eventing!

Iona Legge-Bourke – Eventing at its Very Best

By Samantha Clark on Aug 17, 2011 1:30 pm -

All pictures used with kind permission of Iona Legge-Bourke

Lochy, Harry, Serena and Iona Legge-Bourke with Shelley Timms

Let’s backtrack a little bit and find out a bit more about Serena, the reason behind Iona’s incredible endeavour. I inquire about her health now,

“I’d say she’s 100%. They’ve said there’s a possibility that it could grow back – it could, but it’s unlikely.”

Three years ago when Serena was born however, nothing was certain,

I asked Iona why she decided to do the event to raise money?

Fast forward to the actual event, I’m longing to know how it all went,

Now that’s it all over and Iona’s had time to process it, how does she feel?

Will Faudree – An Update

By Samantha Clark on Aug 12, 2011 2:05 pm -

Will Faudree did two Combined Tests at Gatcombe, just last weekend, jumping a beautiful clear on Andromaque, (Missy) above, and having just the first fence down on Pawlow (Ernie). I was sorry not to catch up with him while I was there, but thanks to Annie, we were able to chat yesterday after Will’s dressage lessons with Sandy Phillips, and before he set off to Hartpury Horse Trials for his final runs before Burghley and Blenheim. In fact, one of the biggest differences Will has noticed about eventing in England to the US, he told me, was the convenience,

“The relaxed, workmanlike side of it has been quite a pleasant surprise; for instance we’re going to a CIC 3* tomorrow, and at home everything’s so far away that it’s such a process to organise the shipping, the accommodation, you’ve got to leave in the middle of the night and get there a day or two early to let the horses relax and settle in… Here we’re just going to drive over in the morning and do our test!”

Will also told me that competing consistently against the best in the world, who bring their “A” game every weekend has also been an eye-opener,

“When you’re going around the warm-up and you’ve got Mark Todd, Pippa Funnell, Piggy French, Andrew Nicholson and William Fox-Pitt, the medium trot that you had just minutes ago that felt like an 8, suddenly feels like a 4! It’s not to take anything away from what we have at home, and not to say that we don’t have unbelievable horses and unbelievable riders in the US, but the quality, not of the horse, but the quality of the step that the horse takes – the quality of every step that the horse takes over here, that’s just one of my own personal things that I’m taking away with me from the summer – I’m getting some really good steps, but I’m only getting six or seven, I’m not getting all ten! That’s why half the Kiwis and half the Australians are here, there’s a reason why people are over here.”

Away from competitions though, he’s been enjoying the English countryside, and the facilities at Jacky Green’s Maisey Manor,

“It’s got great turn out, a huge arena, unbelievable gallops – probably one of the best gallops I’ve even been on in my life, it’s just awesome. Every time we go up on the hill we look back and it looks like a post card, it just looks like someone has painted it, it’s amazing. I’ve really enjoyed every minute of it here, it’s been great, and being able to be based here at the farm – Jacky Green has got fantastic stories, and I really trust her as a horsewoman, there’s just such a wealth of knowledge here, I feel like a sponge for new information.”

He’s also been capitalising on having Sandy Phillips, his dressage trainer, close by,

“My lessons today were very good. I’ve been working a lot with Sandy this summer, and it’s been really good. It’s really bringing my knowledge of the dressage up to another level, and I made the comment today to Nat that sometimes I’m afraid to go there a little bit with MIssy, and we were working on this one exercise just getting her to work more uphill, and I said that I’ve been afraid to go there on my own but it’s just a whole different level now, which I’m really excited about.”

Mark Phillips helps him with his jumping, as well as fellow riders Bobby Costello and Philip Dutton, and Will says he’d be lost without his head girl Nat Varcoe-Cocks,

“Nat is unbelievable eyes on the ground. She’s at every single one of my lessons that I take, so when I jumped the young horses this morning she notices every little thing, for example she told me to keep them just a bit straighter through the turn, things like that….I’m very, very fortunate to have someone like Nat who I have so much respect for as a horsewoman, as eyes on the ground and as a friend, so I’m very lucky with her, and of course she’s also a very good dancer and great comedic relief!”

Based at Maisey Manor, Will is lucky enough to be able to watch some of the best riders in the world training daily, but he said it’s important to have confidence in his own programme, and not be tempted to switch it up this late in the game,

“There’s a whole group of us here: Elizabeth Power from Ireland, Andrew Hoy’s based here, all the Canadians are going to be coming here, so it’s a huge mecca. I’ve been over to England before and I feel very confident in my own fitness programme, and I feel very confident in the decisions I’ve made in who I train with and who I work with, because that’s where I used to get swayed, thinking I should go and work with whoever everyone else was working with. I’ve been very adamant about what I do with my horses, their fitness and all that, but at the same time I watch all these guys to see what they do differently, and see how I can tweak my programme to perhaps benefit it. You have to have confidence in your own progamme though, because at the end of the day, you’re the one who’s getting on and going in the ring,or leaving that start box.”

However, when I asked Will if he was enjoying the warm, English beer, he did tell me he’s made a few changes to his own regime!

“Well, I’ve actually given up drinking! I gave up alcohol on August 1st through Burghley and Blenheim. MIssy is a small mare – she’s 16hh with her studs in, and Burghley is going to be eleven and a half minutes long, and I want to be very thin. I work out regularly, I’ve joined a great gym here and doing all my workouts, but I’m getting on the scale and I’m still between 155 and 160lb which is not where I want to be. I want to be 10lbs lighter for Burghley, just for her benefit. Plus, I’m taking this summer very seriously, obviously, and I want to be the best I can and for me to be in my peak physical condition that’s one thing that I could cut out.”

It’s obvious that Will is making the most of his time in England, taking it seriously, and incredibly grateful to everyone who’s allowed him to be there,

“I am the first to raise my hand and say I am the luckiest person in the world to be able to come over here and do this. I’ve got the most unbelievable support in Jennifer Mosing who owns these horses, and has given me this opportunity to come over here, and I’m so grateful to her for this opportunity, because it’s upping the horses’ game, and giving me more tools in their tool box to play with. Jennifer came over to Luhmuhlen in June, and then her entire family came over for Aston le Walls and made a bit of a vacation of it, and then she’ll be back for Burghley and Blenheim. It was a lot of fun to have the kids over here, they’re just an amazing family.”

Will is thrilled that all his horses will benefit from the crowds, atmosphere, terrain and different enviroments they’re experiencing in England,

“How many times do we say, ‘I won the warm-up’?! What makes a successful competitor is someone who can ride the horse on that day, and the more situations you put yourself into where you’re going to be given surprises that as a rider you have to react to, the better. I think it’s very easy to sit back and have an excuse, it’s very easy to say if I did this or that better, but you may only get one shot to go to the Olympic Games, so I think it’s been a great experience for me, and a great experience for these horses to be able to come over here.”

We discussed the Test Event briefly, and the fact that quite a few people had compared the cross country at Greenwich to Gatcombe, and I asked him if he’d been tempted to run there instead of Hartpury?

“Hartpury is a weekend closer to both Blenheim and Burghley, but still two weeks out from Burghley and three weeks out from Blenheim. The other thing is whenever you run on the side of hills like that you’re at a higher risk of the horse doing something, so obviously with Burghley being the immediate goal I’m going to do the best lead up for that, and with the Olympics next year, if we get to go, it is very hilly, twisty and turny and we’ll be training and preparing them for that, but one of the hardest things to do is to actually get selected and get the horses there.”

I also asked Will if having made the move, and settled in now with four horses, if he couldn’t just remain in England until the Olympic Games?

“I would love to, but I do have a farm at home and I can’t just up and leave everything. It’s been a real luxury to be here for the summer. I would love to stay but at the same time I’ve got a business and horses at home that I’ve got to take care of, and a farm, and a house, and a mortgage…!”

and of course, there’s the small matter of what he misses most….

“My dogs! I’m having major dog withdrawal! There’s a lot of dogs over here so it’s not as if you can just not see dogs for a while! I do miss my farm, but mostly my dogs. I’m staying really busy most of the time, but I do miss my dogs.”

Is there something that he’ll really miss when he returns to the US, and wishes he could take with him?

“The footing! The weather! It’s been such a great place to work and train for the summer. There are definitely things I miss about home but at the same time I’ve been really fortunate to have the four horses over here to ride and train, I’ve learned a ton, and feel so blessed to have had this opportunity.”

Wishing Will the very best of luck this weekend, and next month at the big three-days. The two younger horses will run next weekend at Highclere before coming home to the States, and DHI Colour Candy is being aimed at the CCI ** at Fairhill. A huge thank you to Annie for her help, and to Will for his time as always, thank you for reading and Go the Americans in England Eventing!

Will Faudree – An Update

By Samantha Clark on Aug 12, 2011 2:01 pm -