Hamish and Tiger in front of the Wilton House
From Hamish:
I always seem to be writing for Eventing Nation when I’m saying goodbye. It only seems like a few days ago that I was doing this same thing on my way home from Kentucky. This time – after 49 days in the UK – I’m headed back to Australia having had an entirely different international eventing experience.
The English adventure didn’t quite go to plan. In an ideal world I’d be flying triumphantly back to Australia with a trophy in my arms and a trunk full of English pounds weighing me down, having dueled it out and won at Burghley against the King’s and the Todd’s and the Fox-Pitt’s of the world. On this occasion the fairytale is not quite the reality, and while I can’t deny the experience was amazing clearly things could have gone better for Tiger and I.
Sadly, Burghley will be Tiger’s last competition at this level. As we galloped on course between fences 19 and 20 and with the massive Cottesmore Leap almost in sight at fence 21, Tiger suddenly went lame. He had been galloping beautifully and even though we were well into the second half of the course it felt like he had plenty of energy left to burn. However, as I began to look for my line to the Keepers Cottages his gallop quite dramatically went from a smooth glide to a harsh, jarring stutter in only one stride. I immediately pulled him up and jumped off, instantly aware that my luck had run out with a leg that had sustained its first serious injury while on course at the Adelaide Four Star almost three years ago.
Once I was off it was clear that Tiger was lame but fortunately he was happily taking weight on his leg. He rode back to the stables in the horse ambulance and was immediately treated by the Burghley vets and the Australian team vet Graeme Potts. Before long he was back in his stable furiously attacking his hay net while wearing enough bandages and cotton wool on his leg to mummify a dozen Egyptians. There’s no better way to get attention than to wear a massive bandage on your leg, and being an old pro Tiger milked it for all it was worth. Carrots poured into his stable over the next 24 hours, and when the supply stopped he quickly let us know that he wasn’t happy.
I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t sad about the outcome. As I was pulling the gear off him just before we loaded him into the horse ambulance it dawned on me that this would probably be the last time that Tiger and I would compete together at this level. While it’s a devastating feeling to have your event finish in this way, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to ride a horse like Tiger at Burghley in the first place. Just under a year ago I rode him gingerly around a one star course in what was only our second event in almost two years. To have ridden in the US, the UK and France in the intervening 12 months on a horse that was never expected to return to this level is a gift that I never even dreamt about, and I will be forever grateful to my phenomenal horse for happily taking this global eventing journey in his stride.
In the end, this outcome almost seemed fateful. With all of Tiger’s previous owners present and on one of eventing’s biggest stages, Tiger’s career was wrapped up in four days and one and a half phases. Rod Brown – now Australian showjumping coach – started Tiger in his post-racing career, and he gave me a jump lesson on the Tuesday before Burghley. Prue Barrett – now Australian Eventing High Performance Manager – bought him from Rod almost ten years ago and started him off eventing. Prue was there supervising our dressage preparations on the day of the test, and she was as vocal and involved as ever. My sister Kirsty rode Tiger for two years and is still considered the legitimate owner, and she flew over from Australia for the week just to keep an eye on things. With my parents and my partner Bols also present this event was always going to be memorable for one reason or another.
This new damage to Tiger’s tendon will heal over the next six months. As soon we can get him through quarantine he’ll fly back to Australia, and once he is sound again he will go back into work to start the next chapter of his life in an active form of semi-retirement. At 15 he’s still got many tricks to play, and if his next rider can have even a fraction of the fun on him that I have then they will be a very, very lucky person.
When I left Kentucky I remember looking back and being overwhelmed by all of the phenomenal people that I had met while eventing in the US. Eventing must be the common factor here, because I’ve met another bunch since I’ve been in the UK. They say good friends are hard to come by, but when you’re eventing they seem to be everywhere.
I’ve had an unbelievable seven weeks in the UK. Somehow, I’ve been fortunate to experience the best that English eventing has to offer, and I can genuinely say that it really is every bit as good as they say it is.
I can only hope that one day you get to see it for yourself.
See you somewhere out there.
Hamish
