Scottish Endurance Riding Club
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One Pony; One Hundred Miles; One Day
Turning an endurance dream into a reality
100 miles in one day: in our sport it is the ultimate goal. It is tough, grueling, technical and horse and rider must forge an incredible partnership. I believed that Bella and had that partnership, but there was only one way to find out.
A journey of 100 miles begins with a single step and we set out on Wednesday to make the 300 mile journey south for the Bahrain Dukeries Festival of Endurance in Nottingham on Saturday 24 May 2009. We had no idea where we were going, or what to expect. The ride organizer, Sue Broughton, had kindly agreed to put Bella up that night as I knew she wouldn’t settle if there were no other horses at the venue, and to me it felt essential to arrive early to give Bella plenty of time to recover from the journey.
As is turns out, it was an easy journey, on cruise control at 50mph all the way down the A1 and Bella arrived looking fresh and happy. We met the Broughton’s lovely international stallion Murmansk, who was looking very chilled hanging out in his little orchard. To my relief, Bella was obviously out of season as she can be an outrageous tart.
The next day we took Bella to the venue. Liz Booth and Issy had already arrived, so we corralled next to her and set up camp opposite. The camping and corralling was in beautiful mature parkland and there is nothing I love more than camping with Bella, opening the tent in the morning to see her grazing peacefully. Bella loved her spot, which was ideally located to see all the comings and goings as more horses steadily arrived.
We walked down to look at the venue, through a mature tree lined avenue and wow! Thorseby Hall, a magnificent Jacobean mansion with a riot of bays and balconies, gables and galleries, designed by Anthony Salvin, with gardens by Sir Humphrey Repton and set in parklands by no less than Capability Brown.
The route went through the area known as the Dukeries, which includes the Estates of Thoresby, Clumber and Wellbeck and followed ancient route ways steeped in history, including Sherwood Forest. The Bahrain royal family sponsors the event, which enabled us to ride on mown verges and tracks not available to anyone else. About three Arab teams appeared for various FEI distances and they added an international edge to the weekend. I felt very proud to be there with my wee grey pony!
It was just wonderful to be here and I was determined to enjoy it. I must mention a fantastic book, which Lorna Hogg lent to me fresh from her triumph at the Golden Horseshoe. It is called 'That Winning Feeling' by Jane Savoie. It is about using positive thinking to improve your performance and there is a section on dealing with nerves. It works! I used to be unable to sleep before a major event or keep any food down, which is a real problem if you are planning on riding 100 miles. More importantly, I felt I enjoyed my big competitions in retrospect, but not at the time. Using the techniques in this book, I managed to enjoy lunching in the lovely courtyard café and meeting some great people – riders, organizer and crews, everyone was friendly and welcoming.
The vetting was the Friday afternoon, so I got Bella all primped and preened and headed down. Heart rates were taken under a gazebo which lead to the trot up area. I had been concerned, but Bella wasn’t bothered by this (although a few horses were) and it was nice and shady. We passed, so at least we would start the next day!
There were 5 national riders and we set off 30 minutes after the FEI mass start (16 of them). I was in a lovely rhythm to begin with, with two other riders. About 5-8k from the venue, one of them suddenly sprinted off at silly speed and Bella gave me no choice but to join her. Fortunately Bella still recovered fine and I couldn’t help but notice speedy lady had to represent on heart rate…
I left the vet gate with the other rider, Tracy Thompson, and we settled into a great pace together. The route was beautiful, over lovely estate tracks and ancient forestry. They do not have the access rights we enjoy in Scotland, so much of the route was on private land that no one else is allowed to ride or even walk over.
Tracy is an amazing woman, paralyzed 10 years ago after a large round hay bale flattened her; she is a testament to what you can achieve. She told me she spent many weeks in a spinal unit, with young people, some paralyzed from the neck down and with no hope of recovery. A 19 year old cricketer paralyzed in a road accident told her ‘there is no hope for us, but you will walk and have a life. You are going to have to live for us.’ Anyone driven to attempt 100 miles has made a definite decision to live.
We kept going, km after km, vet gate after vet gate. It started to get very hot at times, but my crew was magnificent and Bella kept going.
Unfortunately, Tracy’s horse failed the represent at the last vet gate with a sore back. I was so sorry we were not going to finish together after riding most of the way together. Her husband and crew came over to tell me the news and that Tracy’s instructions were that I had to finish. We had caught up with Liz and Issy by this stage, so we left the last vet gate together – the Scots were going all the way.
Bella cantered out of the vet gate without a care in the world – she was astonishing. It was getting late by now and we were on the ‘dig deep’ stage – and she kept on digging deep. It was on this lap I allowed myself to acknowledge that if I finished the ride, I would WIN.
The last section took you up the lane towards the beautiful church spire at Perlethorpe, with the sun behind it. The sky was deep blue, with bright white jet trails cutting through it as we turned into the parklands by the cricket pitch. Over the little humped back bridge and we were heading to the finish, where vets, crews and spectators had gathered to cheer us home. Bella surged forward, ears pricked. Behind me, Liz said ‘canter over the line’, so I gave her a squeeze and we floated home.
The final vetting is always tense, but I knew Bella was sound. I presented quickly, as it was cooling rapidly now. The trot up was a 3 card trick, but I had no concerns. Bella’s trot ups had been wonderfully consistent all day. Then the loooong minute for the second heart rate. Time stands still. The world turns on a heartbeat. The vet speaks – I look to the chief vet and it is thumbs up.
We had set out as the sun rose and were home to see it set. Safe out and safe back. I cannot do the feeling justice so I will fast forward to the next day. The sun was seriously scorching on Sunday and the venue was still in full swing. My little grey pony had the sun on her back, her pal next door and was thoroughly enjoying watching all the comings and goings. Some pleasure riders rode past and saw Bella and Issy dozing in the sun. I heard them saying ‘ah, look at those ponies resting’ and I couldn’t resist saying ‘they both went 100 miles yesterday’. I don’t know if they believed me!
The definition of happiness: sitting with an egg roll in one hand, a cuppa in the other, watching beautiful horses and ponies trotting up in the sunshine. I did a bit of shopping at the stalls around the venue. Most people I spoke to had been past Bella’s corral and told me how great she was looking.
The journey back was smooth and easy. Bella trotted round her field, hooky necked and fresh, looking great. We had achieved our dream of 100 miles in one day on our first attempt and we had won with ease – the next horse was over an hour behind us.
What the Dukeries have taught me: dare to chase your dreams; you can learn to conquer your nerves; life is precious and you should live every minute. Life lessons from my little pony, who lends me her wings so I can fly.
Kirstie Graham |
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