What a year that was!
A pandemic was rather an extreme way of focusing the mind. Focusing on what mattered. What was worth the effort and what was not. What stirred the soul and what no longer mattered.
Moment of the Year - Laura Collett & London 52 gallop to victory in Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, October 2020
I was far luckier than I thought I’d be - June gave hope and July delivered. I had spent April, May and June learning the harsh lesson of just how much standing in a field watching ponies with my camera meant to me.
I am incredibly lucky to get to do a job I love. (And a ‘day job’ that I sort of enjoy to pay all the bills) And very lucky that we got back out from July to get back Eventing.
We may not have had a full season, but 2020 was definitely a year to savour ‘Quality over Quantity’ all the way.
You can wait patiently till the ‘perfect’ moment that may never come along or you can just roll your sleeves up, get stuck in and make it happen. So I charged up the batteries and got stuck in with 2020 version 2.0. There were new venues, old favourites and even an old favourite that changed counties. Seaside adventures, a French Roadtrip & lots of new opportunities. 2020 packed a punch.
I appreciate that I was lucky to be able to get back to doing what I love, but equally not all that was luck, I made it happen. I was determined to get back out and make something of what would otherwise become a year of disappointment. Opportunities were hard to come by I grant you, but if you searched hard enough, they were there to be found.
I have been enjoying a two-week break and battery recharge. You’d be forgiven for taking the majority of 2020 lockdown as a perfect opportunity for a battery recharge; but alas, if I wasn’t going flat-out full steam ahead with the day job, then it was with my photography adventures instead - 2020 flew by in a flash for me. As I sit here drinking my cuppa, I’m struggling to recall the last time I had a two-week holiday. The stark reality is I’m having to push the grey matter hard, back some nine or ten years since I last had 14 days of no work duties at all - I have been rather burning the candle hard at each end, annual leave from the ‘day-job’ is filled with Eventing adventures and well, lockdown was my only break and then I was putting in long hours with the day-job in between redundancies.
There is a to-do list as long as my arm and leg put together, but I decided to chill out and re-charge over Christmas. The to-do list has been put on hold till the new year. Then I can tackle it with full batteries and enhanced mojo.
The spare time has been spent reflecting on 2020 and in a cheesy/end-of-year reflection kind of way, lets have some end of season awards….. Here’s the lucky recipients of my fictional awards - Welcome to the HCP 2020 Awards:
Moment of the Year
Laura Collett & London 52 secure a pillar-to-post victory in Pau.
Victory lap - Laura Collett & London 52 seal victory on the final day with a clear round showjumping, Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, October 2020
Delivering the 5* dream that Laura has always dreamt of. This was not only a fabulous victory, but a great marker to lay down ahead of (fingers crossed) Tokyo next year and finally a perfect lesson to us all that hard work pays off. If you want something, work hard and keep going when the going gets tough and one day, the dream will be realised.
Winner! Laura Collett after her victory in Pau
Newcomer of the Year
It has to be Cornbury House Horse Trials (yes I know, not strictly a newcomer, as the event did exist in the past but hey I’m making the res up here as I go…)
Tom McEwen & MHS Brown Jack drop into the final water complex at Cornbury House Horse Trials, September 2020
To deliver a top class new event in any year is tough. It takes an enormous team years to get an event off the ground. To do so amidst the backdrop of a global pandemic, is nothing short of miraculous! Much has been written about Event President David Howden and his passion and drive to get Cornbury up and running. HIs passion is clear for all to see and this event is firmly already in my calendar for next year. David has amassed a ‘who’s who’ in Eventing team at the helm and their achievements this year were extraordinary.
Event of the Year
Musketeer’s Burgham Market International in September.
When the sad news broke, that Blenheim were joining the long list of cancelled events in 2020, there was an additional sadness that echoed around the Eventing community. Blenheim is not only a rare British CCI4*L tracks (and with Bramham and Blair already lost, many hopes were pinned on Blenheim for an MER run) Blenheim also stages the huge popular and influential 8&9 year old CCI4*S class.
Vittoria Panizzon & Chequers Play the Game jump into the main arena, Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International Horse Trials, September 2020
With little notice, Musketeer stepped into the breach and started working on conjuring up a CCI4*L track and ensuring the show went ahead. In a year where chatter focused on what couldn’t be done, the Musketeer team focussed on what could be done and they delivered a world class event.
Blenheim-on-Sea as it was affectionately christened, was a triumph - horses got a run in the Long class and the best of the young horses competed for the much-coveted crown in the 8&9 YO class.
Performance of the Year
Ros Canter & Allstar B, Burgham International Horse Trials, August 2020
Champ: Ros Canter & Allstar B, Burgham International Horse Trials, August 2020
Now you may all be thinking, well that’s just because he’s one of your favourites. (Well yes, but that isn’t the whole reason) Alby is a long format machine, his big galloping stride is infamous now and he excels at those 3 day competitions. But as we know, should we cross our fingers hard enough, next year Tokyo won’t be the usual marathon test that we have had at previous Olympics. There was some chatter about whether he had the speed on a short track.
Never in doubt.
Walking on water - Ros Canter & Allstar B on their way to winning the CCI4*S class at Burgham International Horse Trials, August 2020
Ros and Alby delivered a foot-perfect dressage test, followed by a neat clear round. Then they came out onto cross country like someone had inserted a rocket in poor Alby. The handbrake was off. And they both sailed past a word class field to deliver both Ros and Alby’s first CCI4*S victories.
Unsung Hero of the Year
Tim Price & Falco IV at Barbury Horse Trials, July 2020
This award deserves to be shared by each and every organiser, volunteer and steward that got the Eventing show back on the road in July. For everyone that said that events couldn’t run without crowds, they proved all the doubters wrong. Yes, it was bloody hard. But they did it. They found ways to ensure people could enjoy the Events, through live streaming and live-scoring updates. They thought about how to get each event up and running safely. The sport should be very proud of what they achieved in the 2020 2.0 season. To be able to offer a re-start, for horses to have the necessary runs for qualifications, for some to have their swan-songs, it was a tremendous achievement and we should be very proud of our sport, for I know I am.
Save of the Year
This has to go to Matt Heath & Dovevale Lawman some how managed to defy gravity and pull off this incredible save at Thoresberton International Horse Trials back in October.
What a save! Matt Heath & Dovevale Lawman manage to leave the water complex with the partnership in tact, Thorsberton International Horse Trials, October 2020
Lifetime Achievement Award
Well, there was only one winner here - Cillnabradden Evo. The special one bowed out at the top, with a final CCI4*S win at Burnham Market International. You can read my ode to Gary in a previous blog here.
Ten: The perfect final halt, Cillnabradden Evo & Oliver Townend during their dressage test, Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International Horse Trials, September 2020
Now the special one is enjoying the Devon mud in his retirement before enjoying a quieter pace of life with his owner.
Cillnabradden Evo & Oliver Townend, Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market International Horse Trials, September 2020
Wishing all my wonderful followers, clients and friends, a very Happy New Year.
May 2021 bring you joy, hope and happiness. Hopefully a return to Eventing for us all.