There was a great post on Twitter recently from an Olympic athlete - noting that he can go to a supermarket and have Karen cough all over him in the isles, yet his athletic track and gym were still closed. And this wasn’t just his physical health, as you would first assume, he felt that he was losing out on….he stated the importance of sport for your mental well-being as well as your physical health.
This really resonated with me.
I hadn’t realised how much of my mental health is reliant upon Equestrian sport - Eventing gets me through March to October and Jumps Racing kicks in to cover me through to next March and so on. Eventing for me is my therapy: my head space, my happy place, my place of escapism and contentment.
The usual March starting point - Oasby 1 Horse Trials - Oliver Townend & Ballaghmor Class, March 2020
Yes, I miss the sport. But I have really missed the motivation to get out there, the reason to amble around fields for miles. The fresh air, the wind to blow all the bad thoughts from my head. The sound of galloping hooves and skylarks to stir my soul. Who knew a muddy field could bring so much happiness.
Thankfully, I am blessed to live, despite my proximity to major cities, within a little green rural patch. So quickly, I realised I could still get out for my daily exercise, my daily dose of fields even if they didn’t have any galloping hooves.
And to be honest, that has been my salvation - it has saved my mental health. The bluebells, the skylarks, the ducklings and the cygnets have been my new obsession.
These cuties have kept me entertained during lockdown - mallard ducklings
I do still feel like the pause button has been pressed on life though - it’s so engrained in my brain that April is the Grand National, May brings Badminton, Chatsworth & Rockingham then onto Bramham in June - without these I do feel like I’m stuck in a Groundhog Day kind of loop; April fools day on repeat.
Thankfully there does seem some socially-distanced light at the end of the tunnel. British Eventing have delivered the much-needed news that after much consideration, deliberation and planning; Eventing is returning.
Not quite the Eventing we are used too, but hey we’ve missed it so much that any kind of Eventing is surely better than the three month drought we have just experienced, right?!
One of the first events to get the sport underway - Barbury Horse Trials - Here’s Andrew Nicholson & Swallow Springs on their way to victory last year in the CCI4* class
There will be no crowds to gasp and cheer, volunteers and officials will have online briefings prior to the event and alas no cake unless they bake their own.
But riders will finally get to display all that flat work training they have been perfecting in lockdown, so no pressure but, I’m expecting sub-twenty scores to be common place once they return to the competition arena.
It’s been a long wait, but hopefully we’ll be back on course soon.
Not quite all the later season events will be staged though sadly, with the Festival of British Eventing, the latest casualty of the fixture list. But there are still some big Autumn targets that have survived to aim for - the entries for Pau’s 5-star competition are likely to be even hotter than normal; the event being the only surviving top level competition of the year and this week Le Lion have confirmed they still intend for the World Young Horse Breeding Championships to take place.
Ros Canter and All Star B, Lincoln Horse Trials, March 2020
I for one, can’t wait to have it back, the entry-stalking, the anticipation to see the results - little steps towards my eventing-normal. Fingers crossed I do get to experience galloping hooves and locking on the camera’s focus to my first competitor since Lincoln back in March. Thats if I remember how to use a camera after all this time….
Kitty King & Vendredi Biais, Lincoln Horse Trials, March 2020
Stay safe everyone and hope to see you all again soon.