Sitting here in my kitchen on New Years Eve, its hard to know where the year went; its flown by in a blur for me. The result of which is that I am only just finding a few spare minutes to catch up on the last adventures of the season and cap off what has been a turbulent but overall successful year.
The snow & horizontal rain of Polar Park back in March seemed a distant memory in the 25 degree sunshine in Pau. Photo thanks & credit: Digital Equine
We left off the previous blog with the adventures having just landed back from Pratoni and onwards I went into the final push towards the end of the British Eventing season.
Ros Canter & Rey Royal Diamond, Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, October 2022
As has been the case these past couple of seasons, many adventures were pencilled in the diary with quite a few of them sadly falling at the final hurdle. One day I will get to Le Lion, one day!
October went by in a blur in all honesty - a busy trip to Osberton was enjoyed, with lots of Young Horse talent to photograph, along with a few clients having horses in the 2 & 3* long formats to get those all important qualifications ticked off the list before winter. It was strange to be at Osberton and not dashing across the lane to and from the opposing fields. Instead I ran seemingly round in circles catching horses coming and going around the now circular course. On the Friday I got absolutely soaked; the kind where even your knickers are soggy - I am definitely becoming a fair weather photographer having been spoilt by a long hot summer where the waterproofs made a rare appearance. Shall we be that lucky next season I wonder?!
Autumnal sunshine: Megan Sanders & ZIROCCO VAN DE EIJKHOF Z, Oasby 2 Horse Trials, October 2022
I managed to take half an hour of downtime to go and enjoy the carriage driving - a great initiative by Bede to get these two sports that are often found hand in hand on the continent, to share a venue here in the UK. I am so tempted to give it a go myself, very much in an amateur capacity, but surely driving isn’t breaking the strict premise I made to my physio that riding was no longer for me???!
Onwards from Osberton to a very autumnal looking Oasby, catching those last runs of the season for a few clients and friends. The stunning golds and reds of the trees at Oasby always makes those photos so special.
Georgie Frow & Sarah Charnley’s Enjoy II, Oasby 2 Horse Trials, October 2022
Not one to let a little life drama get in the way of a good trip, the bags were packed for a last minute trip to Pau. Not only that, but due to time being of the essence for a speedy return, we ventured into unchartered waters of flying to Pau this time for the first time, no epic road trip this year, British Airways all the way. Well to Toulouse at least, then I collected Cedric the Citroen from the Budget Hire Car desk and off I pootled towards the Pyrenees, enjoying the mountain views on my 2hour drive towards Pau.
Highlights from an incredible trip to Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, October 2022
Pau is always a delight, but this year clearly the gods had decided I needed a pick me up and delivered 25 degrees of Pyrenean sunshine for me to enjoy across all the four days. I was joined out in Pau by Jack and Megan of EHOS, who had come out to support Emily and dear Valmy. It was such a great trip, it was warm enough to eat out in the evenings and I had safety in numbers when walking into each patisserie every morning, I could trick the staff into thinking I was ordering for three, until they realised that was just my order. What?! When in France, you must consume your horse’s body weight in patisserie items, ok!
So close! David Does & Galileo Nieuwmoed came so close to very deserved victory, Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, October 2022
Myself and Jack took on the tough task of determining which was the best patisserie in Pau - vital travel information that future visitors to Pau’s 5* will need to know and we can now provide this important information.
Catching up with friends; the handsome Boris came for the Pau adventure, along with his humans Charles & Pam Cunningham - every event should have a Boris!
So many Brits made the long drive down to Pau and it was all in all a successful one - dear Valmy was awesome all week for Emily, Phillipe and EHOS members. A solid 5* top 10 finish was delivered and the dreams can manifest now over the winter of what next season will hold.
French spectators enjoying the showjumping action, Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, October 2022
Its always a party atmosphere in Pau, the sun shines, the crepes and wine flow, everyone is there to celebrate the season finale - thoroughly recommend a visit if you haven’t indulged already.
Teamwork makes the dreams work: Team Valmy in Pau, so great to share Emily’s top 10 success with his owner, EHOS and EHOS members
Just time for one final late night supper with Jack & Megan - massive thank you to these guys for letting me gate-crash their French holiday trip to Pau, hopefully I didn’t cause too much disturbance when tip-timing out of the apartment at 2.30am to begin the drive back to Toulouse. (Bad house guest and after Jack had carried my bag all week for me too!)
Queen Cav & Caroline Powell share a moment in the sunshine before the first horse inspection gets underway, Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, October 2022
The flight back was a little longer than initially described. Not to be avoided, it happened that most peoples flights were on the Monday and ours thankfully was the first allowed to enter London airspace after the closure during her Majesty’s funeral. BA provided coverage whilst we sat on the tarmac for a while, the flight was packed with people moved from earlier cancelled flights, so I was just thankful to be on a flight that was departing at all.
All smiles after Bling’s dressage - Ros Canter & Rey Royal Diamond, Les 5 Etoiles de Pau, October 2022
And then I landed back in Blighty with a bump at Heathrow and I spent the long drive home reminiscing on all the seasons highs and lows, the achievements, the almost did and the need to do betters of the season.
Lottie Fry & Glamourdale wow the crowds at London International Horse Show with breathtaking performances in the FEI World Cup Dressage, December 2022
Then I’d love to say I have been resting the still yet-to-heal calf muscle and catch up and some much needed sleep, but alas that rest hasn’t arrived just yet, a few photoshoots, yard visits, a delightful trip to LIHS, photobook and calendar designing tasks needed my attention first. And then there’s the winter to-do list that needs to be tackled in January - its all rock ’n roll fun here!
Catching up with my favourite equines, the co-worker supervising the admin, winter walks and a jolly to London
I do always enjoy the winter yard visits, a chance to catch up with the teams away from the hustle and bustle of competitions, to treat my favs with an endless supply of minty treats and capture some of the winter training.
London 52 enjoys deserved praise after his first winter jump schooling, December 2022
A massive thank you to each and every one or two of you that read the blog, comment & share my work on socials and generally keep me motivated. I remain incredibly lucky to be able to do what I enjoy and I hope to see you out and about next season.
A little reminder that hard work does pay off & dreams do come true - delighted that the BBC production team shared my work from LIHS - massive thanks to Ruth Gregory, your support means the world.
Winter well and Happy New Year to you all.