FP Eventing

FP Eventing The trials and tribulations of eventing my gorgeous mare Lyric on a student budget...with some (a lo I flew back when I could for pony weekends!

A little under 5 years ago a certain Douglas Jones thrust an advert of the "perfect horse for Freya" at my mother at a Pony Club committee meeting. A couple of weeks later, we went to try a very green but very pretty Lyric at Caroline Kitching's yard. After not much deliberation, we decided that chances to own horses like her don't come around very often, so we took the plunge. Lyric would be my f

irst 'proper' horse having sold my superstar 14.1 a couple of years beforehand. Oh and did I mention we were living in Switzerland at the time we bought her?! We moved back to the UK in July, having bought her in February. She stayed at Caroline's yard for those few months as we thought it was fairest on her to keep her in a familiar environment. July 2014...all systems go! We had a lovely first summer learning and getting to know each other together. We did lots of pony club stuff such as camp and a few competitions. Winter 2014... the devil arrived. Lyric aged 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 /8 years old was a monster at times. An entitled, attitude ridden teenager in essence. Cue a lot of lessons, blood, sweat and tears. Summer 2016... After my IB exams had finished in May, it was time to show the world what Lyric could do. We had taken many steps back and finally moved forward with a much calmer, happier horse - down in no small part to Equifeast's fantastic Cool Calm and Collected supplement. We went on to place at 5/6 ODEs she did that season. We qualified for the MMC Regional Final in our first BE outing at Little Downham, and it all went from there really! A fantastic season. August 2016... University was looming. My parents had made it clear I would not be allowed to take Lyric with me for my first year as I had to get used to looking after myself first! We found her the most wonderful loan home with Kellie Fisher down in Suffolk where the pair had a cracking year. The season highlight for the pair was coming 4th in their first Novice at Keysoe! Lyric matured and learnt so much with Kellie and I will be forever grateful. Unfortunately a slight mishap with losing a shoe in the showjumping at Little Downham Novice really knocked Lyric's confidence so, as we knew worked with her, we moved her right back down to a nice 90 at Keysoe as the SJ was on a surface to end the season on. September 2017... after my travels around Europe, mum and I went to pick up our baby from Kellie's for her to come to uni with me at the University of Nottingham for this term. A bitter-sweet day for all. Lyric and I are now practicing away at the stables on campus in preparation for what we hope to be our best season yet next year... *touches all wood in the vicinity*

A fun little trip out with the senior citizen for a spot of SJ with  in the 105cm 😌 Easily the biggest course we’ve jump...
08/11/2023

A fun little trip out with the senior citizen for a spot of SJ with in the 105cm 😌 Easily the biggest course we’ve jumped away from home in a good few years and thrilled to have jumped a beautiful (steady!) double clear 🥳 To help the team win with 4/4 double clears and off the champs in the spring! 🤩 A lovely afternoon out in the autumn sunshine with Mum, just like old times 🥰

Please take a look at Hannah’s beautiful work and contact her if interested in one of her lovely winter shoots!
19/10/2022

Please take a look at Hannah’s beautiful work and contact her if interested in one of her lovely winter shoots!

Beautiful day out Eventing yesterday in absolutely vintage conditions 🤌🏼🌞-Lyric and I were delighted to be back out and ...
27/03/2022

Beautiful day out Eventing yesterday in absolutely vintage conditions 🤌🏼🌞
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Lyric and I were delighted to be back out and she did a polite 33 dressage (I just need to push more now!) and two immaculate jumping rounds to finish 8th in a competitive section 🤩
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Lovely day as ever put on by the team and thank you to for the gorgeous golden hour shot! 💛

Sunday Funday with our lovely pals  👑🤩 Lyric was like a steam train on crack but much fun had by all with fabulous compa...
20/03/2022

Sunday Funday with our lovely pals 👑🤩 Lyric was like a steam train on crack but much fun had by all with fabulous company 🥰

Massive congratulations to  on her GOLD award from  😍 It’s not difficult to see why given the quality of shots she’s tak...
16/02/2022

Massive congratulations to on her GOLD award from 😍 It’s not difficult to see why given the quality of shots she’s taken of Lyric and I over the years 🥰 If you’re based in the Midlands and want some tangible memories to last a lifetime, Hannah’s your gal! 📸🤩

The most beautiful festive shoot with Hannah of  - cannot recommend highly enough for horsey photoshoots 🥰🤩 We had so mu...
29/12/2021

The most beautiful festive shoot with Hannah of - cannot recommend highly enough for horsey photoshoots 🥰🤩 We had so much fun with Nic & Rooni before going for a lovely pre-Xmas hack round Salcey Forest 🤍

Superstar pony carrying me & my hangover round double clear at the area qualifier yesterday 🥳 Thank you as always to mum...
21/11/2021

Superstar pony carrying me & my hangover round double clear at the area qualifier yesterday 🥳 Thank you as always to mum for chauffeuring, grooming and standing in the cold all day to support us 🥰

Wonderful afternoon  looning round the chasers course with  🥰 Rather exciting and not without incident but all okay in t...
29/09/2021

Wonderful afternoon looning round the chasers course with 🥰 Rather exciting and not without incident but all okay in the end 😅 Lyric was impeccably behaved cantering and jumping in company that I’m tempted to get involved with team chasing or autumn hunting soon 🙊

So despite being pretty quiet on here we’ve actually had a rather eventful past month or two! -Lyric WON the Area 7 100 ...
25/08/2021

So despite being pretty quiet on here we’ve actually had a rather eventful past month or two!
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Lyric WON the Area 7 100 Horse Trials qualifier representing Houghton & Huntingdon RC on a 30 double clear, bang on the time! (Last 3 photos) This qualified the team for the National Championships a couple of weeks ago…
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We then went to the National Championships at a couple of weekends ago - and what a fab weekend!

Lyric stayed on form to post a (feisty) 32 double clear just a smidge over the time XC where we had to steady over some boggy patches! We finished 2nd in our section and I could not be more thrilled with her 🤩💃🏻🥰
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Thank you to all our friends and family for the support as always!
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Lyric teaching her dressage boyfriend how to gallop - and boy did Rooni-tunes give it a good old shot!! Both impeccably ...
28/06/2021

Lyric teaching her dressage boyfriend how to gallop - and boy did Rooni-tunes give it a good old shot!! Both impeccably behaved and had such a blast catching up with 🥰

A weekend by the seaside 🥰 (+ some real talk)-We took a trip to Holkham for the bank holiday weekend and had a truly fab...
05/05/2021

A weekend by the seaside 🥰 (+ some real talk)
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We took a trip to Holkham for the bank holiday weekend and had a truly fabulous time hooning around 😍
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Okay now real talk... This past year has definitely made me appreciate the slower pace of life, and that extends to riding and competing. I didn’t get out to any events last year through lockdowns and injury, but the truth is, I also wasn’t interested. When lockdown lifted I wanted to see my friends, go away for weekends, eat out at restaurants etc. far more than spending £100s on competitions that, while fun, are time consuming, sometimes demoralising, exhausting and not to mention bloody dangerous 🙈😂 Lyric doesn’t care if she’s out competing or not, we challenge ourselves at home and keep it varied by going hacking in new places with friends (shoutout ), schooling in new places, lessons at home and lots of schooling exercises & hacking. I’m therefore in no rush to get out to a BE in all honesty, I do want to do a few, and if we get to my bucket list 2* this year or next I’ll be delighted, but if it doesn’t, as long as Lyric is fit, sound and happy, I really couldn’t give a monkeys!
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I’m very lucky that owning my horse is a privilege, not a given, nor is it any form of income earner (quite the opposite!) and for me, there is far more to life than just my horse and competing. I love the Eventing buzz but I also love going out with friends and going away for the weekend in my self-built campervan ( if you’re interested 😉) - this weekend just gone was perfect as I could combine enjoying Lyric and the camper (and 😉)
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So here’s to a summer of enjoying ourselves with zero pressure - whether that’s out competing or simply messing about at home & hacking trips away from home 🥰
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