Trainer scores a big double
NEITHER a sickness bug nor a three-year sabbatical from the start box could prevent Sarah Houlden nailing an impressive double at this well-supported Scottish event.
The mother-of-two and British Eventing (BE) accredited trainer headed two BE90s.
“I picked up a bug that had already wiped out half of junior camp; I literally rolled into the lorry and had to be rolled out for each phase,” explained Sarah, who runs Strathearn Eventing training centre and spent last year on the National Development Programme for Coaching Excellence, an initiative that allows a select group of elite trainers to benefit from crossdiscipline coaching from the world’s best.
“It’s been a busy time; between having two sons competing and my teaching commitments, I don’t get many opportunities to do anything for myself,” continued Sarah, whose eldest son, James, 12, will eventually take over the reins on the 14hh eight-year-old
Heronsmill Tigers Eye. “At the moment he is focusing on our home-bred 13hh working hunter pony, who has qualified for the Royal International Horse Show [RIHS] next month.”
Ensuring it was a complete family affair, Sarah’s second winning ride, Get Set II, is owned by her niece, Isabella England.
“Isabella has gone to Glasgow University to study drama and music, so I’m doing a bit with the mare before she’s sold,” Sarah explained.
Forgandenny’s cross-country courses were beautifully presented and while the BE80(T), BE90 and BE100 tracks did not cause too many problems, only around 50% of novice combinations returned home without jumping penalties.
“In hindsight, the house to a ditch to a skinny caused too many problems, as did the double of brushes out of the water, which rode longer than I’d anticipated,” mused organiser and coursedesigner Douglas Edward. “I’ll be tweaking both fences next year.”
Novice section K winners Joanna Neilson and CES Silver Chip (Chippy) were among the few to keep a clean sheet.
“This must be my lucky event; we were second here in April,” said Joanna, 18, who will represent Scotland at the upcoming Frickley Park under-18 championships. “I qualified for the championships last year, but Chippy injured himself beforehand by jumping out of his field and getting a piece of fencing post lodged in his hock.”
Joanna, who is studying at Heriot-Watt University, then broke an ankle in January.
“I wasn’t even riding a horse; I was out in a pair of high heels and fell over,” she smiled.