The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Mane event
Model and student Eleanor Gudgin’s real passion is eventing with her horse, as Gayle Ritchie discovers
Model and studen Eleanor Gudgin’s time is happiest spent eventing with her horse. She tells us why
Ever since she was a little girl, Eleanor Gudgin has been obsessed with horses.
Her mum was a riding instructor and the young Eleanor helped out at yards, mucking out, grooming horses and picking up hints and tips on all things equestrian.
“I’ve been riding since I was born,” she laughs, when I meet her after she’s just competed in the cross country section of Blair Castle International Horse Trials.
“My first pony was my brother’s, a 12.2hh called Paddy,” says the 18-yearold from Cupar.
“He was an absolute golden gem of a pony – he never put a foot wrong, taught me the basics and always smiled for the camera.”
Every spare moment of Eleanor’s youth was spent doing “horsey things” including fun mounted games and eventing (dressage, cross country and show jumping) on both Paddy and her next pony, Merlin.
As a result, Eleanor is now at her peak, having competed at Blair, Scotland’s biggest equestrian event.
It runs at international level, with top riders such as Mark Todd competing, and Eleanor had to qualify to take part.
“It’s been a dream of mine to get my horse Frex there for years,” she says.
“It’s amazing to be stabled beside, and be competing against, the very best riders in the world.”
She hasn’t always had an easy time of it with Frex, a 14.2hh Appaloosa Andalucian whose show name is ironically Spot o’ Bother.
“He was rising five when we got him and he was really naughty. He’d been through five homes. We realised his potential but at first, we didn’t get on.
“When Paddy died, I started to spend more time with Frex and something clicked, even though he still threw me off.
“He had no self-confidence and had a lot of trust issues, but he trusts me now.”
When she left school, Eleanor took a year out to focus on Frex and the aim was to compete at Blair, which she has now done.
They did amazingly well, although they were eliminated because Frex didn’t like the look of a couple of jumps in the cross country and refused them.
Until she went off to Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen last month, where she’s in her first year of a biomedical sciences degree, Eleanor worked at Kedlock House Equestrian in North East Fife.
She rode most days, with a mix of schooling, hacking, jumping and galloping.
You develop such a strong partnership with your horse when it’s just the two of you out there. They become your best buddies
Now she’s in Aberdeen, Frex has gone into semi-retirement, but Eleanor plans to ride him every time she’s home.
“It’s sad but I need to get a degree under my belt and then consider whether I can event professionally,” says Eleanor.
So what is it she loves about riding so much?
“Everything! During school, it really was my escape from all the stress and worries. There’s nothing better than a good gallop to clear your head!
“You develop such a strong partnership with your horse when it’s just the two of you out there. They become your best buddies.”