A royally hard act to follow
DICK STILLWELL’S yard is one of my happiest memories of my early eventing days. The torture that he used to put us through – from being blindfolded when jumping because we were “fiddling”; the pole down your back or between your arms because you were “slouching”; the fear when the fences went up – but also so much laughter. He was an amazing man who worked so hard, as did his wonderful wife Joan.
Our lessons were always mixed up with our heroes, the top riders of the day. Richard Meade, who would always help you warm up before the dressage and he called my horse Arthur “Rubberneck” (he did get the best dressage in the Griffin section at Bramham in 1975!). There was Mary Gordon-Watson and “Corny” (Cornishman); Tiny Clapham with Martha – whose neck was put on the wrong way – and Lorna Clarke, who had just had a baby, and asked Dick if she could stop sitting trot as her milk was curdling!
Dick started teaching us in the Pony
Club in the 1960s and helped us to success at Hickstead when we won the Pony Club championships in 1969. Thanks to the
Pony Club and Dick, we moved on to have enormous fun eventing.
Eventing was so different in the 1970s. In those days every horse had to carry 11st 11lb, so I had to carry over two stone of lead and all my horses hated the dead weight. There wasn’t the pressure of huge sponsorship and the courses weren’t as technical, just enormous and frightening. But there was always a big wig like Lucinda (Green), a Ginny (Elliot) or a Richard (Walker), who would give us time and advice.
Richard once plonked me back in the saddle after falling off on the cross-country and had to point the horse in the right direction as I had knocked myself out for a moment! No health and safety mentioned.
It was a dubious honour to do your dressage test straight after Princess Anne when the press were there. I always got disastrous results.