Members of the Pocklington School Equestrian team proudly competed in front of a royal audience at The Royal Windsor Horse Show at the weekend. Miss Clare Bracken, Deputy Head and teacher i/c Equestrian Team has written the following report:
'We have been talking about competing at The Royal Windsor Horse Show for a while. Although the team of Georgina Elliott, Bea Nicholson, Hattie Thompson and Amelia Jackson have trained regularly leading up to the event it still came as quite a shock to us all when the weekend actually arrived. Horses and riders started their adventure on the Friday, travelling the long way south in glorious sunshine in order to compete on the Saturday. The girls were feeling positive, apparently not nervous, and were ready to enjoy the whole experience!
Saturday arrived, horses were plaited and groomed (which can take a long time as the entire team are greys) and the team were virtually ready to go. Riders and horses looked exceptionally smart; the horses sported new rugs, fly hoods and saddle cloths, with thanks to our kind sponsor Alsim System Building Ltd. The magnificent back drop of the castle and the fact that the girls had been less than a foot away from the Queen (and managed to snap the moment too) really made the occasion special; even the none stop rain and cold couldn’t dampen the team spirit.
There were twenty-seven schools in our class and we were nearly last to go. The first part of the course looked relatively straightforward; the timed part, however, had a few imposing uprights and oxers, often without natural lines to them. It soon became apparent that the course was more challenging than it had initially seemed; should the team play safe and go for the clear or take risks?
First into the ring for us was Georgina on Windale Thundercloud, better known as Eric; they rode an elegant and impressive round going clear in a very good time. It was hard to contain our excitement.
Our second rider in was Hattie, on Killough Queen, probably not a very apt name given the surroundings! Everything was going according to plan, until the tenth jump and Queenie lightly tapped the fence – we couldn’t believe our luck, nor could the commentator, as the pole fell. All was not lost as 4 faults would still have been a competitive result.
Bea entered the arena next; we were all willing her to get round as she had experienced two nasty falls earlier in the week and her mare Blue, really had been quite a ‘mare’. We needn’t have worried though as they both rose to the occasion and jumped a solid round. The smile and relief across Bea’s face as she exited the arena said it all; we were all so proud of her despite the 8 faults.
Last to compete for the team was Amelia on Welton Tarantella or Daisy; unenviable pressure now rested on the duo to go clear. The first few fences were going well, we watched with baited breath, we knew they could do it. However, fence 4, a seemingly innocent fence, proved to be the downfall of yet another team member. Again, a light tap was all it needed – luck really wasn’t on our side. Amelia went on to jump the rest of the course with such poise – it really was a pity that she had gained the 4 faults.
With the best three scores counting and a total of 8 faults we were unfortunately out of contention this time, finishing 17th. The girls, without exception, rode and conducted themselves well throughout – Pocklington should indeed be proud of them!'