I’m delighted to say that following the latest selection trial at Wellington, myself and LJT Diamond Crusador (aka Loki) have been officially nominated for Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games! As a rider, it’s always a privilege to get this far, and having been shortlisted for London 2012 with Nirvana Morroko and first reserve for Rio 2016 with Dior, to now see Loki’s name on a shortlist for the first time at just 8 years old is a real honour and a testament to the team I have around me. Thank you everyone!
After the restrictions of Covid, it’s been a busy few months with training and getting the horses out to competitions to try to best prepare them for the summer. In May I had my first able bodied Regionals in over 10 years where I contested the Elementary Silver Freestyle class after doing the qualifiers back in December. After mainly concentrating on the Para tests I had decided it would be a different challenge for me and Loki, and with no expectations to qualify for the Nationals, this felt like our Para Nationals. Despite it being May, there was a definite ‘Winter Regional’ feel as the weather was awful, and although the competition was indoors, the warm-up was not!
Fortunately for us, our winter training and lack of an indoor school meant Loki kept his head down and warmed up well for the test. Our previous music had been Christmas themed - which in December is fun but in May not so much - so I’d put together a new one for the competition, featuring some dramatic music from The Witches. We managed a relatively clean test (with some slightly ‘off’ trot circles) to finish in 2nd place out of 17, and with over 73% gaining our ticket to the National Championships!
It was a definite confidence boost and I went into Wellington with the aim to ride at my best and enjoy the experience, letting go of any outcome expectations we tend to have going into a selection trial. Unlike our last two competitions, the weather had transformed from cold and wet to 25 degrees but Loki felt on fire, if anything a little too hot (which I love) and produced three consistent tests of over 72%, 74% and 76% in the freestyle. It felt great to be able to produce some of the work we’ve been getting at home and in training in the test and I couldn’t be prouder of him for some of the work and consistency he showed that week. It was great to be able to sit around outside and watch some live competition, I’ve definitely missed the social side to it and being able to watch friends and competitors warming up and supporting them in person.
We now have a couple of weeks training before we head to Hartpury for the Winter Championships and then Loki will have the weekend off before returning for our final selection trials at Hartpury International! After this, the team of 4 and the reserves for Tokyo will be announced – not long now!