Me and my girl!
At the beginning of the year, I made the most difficult decision and after six years of campaigning Pimms (Dior), where she's either been first reserve or selected for the team every year since 2016, we felt like it was the right time for her to take the pressure off a little and enjoy a new adventure. Having being selected as first reserve for Rio 2016 I desperately wanted to get her to Tokyo to show the world what we could do, but with it being postponed another year, I had to make a decision based on what was right for Pimms.
Pimms has been a massive part of my career and my life for the last six years, and behind the Championships, sashes and medals, she is also responsible for so many memories and experiences along the way. I can’t put into words what this horse means to me and thank you just doesn’t seem enough for the opportunities that I’ve had as a result of having her in my life. She owes me nothing and I owe her everything and I'll be forever grateful to owners Annie Hunter Blair and Nicky Whittet, for not just giving me the opportunity, but also being such fantastic members of the team over the years.
Thank you to owners Annie (pictured) and Nicky
Our journey together started back in 2014, which for me consisted of a year of bad falls, several trips to the hospital and my top horse recovering from an injury. But my luck changed when I met Pimms and after realising I’d left my riding legs and looped reins in another car when I went to try her, I had no other option but to resort to wearing jeans and with the reins wrapped around my wrists I gave it my best. Despite being appalled at her rider wearing trainers, Pimms exceeded all our expectations and at the beginning of 2015 she joined me as my Rio contender.
Pimms was always a sensitive horse and after my year of hospital visits (one of which included breaking my back in four places and five ribs) I’d lost my confidence, so for the first six months I was a little bit wary of this horse that I hadn’t yet figured out. She never did anything to make me doubt her or think she might be dangerous, but sometimes I had the feeling that we both knew she was the one who was really in charge!
Our first trip to Holland just a couple of months after I got her was a huge honour and although it definitely came too early for us to show the quality of her work, I found out so much about her. A month later the pieces fitted together, and we happily floated around the arena and I started to wonder if my ‘electric bum’ might have found a good match with her chestnut flair. Pimms went on to win Bishop Burton International that summer, then Stoneleigh National Championships and Bury Farm International to finish her first season.
Pimms at WEG 2018
She went on to have so many successes at National and International level and Annie and Nicky travelled around the country and abroad to support us. I will always appreciate Pimms and all of the opportunities she gave me and when her potential new rider Di Green came to try her earlier this year I was very confident that Pimms would be happy, which was my priority. I believe they will form a super partnership and I’m excited to see what they will do together. I have been given so many great opportunities in my career and to be able to pay some of that forward to another rider is a huge privilege.
A massive thank you must go to everyone who has been part of my team along the way, supporting me in helping to achieve my dreams with this special horse.
Pimms – thank you for everything and enjoy the next chapter..