As this season’s wonderful madness is about to kick off in earnest I thought I had better introduce the team. Equine first of course!!
AGHALAAN WEE DAN – Dan, Daniel or Dave to his friends.
Dan is the Team Captain this year! He stands at a rather large 17hh (although he doesn’t think he’s that big!) and is rising 8.
Anyone who spotted my blog at the end of last season will know that last year’s season was cut short at the point of stepping up to 1* because of a kick in the field – horses! Dan’s tentative plan this season will be to step up to intermediate.
GLOBAL HIGH SOCIETY – Bart
Bart is 16hh, rising 6yo, Connemara x TB. He is our new Irish import of only a couple of weeks. Owned by a wonderful, enthusiastic syndicate, some of whom are new to this eventing lark!
We still have plenty of getting-to-know-each other to do and he has pretty much just been hunting so far but he is rather smart (and he knows it!) so it’ll be really exciting to see how he progresses this year.
STARLIGHT ROYAL – Star
Star is our little 14.1hh (although she definitely doesn’t think she’s a pony!), 7yo mare. She was bred by Jane Holderness-Roddam and is by Littledale Brightstar (Grandsire Catherston Nightsafe) so is definitely an eventing aristocrat. We’re all watching with bated breath!
She has done a little hunting but not much else so will be joining the other two babies starting her eventing career this season.
QUICK GUY – Womble, or sometimes Wobble!
The baby of the team, Womble is rising 5 this year and was started late so has a fair bit of catching up to do. He is very willing and tries his heart out. At the moment his legs seem to get longer and longer every day so we are taking everything very steadily and letting him grow into himself in his own time.
In addition to my crew, I will be riding Fabuleux (Fable) at some more events this season whilst gradually passing the reins over to her owner, Flo.
I’m very lucky and ridiculously excited to have such a wonderful team of young horses to event this season. No eventing would be possible without the incredible support of my parents and the team at home, led by the indispensable help and guidance from my long time mentor and coach Sarah MacDonald.
Here’s to 2017; I hope you all have a fun and safe season with your horses!!
GVG Brooks Eventing 