Well what a lovely week I picked to have off work, it's been (mainly) nice weather, and i've spent it waking up late, riding horses and of course going to Suffolk Show on Thursday.
So where to start.. 4am on Thursday should do it. Mum and Georgie woke me up at 4am, while i'm sound asleep on the sofa bed at my parents house. I stayed over at theirs rather than driving blurry eyed from mine in Newmarket.
At that time in the morning it was unusually mild, so after putting on jeans and a sweater I made my way outside. Admittedly I was a little sluggish at getting up so Mum and Georgie already had B in with his breakfast and had started plaiting. With that I decided I'd take up the very important job of packing up the car! Important as if I forgot to pack anything, it would be on my head! And like a tetris master I packed that car with 2 saddles, 2 bridles, a girth, all of Georgie's show gear - jackets, shirts, jodhpurs, ties, Georgie's riding hat, my beagler and show ring grooms clothes, boots (that I expertly polished if I do say so myself) and the most important thing... food!
Then I got to packing up the grooming kit with everything I could ever need. Especially my Smart Grooming products!
At around 5.45am after B had been plaited and polished we loaded him in the trailer and set off towards Ipswich to the Trinity Park showground.
It was a lovely morning, sun out but ever so slightly brisk when the sun hid behind the clouds.
We were parked out the way in a beautiful spot near some shady trees and parked just a row from Tim Stockdale and John Whitaker by the looks of their enormous lorries. We made our way off to get Georgie's number and see what was going on. We'd never actually been to a show this big before and had always dreamed of winning at County level. We've done Great Gransden show in Cambridgeshire, and Wayland Show in Norfolk which are quite large, but compared to Suffolk County Show they're about 1/3 of the size.
B was quite on his toes so we tacked him up and took him for a walk to take in the busy bustling surroundings and chill out. After about 15 minutes of schooling with G, Beanie soon realised he needed to behave and calmed down. He got back to the box thinking he was done for the day!
Mum, Georgie and I had time for a quick cup of tea and some food before it was all hands on deck.
We first studded B's back shoes as, although the ground wasn't too hard, there was a lot of slippery grass coverage so to make sure we had no slipping in the ring, it was the best thing to do.
A little bit of sprucing and his quarter marks done - which shone beautifully in the sun, Georgie got herself ready, I tacked up Beanie in his lovely showing saddle and double bridle and he was all set.
Ready to go I legged G up and off we went to find our ring and take it all in.
The walk was a little way but we got a good look at the Working Hunter ring where Georgie would be doing her ROR Challenge class later in the day and arrived at the warm up arena - It was packed with show horses and in the other half some of the best show jumpers in the UK by the height of the warm up fences. They were enormous!
With the show running like clockwork the stewards ushered everyone into the Trinity Ring (The second main ring) for the Retraining of Racehorses & Tattersalls Show Series class. There were approximately 15 horses in the class, and nearly all of them were very excited and on their toes.
Now, I know I am biased but to Beanie's credit he was a superstar in the ring. The vast majority of horses were jogging, mini rearing, going sideways or otherwise not doing what they were told to. There were also horses everywhere - overtaking, cutting people up or trying to get in front of the judge but to Georgie's credit she used her corners, didn't cut anyone up and just kept out the way on her own and it obviously paid off. One small hiccup of B lunging forward when asked to canter coincided with a chainsaw demonstration starting, but a split second after he was back cantering fluidly.
It came time for the judges to call people into the lineup. Georgie was pulled into 4th and I made my way into the ring to help.
I did a little faffing removing B's slobber, getting a bit of sweat off and lengthened stirrups ready for the ride judge.
We all stood patiently watching as the first 3 horses were ridden. Then came the moment of truth and the ride Judge got on. With our hearts in our mouth we watched..
I don't know who was more nervous Georgie or me as we stood internally wishing B to be a good lad we know he is and not let the atmosphere get too much, but to his credit he was a sweetheart. He did everything asked of him, transitioned smoothly and came back foot perfect.
I then quickly stripped him of his saddle and he was presented to the conformation judge. He stood quietly and square, then Georgie walked him away a generous length to allow for a nice long trot back the judge. He trotted impeccably and back around into the lineup.
Now we just had to wait and hope for the best.. We had some spaces to move up if we were to win, three in fact so we just hoped we'd done enough.
After much deliberation while the horses stood up (well, some did, not the fidgeting horse doing it's best to reverse into Beanie) we were utterly gobsmacked to see Georgie had been pulled in first!
She'd only gone and won it! Our first ever county level show and she'd won it!!
I don't think anyone could have wiped the beaming smile off my face for anything! All of us put some much time and love into Beanie it's so rewarding for it to pay off when it really matters!
We don't have our own school, or a big fancy lorry.. we're just humble amateurs who try really hard!
I am so proud of how far Georgie has come since last season! And now they're a county show winning pair! Hooray!
We walked back to the trailer to mainly smiles and hugs! We untacked B and let him eat. He didn't look like a show pony stood plated at the trailer, more like a pony club pony eating his way round the grass as far as his rope would reach. He's a funny little character that boy!
Georgie even bumped into John Whitaker and had a brief chat with him about her win and what he was doing for the day. He was a childhood legend so to meet him was very cool!
Our day wasn't over yet as Georgie still had the Challenge class to come. So after a brief lunch, a change of saddle and bridle we headed to the Working Hunter ring to walk the course and rewarm up.
The jumps we're quite generous but not too big. Georgie headed into the ring to try and jump clear. Alas it was not to be and she had an unlucky pole, but the round as a whole was smooth and not rushed.
My friend Michael from Lens & Hound Photography popped over to see us and captures some lovely pictures -
All the horses popped back into the ring for the show and conformation trot up. Georgie's show was a little too long and with a driven buggy zooming past it did just catch B and made him spook slightly but after earlier we weren't too unhappy.
He was pulled into 4th place, but he was a good boy throughout. It was only our second Challenge class ever, so we definitely will be doing more and working on them going forward
Our whole experience of the Suffolk County show was a positive one. Everyone we encountered was friendly and kind. The stewards, the judges, even other competitors (which isn't always the case) so we drove home happy and smiling. We will absolutely be going again next year. So now just one month until the ROR final at Hickstead Derby Day, can we repeat Thursday's win and get another dream ticked off?
We shall see....
Until next time..
Sophie x
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