What a week for Barton Field Farm Equestrian Centre!
I’m sure you’ve probably heard by now, but we hosted a demonstration with Olympic event rider William Fox Pitt on Wednesday. Everything had to be squeaky clean and the girls did really well to make the yard absolutely spotless. We were told very firmly that we weren’t allowed to drop any hay over the door or make even a speck of mess.
William Fox Pitt arrived in probably the biggest lorry you have ever seen. Imagine your house, then times it by two and you’re probably somewhere near the size of lorry it was. We were all hanging our noses over the fence trying to imagine what it would feel like to travel in that kind of luxury. Our trailer is fine, but it’s not quite the same level of comfort as that! He brought three horses, which were very tall to accommodate his long legs. Natalie became an honorary ‘Fox Pitt’ groom and led round one of the young horses to get them used to the indoor school. Youngsters these days are so pampered – in our day, we would have been thrown straight in at the deep end and told to get on with it!
And so the demonstration began. William worked on the flat for the first half hour with everyone desperately hoping that he was going to get to the good stuff soon and get jumping the huge grid he had built before the start. He started jumping and we were all in awe of how much control he had over jumps that were easily bigger than LC and Lucky put together. It’s not like me to be easily impressed but you had to be quite inspired by the way he rode lines and never looked to move in the saddle. I challenge anyone to look that elegant when you are jumping Pablo though!
At the interval, William sat for ages signing postcards and books to those who wanted them. It made me think actually and I mentioned to Vicki that maybe we should get some postcards made up and I can autograph them during the breaks at the next jumping show. There are a couple of professional shots of me around somewhere and I think everyone would love a signed card of me on their desk or wall. William did some simulated cross country work in the second half, jumping anything that we had laying around. All the instructors have got bets on which riding group is going to ask to jump the water barrel first – my money is on a certain teenage Pony Club group on a Saturday.
Before William left, he asked for a favour. He had heard talk in Dorset about a famous cob who resides in Kent and wanted the opportunity to meet such an inspirational equine. He couldn’t believe his luck when he discovered that the yard where he was holding a demonstration was the very same place where this great horse lives. So before William left, he asked if he could have his picture taken with me…!
Until next time,
Flitwick