Anna's journey to the BHS Trec World Championships

Sunday was the finale of the competition with the Control of Paces and PTV (cross country) phases. The Control of Paces corridor spanned the diagonal of the main arena and was the full length at 150 metres. The PTV course was excellently designed and constructed with what initially appeared to be straight forward obstacles containing small features that greatly increased the difficulty.

Number 1 was the gate which was sturdy and the fence into which it was mounted was at a slight angle with vegetation as decoration further preventing the horse to get a straight line parallel to the gate.

Number 2 was a nice straight forward log that wasn't overly wide so made it look larger than it was, it stood under the maximum height though at roughly 3'.

Number 3 was a ridden staircase that had sponsors' banners on one side, throughout the course banners had been situated to add to the difficulty of the obstacles.

Number 4 was one of the new obstacles that have been added to the rule book this year, the path crossing. This obstacle can consist of any manner of combinations of jumps, steps or ditches but the course builders had been very kind to us and given us two drop steps.

Number 5 proved to be one of the obstacles that created the most problems for riders; it was the ridden corridor which is normally very straight forward but here it had been situated just over the crest of a fabricated bank with the sand approach slightly sloped to the left and banners and vegetation decoration on the right very close to the ideal approach route thus pushing the horse further out to the left.

Down off the bank and a short canter brought you to number 6, the offside mount, which was situated in a nice high shelter again with decoration to increase the aesthetics of an otherwise plain obstacle consisting of only a circle on the ground!

The mount marked the far end of the course and you now turned to enter the edge of the forest where number 7, the bending, was located in amongst the trees, finding a route around their trunks and roots made it very challenging to find a nice route to allow a clean canter execution.

Number 8 was the rein back and this had been very well situated at an angle alongside a tree that had two fences either side of it resulting in a very gentle V angle subtly pushing the horse out of the poles to the left.

Now came the longest gallop of the course back out onto open ground and around a pond to take you to number 9, the S-bend. The poles for this obstacle were raised off the ground meaning a knock down of the poles was required to incur faults rather than just a touch. Again this obstacle had been situated in a challenging spot with a jump a couple of metres in front preventing a straight entry and the exit taking the horse into water.

After number 9 you had the choice whether to stay in the water or come out, round and back into the water to allow a straight approach to number 10, the step up out of the water.

Number 11 was a straight forward led drop back in the trees followed by a wide but honest ridden ditch out of the trees as number 12.

Number 13 was a lovely hedge, again not up to maximum height but not below 3'. Number 14 was a ridden footbridge across a small stream with a fence at the entrance forcing and angled entry.

The final two obstacles, numbers 15 and 16, were a led up incline and led down incline over the tallest and steepest artificial bank on the park. After re-mounting a short gallop took you around a corner and through the finish line in style.

Julia Knight Jones was the first out on the course riding a borrowed French horse after Ross, her pony, had developed an abscess earlier in the week. Her PTV round went as well as can be expected on a strange horse with the new combination clocking up a very respectable score of 106 out of a possible 160.

Paul Turner then went on Magic; they performed to their usual standard and flew around the PTV course coming in well under time and scoring 120 points. Daniel Nolan completed his paces before lunch then had the first PTV start time after the lunch break. Again all went without mishap with Daniel scoring 98 points.

David Hay-Thornburn was the first of the British team to ride and like Daniel his paces were before lunch and PTV after. I managed to watch most of the PTV from the collecting ring and it was to his usual high standard earning him a score of 125 points, nice to see to settle my nerves!

And then it was my turn. I was the first to ride after lunch which was a difficult slot to have as the paces started late due to another prize giving ceremony over running in the main arena. I warmed Wiz up then allowed him a snooze whilst we waited for the phase to restart. I was concerned that he was getting hot in the sun especially from the reflection off the arena surface and my nerves really weren't helping the situation but the canter went really well and the walk felt alright although not his best, I thought the end of the 150m corridor would never come! In this phase we scored 45 out of a possible 60, as I'd suspected it wasn't a new PB for us but it was acceptable in the situation.

I then calmly headed down to the collecting ring to wait for my PTV start time which has an hour later; I was really looking forward to tackling the course.

My round went very well. At the gate he was excellent, focussing on my aids for the lateral movements rather than the large crowd of spectators looking down on us from the bank alongside. The log he felt unsure about and was standing off slightly on the approach but I managed to persuade him otherwise and we went over at the first attempt. The ridden staircase he did brilliantly which was a relief as we haven't faced many staircases in domestic competitions to date. The path crossing was straight forward as anticipated although a few strides after the landing of the second element he slammed on the anchors due to being scared of the white arrowhead at the bottom that I'd been aiming at to keep us straight!

At the canter corridor he was very hesitant on the approach as the vegetation was rattling in the wind so we ditched the canter plans required to score risky full marks and executed it cleanly at trot for a safe seven points. The remount was perfect with him planting his feet and not daring to budge after I'd instructed him to stand in no uncertain terms! I'd picked a winding approach to the bending in the hope that I'd be able to pick up a canter on the right lead but legs were not ordered in time so again resorting to a safe trot paid off over the rough ground. The rein back went well with a strong left leg preventing Wiz from drifting that way.

The S-bend was our only major sticking point on the course as Wiz was backing off the water's edge so brought down one of the middle poles due to lack of concentration. I then opted to exit the water and approach the step up on a straight line which paid off and although his jump up was not the prettiest we still got up it in one piece. The led drop was good and luckily, after I'd remounted and Wiz had drifted to the left, I noticed that we were heading at the wrong Young Riders ditch and corrected our course to jump the Open ditch nicely; a mistake which unfortunately one of the German team did not correct thus resulting in his elimination from that phase.

The hedge was absolutely spot on; Wiz was well up for jumping it and hit it on a perfect stride so that was a wonderful feeling as we sailed over in style! The angled approach to the footbridge did nothing to phase my little guy and he calmly walked over in textbook fashion. The final two obstacles were the ones I was most worried about as led obstacles are not our strong point but Wiz stayed in the required position behind me despite a small stubble on his part in the middle of the led down incline.

We completed our round well within the set time limit of 9 minutes and I was delighted with my final score of 135, 5th place within this phase.

After I'd finished my round I left the PTV course area but in my absence Anthea Kendrick and Hilary Barnard both executed good rounds posting impressive scores of 123 and 131 points respectively.

Unfortunately inspection of the revised POR scores after we'd all finished riding revealed that rather than Anthea Kendrick being eliminated from this phase it was in fact myself who suffered the fate due to lack of knowledge of rules. At the vet check after the finish of the POR phase the vet had struggled to take a low heart rate reading from Wiz, he had not had access to water throughout the day and the water butts at the vet check were all but empty so Wiz was dehydrated which didn't help him. The vet thought that 64 beats per minute was sufficiently low for us to pass so once she'd taken that reading she was satisfied, unfortunately the rule for heart rate changed this year and the heart rate must be under 64 beats per minute therefore we failed the vet check thus eliminating us from the POR phase.

This news was obviously very disappointing both for me competing as an individual and for the team as this meant that my score, or lack of, would be the discard score and so all three scores of the remainder of the team would count. Despite my disappointment the closing ceremony was scheduled to take place as soon as the final scores were calculated so I polished Wiz up and joined the rest of the team for the parade. Final positions saw Julia Knight Jones finish 26th in the Young Riders section and the team in 8th place. In the Senior class Anthea Kendrick was the highest placed British rider in 14th position and the team took 5th.

The party that evening was very enjoyable with the nations exchanging presents of typical local produce and many team uniform swaps. I'd taken my team jacket from 2006 and swapped it for a Spanish jumper, my team cap I swapped for a Spanish cap and one of my t-shirts I swapped with a Dutch girl that I'd become acquainted with during competition for her team shirt.

Sunday night was a late night due to the party but we were still up early on Monday morning to start our journey home. The drive north was without incident although it took longer than we'd hoped so we missed the 17:30 ferry that we were aiming for and eventually boarded the 19:15 crossing which was a freight only sailing, very different from the usual passenger ferries with greatly reduced shopping opportunities and locked female toilets! Wiz and I stayed in stabling at Dover than night and arrived home at Warwick mid afternoon on Tuesday after a greatly delayed journey due to being caught in tailbacks for two accidents on the motorway.

Looking back on our competitive debut abroad I am very satisfied with our performance, especially with the PTV round. If my score had counted I would have finished in 13th place and highest placed British rider, which is very satisfying. Obviously it was disappointing to only discover our elimination after we'd finished the competition but I am pleased that we scored so well under usual competitive conditions with my associated nerves so I'm taking great confidence from the event. It was also an excellent experience to take Wiz abroad and compete on the international stage with Trec competitors of such high calibre and I thoroughly enjoyed the competition as a whole which the French had organised extremely efficiently.

For full competition results both from the Young Riders and Senior classes follow this link: http://www.mondialtrec2008.com/en/node/50

Sunday morning report post POR (orienteering) phase is mixed. Anne Bolton, a British Young rider, was vetted out at the end of the POR when her horse tripped on the way from the finish to the vet check and thus trotted up lame. She is obviously very disappointed that such an unfortunate accident happened when she'd finished the course and the aggravation was increased further upon inspection of the scores when it was found that she'd finished the POR phase in 10th place, the only rider to have broken up the French squad who otherwise have 12 riders in the top 13. Julia Knight Jones, the other British young rider, has finished the POR in 15th place but with Anne's elimination will move up to 14th.

Other than Anne all horses are fit, sound and through the vetting without problems. Wiz is feeling particularly full of himself and bursting to be let loose on the PTV (cross country) course!

The British senior riders are spread throughout the field; the organisers tried two excuses to eliminate Anthea Kendrick (first saying there was a problem with her record card and then claiming she was too close to me even though I was hours behind her!) but she has managed to fight them off and is sitting in 22nd place on 88 penalties. I am right behind her on 89 penalties with just one incorrect ticket so I am pleased with my map reading accuracy. Daniel Nolan isn't far behind me with Paul Turner and David Hay Thorburn behind him. Hilary Barnard then finishes the British squad placings.

The course was wonderful with a lot of forestry and some sections of 11kph, rather a fast speed for thrashing through the undergrowth! Hilary has also come back with some war wounds after having a slight argument with a bramble.

I now sign off to grab some breakfast, Julia is starting her control of paces at 10:20 and Hilary is the last of the squad to ride with her PTV scheduled for 16:00.

Writing at the end of our first day of training and I'm shattered!

The journey from ferry port to venue went without hitch but was very long, especially with the ferry delay, and the horses were finally unloaded after 11 hours on the box. Wiz behaved brilliantly although wasn't impressed when we took a break at the halfway point and he showed his displeasure to this idea by attempting to dig his way out of the side of Hilary's lorry!

Rather than taking the direct route down the middle of the country, to avoid the joys of navigating our way around Paris we travelled down the west side of France, via Rouen, to Orleans and on to Lamotte-Beauvron. The French countryside was beautiful and we were particularly impressed with the cathedral at Chartres whose twin spires were very striking.

The Championships are being held at the Federal Equestre Parc which is a wonderful setting. The horses are stabled in blocks that hold 40 horses (20 on each side back to back) with the blocks labelled from A to H, Wiz is in stable 37, block E. Signs of the level of organisation are clear by the flag stickers on each stable marking each countries' allocations, Wiz is on the end of the British senior stables with an Algerian stallion next door.

After arrival horses were given a quick leg stretch before settling down in their stables whilst we set up camp before the first of Mrs Knight-Jones' wonderful dinners, quite how meals (pasta, burgers, pork was on the menu for tonight) for 15-20 people can be produced in a 7.5 tonne horsebox I will never understand!

We headed off to our accommodation after dinner; we're staying in the Center Parcs that is 6kms from the venue where the British team has two four bedroom chalets between 11 of us. The accommodation is nice with each bedroom either a twin or double although as I write a mouse has just joined me in my bedroom so I'm looking at the place in a slightly different light at the moment!

This morning (Tuesday) we headed down to the park around 8:30am for morning stables, the horses having been kindly fed by Judith Viola at 7:30am so that they'd be ready to work as early as we fancied. We headed out for our first exploration session in the morning in pairs with each pair aiming for a different area of the local vicinity.

Upon our return to the park we had lunch before heading off in the cars to explore slightly further afield whilst allowing the horses a bit of a relaxing afternoon. I went in a car with Paul, Hilary and Anthea with Mark as chauffeur and we went to explore a funny pattern of tracks that seemed to resemble an easter egg. We discovered that the tracks surrounded an imposing chateau and we think the tracks we were investigating used to be the tracks along which the family living in the chateau would have taken their rides. We left the car at the road and went to explore the tracks on foot but soon found that half the tracks were either substantially overgrown or no longer in existence at all.

We continued our car session with visiting a couple more chateaus before heading to a small village to get a bit of "urban" experience in.

Once back at the venue I quickly fitted in the first tail wash of the week before we all had a preparatory kit check where half of our first aid kits were found to have passed their expiry dates and thus deemed useless. Thankfully the only items that I had that had fallen foul to the expiry date were duplicated by newer items but I think a trip to a chemist might be in order to replenish others' kits that hadn't got away so lightly!

Early evening we had a schooling session in one of the main outdoor arenas, the surface was interesting, quite a grey sand that was compacted and could do with a good harrow!

Dinner followed schooling and then once back at the Center Parcs chalets we had a session coaching each other on what we'd found during the morning followed by a lesson from Rob Jones and Mark Kendrick in the usual tricks that the traceur (person who sets the orienteering route) likes to use such as new features that are not yet represented on the maps.

Today has been informative but long and I think we are all feeling weary but eager to use the remainder of our time in the run up to the competition to prepare in the best possible manner.

Grabbing a quick moment to update you on final preparations whilst we wait for the ferry.

The last few days prior to departure have passed in the expected blur. After our showjumping outing on Thursday night Friday was an interval training night so in the gathering gloom we quickly nipped around another rather damp field. Two five minute canters with a two minute rest in between seemed rather a doddle for Wiz so we have achieved the fitness goal and breathed a sign of relief!

Saturday was a day off from work thankfully which allowed me to make final preparations in peace. An expensive trip down to the saddlers saw me return with new posh boots and gaiters and, would you believe, red, white and blue plaiting bands!! I think my level of excitement with those is verging on what would be termed "sad"!

Sunday came around all too soon and I spent the morning in a packing frenzy whilst Wiz chilled out in the paddock. We set off a little later than planned but the roads all the way down were clear so at 5:45pm we rolled into the stables to join the rest of the team. The plan was to stable overnight to catch an early ferry on Monday morning. I spent the evening transferring my kit into Hilary's lorry whilst Wiz tried to fit as much shavings into his fleece rug and tail as possible, I think he achieved it!

Departure date is rapidly approaching so preparations are really gathering pace now.

Competition shoes were fitted yesterday by my farrier, Spud Allison, and upon Rob Jones' (British Chef d'Equipe) advice I have kept the set that were removed to take to France as spares, there's a surprising amount of wear left in them so obviously Wizzy's fittening programme has kept us off the roads more than normal.

Yesterday evening however we did hit the roads in our new shoes. The shortening evenings make fitting a hack in after work quite a struggle but nevertheless we did manage to get down to Hampton Lucy with time to explore a new route to Wasperton, unfortunately a dead end but a nice run on the way. Ground is still very wet with this continuing rain but I'm trying to console myself that the extra effort that is required in the heavy going is helping Wizzy's fitness.

Tonight I took Wiz out for a little play, schooling was the activity on the schedule and clear round showjumping was on at Moreton Morrell (agricultural college with equine unit) so we popped down the road for that. I was particularly interested to see how Wiz behaved as it was our first outing since I've been feeding him oats. He was a bit of a handful and quite excitable whilst I was getting ready so I was very relieved that I'd tacked up at home, but once I was onboard he was an angel as ever.

We started with a schooling session whilst we were warming up, working on the areas that Liz had highlighted on Monday, then once the jumps were up to a suitable height we had a couple of rounds.

First round was roughly 2' 9" in which we just had one stop at the first of the double, annoyingly it was entirely pilot error as we came around the corner on a bad stride and I didn't fix it in time, apart from that he went really well and didn't take too much riding, its always nice to give my legs a break!

Second round was 1 metre (3' 3"ish in old money) which is about our maximum comfortable height. Again he jumped really well just taking down the back pole on the second element of the double, I was pushing for a long one in between the two and with the extra height he couldn't quite get his back feet over.

Apart from this pole I was extremely pleased with how carefully he jumped; a couple of times he put in extra effort to get over when we weren't quite on a good stride. He will also now put in a short stride rather than launching from a mile off which is something that I've been working on as it’s a little more worrying when launching at larger more substantial cross country jumps as I'm sure we'll face in France!

Wiz and I had our first lesson for many years on Monday evening with Liz Fellows. The lesson went really well with the rain thankfully holding off and has given me some good pointers on what to work on whilst out in France. Wiz obviously worked pretty hard though as he went to sleep very quickly after he'd eaten his dinner!

Tonight was interval work and unfortunately the weather wasn't quite so kind to us with the heavens opening as we finished our warm up. After sheltering under a not-so-protective tree we continued with the work, just a little more damp than I'd have preferred!

We were training in a different field tonight than before as the lovely flat field that we've used previously is apparently called "The Water Meadows" for a reason! I'd found the River Avon an excellent cooling treatment for Wiz's legs after previous interval sessions but I have a feeling that if I'd tried that tonight we might well have been washed away!

I've moved Wiz up to two 5 minute canters with a rest period in between, I was very pleased that despite the heavy going and the hill that the new field contains he was sufficiently recovered after just three minutes. Despite his increased workload, with all this rain and fresh grass Wiz has managed to put weight on so hay rations have been cut back in an attempt to get a few pounds shifted.

I had a good look at the competition website today, http://www.mondialtrec2008.com/en/node/27. There's lots of information about the venue of the competition including a virtual map of the park, I can't wait to get onto the gallops for my interval training rather than splashing through the puddles and avoiding flooded fields! There's also a page on the website for results, I think the idea is for provisional POR scores to be posted there at the end of competition on Saturday so check that out for the earliest report on our performance, fingers crossed you're please by what you see!

I took the opportunity to try out the i-Quip gillet (http://www.i-quip.co.uk/) that I'd won at a competition earlier in the season. It worked very well and it was nice to escape the bum bag that I used to wear and which bounced on both myself and my saddle. I might need to make a minor alteration to the fastening mechanisms of a couple of the pockets though to avoid a repeat of a slight mishap I had whilst bending down to do a particularly low gate catch when all my pens and snack bars fell out of a front pocket and scattered on the ground; I had planned to keep the existence of the final two snack bars secret from Daniel but that was not to be and the gannet soon swooped!

The first ford, which had barely been up to Wiz's pasterns last time, this time gave their legs a nice wash all the way to the top, maybe I should have noted this change for later in the ride but I'm rarely that switched on so we carried on regardless!

Now we ventured into unchartered territory, maybe the fact that the innocent little blue line on the map was labelled the "River Dee" should have rung some alarm bells?! Not until we approached the water did I start to look at alternative routes around but the only alternative that wasn't going to add a fair bit of mileage to our route would have involved riding along the Fosse, not a very tempting option even on our well behaved mounts, so it looked like we'd have to try the River Dee.

The water was flowing pretty freely and we had no idea how deep it was therefore Daniel, being the unfortunate one to be riding the taller horse, went first, what a gent! I must confess to becoming quite nervous at this stage as Tammy kept going deeper and deeper and yet still hadn't reached the middle of the river; visions of her and Daniel being swept away were not far from my mind. However reach the middle they did with Daniel's toes only getting slightly wet, we'll gloss over the fact that he'd picked his feet up quite high and his knees actually got wet first.

Thankfully I can report that we all crossed safely and without mishap, in fact various repeat crossings were also made for photo opportunities, poor Tammy had to go in numerous times as for some reason I just couldn't seem to operate the camera so

Preparations for France are now in full swing with departure date rapidly approaching.
The White Horse Trec Group kindly offered its support by allowing myself and another member of the British squad, Daniel Nolan, to run fundraising activities at the Derbyshire Dales Trec competition last weekend (30th/31st August). During the Saturday evening social event a raffle was run in which prizes included an "Anna and Daniel Experience", (an opportunity to ride out with Anna and Daniel), some top quality Tur Langton beef generously donated by Mary Weston and an evening in an Aston Martin. Daniel also completed Sunday's phases dressed as a cow (costume prepared by myself) and to add to the challenge he pledged that if he raised over £50 in sponsorship he would ride bareback, quite an ask when jumping is involved! The £50 mark was duly broken and the saddle removed, as it turned out the jumping was not what caused the challenge but the control of paces (when the horse needs to canter as slowly as possible) as Tammy decided this was a good opportunity to prove, rather than how slowly, how quickly she could canter!

I have been competing in BHS Trec since the early days of the sport here in the UK. My first competition was back in 1999 and since then I have competed on three horses and have steadily risen through the ranks from the beginner level, Level 1, to reach the top level, Level 4. My current horse is called Caspian the Wizard, (Wizzy), and he is a 15.2hh homebred Connemara x Polo Pony. Wizzy is currently 9 years old and 2008 is his third season at Level 4 having competed for a season each at Level 2 and 3 during his education.

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Two years ago, at the end of Wizzy's first season at Level 4 I was thrilled to be selected to join the British squad for the 2006 Trec European Championships on Exmoor. Due to Britain being the host nation, as with other equestrian disciplines, the British squad was larger than usual comprising of 4 team riders and 8 individuals. That year I rode as an individual whereas for the Worlds this year I will be one of the team riders, an achievement that I am immensely proud of.

To be selected for the team I had to fulfil a number of selection criteria, most notably consistent performances at international competitions including the domestic championships (English, Welsh and Scottish with the British Championships rotating as one of these). During our three years competing together at Level 4 Wiz and I have finished in the top 6 for all domestic championships with the highlight of our career so far being winning the title of 2007 British Champion last year.

I think that about brings you up to speed with my preparations for France. I'll update this blog with further news on my activities with Wiz up to 15th September, the day that we leave to travel to France for the competition that will run from Friday 19th to Sunday 21st September