With the BEu100 Championships at Frickley Park now an exciting memory forever etched in the brains of all those young athletes who represented their country, we wanted to find out more about some of the support crew.
The role of supporting Mums and Dads covers everything from groom to mentor to transporter and of course financial support. When we interviewed a selection of the BEu18 Scotland Team it was apparent how they all cited a parent as their biggest supporters.
We were keen to get a parents perspective and so we took a few minutes with super Mum Emma Bryce to find out more.
The Interview
Please introduce yourself and your daughter
My name is Emma and my daughter is Ellie. Ellie is on the Lindores Equestrian sponsored BEu100 Scotland Team.
Do you come from a horsey-background yourself and has this been a help or a hindrance?
I had a pony when I was younger but my parents weren’t horsey in the slightest. I bred my own foal in 1999 Macrana.
How has riding influenced Ellie as she is growing up?
Ellie has been riding since before she could walk so as a result spends every free moment she has with them. When she fell in love with eventing she took in two liveries to fund it, getting up at 5am every day to ride and muck out before school.
As a parent what have you invested into Ellie achieving her goals?
Mainly time as after buying her first pony she has saved and purchased her subsequent ones.
How did you feel when Ellie got selected for the BEu18 Scottish Team?
Exceptionally proud, she had worked so hard to achieve her goal of representing Scotland and had many setbacks along the way but always picked herself up, dusted herself off and tried again.
As a parent which phase of eventing to you enjoy the most and why?
Cross country I think as it’s wonderful to watch but heart racing at the same time.
Which is your least favourite part?
Dressage as it’s the phase Ellie always feels she could have done better. It’s also the phase I can’t watch!
Since Ellie has been eventing what have you learnt?
To be patient, never give advice to her at an event and how lovely and supportive all the other parents are.
What advice would you give to other parents with a son/daughter interested in taking up eventing more seriously?
Make sure you have an understanding other half as weekends are rarely spent at home!
Does Ellie have any supporters who need a mention?
Two years ago Ellie was approached by Jim Spiers from Advanced Roller Doors (EK) to be a brand ambassador who has been an amazing support ever since and more recently by A2B Equestrian, who are a riding safety centre, and ensure Ellie is well kitted.
Find out more…
If you haven’t watched our fun video with some of the BEu18 team you can watch it here.
Or if, like many of the BEu18 team you’d like to come and train at Lindores Equestrian you can.
Photograph: Front from left: Brooke Walker, Iona Landale, Emma Walker (Team Captain). Middle from left: Kelly Grant, Pollyanna Smith. Back from left Roan Grant, Laura Patterson.
About the British Eventing Scotland u18 Team
A selection of the ‘local’ British Eventing under 18 Scottish Team visited their sponsor Lindores Equestrian just one week ahead of the National U18 Championships at Frickley Park.
What an awesome bunch they are! With the youngest rider in the team at 14 years old. The team at Lindores were blown away by their confidence, positive mind-set and extensive training calendar!
It’s nice to get to know the team that are representing our nation. But alongside our fun Q&A’s video clip above there is of course a more serious side which has involved working and training hard to get the results needed to be selected.
From the horses mouth
Each rider and horse qualified under the British Eventing Youth Programme and we couldn’t be prouder of the hard work and dedication they have shown. said Anna Black, Manager at Lindores Equestrian.
Many of the riders have trained over the cross country fences at Lindores.
“I did cross country on Heaven for the very first time at Lindores. I remember getting so much confidence apart from I couldn’t get him over the classic Lindores jump in the water! Thankfully that didn’t last long!”
said Kelly Grant, who aged 15, is representing Scotland with Heaven for the first time in the 100 team.
Kelly Grant riding Heaven
Roan Grant, groom for Wills Oakden, is also making his debut appearance on the 100 team riding Caballo Rojo (stable name Will) and said:
“I’m really excited about being part of the team and I’m most looking forward to the cross country. It’s been really nice to come and meet other team members tonight.”
While the cross country is the phase that the team seem unanimously most excited about, the team are divided as to whether they are more apprehensive about the dressage phase, or the show jumping phase.
“I’m most looking forward to seeing all of my friends and getting to have another crack at 2* cross country”
“However I am slightly worried for the show jumping as I find Millie [who is 14.2hh] struggles with the horse distances. Being selected for the team means a lot and is made even more special by the fact we are competing for our country.” said Ruth Farnsworth
Local rider Jemima Cross is no stranger to Lindores Equestrian and she is also making her Scottish Team debut, saying
“I am looking forward to representing Scotland at the Championships and being part of a great time. I am most apprehensive about letting Patrick [Village Crescendo] down.”
Jemima Cross riding Patrick. Photo by Action Replay Photography
As young athletes they all have great motivational advice to share. Katie Edgar said:
“The best piece of advice was given to me by Ian Stark when I was 13 and I asked him how I could get on to a British Team. His advice was ‘every time you go out competing do your very best for yourself. My advice for any rider chasing their dreams would be never give up. You only get out what you put in.”
Katie Edgar riding Airborne. Photo by Action Reply Photography
Jodie Craig, who is also making her debut appearance agrees,
“You may think that you are the only one having problems or difficulties but you’re not. The only way to improve and get better is to work through these coming out even stronger each time you ride. As the famous saying goes ‘we learn from our mistakes’. It is also important to sometimes take the time to realise how far you have come as I find this motivates me to work harder.”
When speaking to individuals they are all excited about the opportunity to ride together as a whole team for their country. Let’s get behind them all and show them our support.
Lindores Design A Fence Competition Winner’s design is more than a fence!
What an achievement to everyone involved!
When Lindores Equestrian opened up entries to their 2018 Design a Fence Competition never in their wildest dreams did they expect the winning entry to be as wonderful as it is!
Riders of all ages and artistic abilities were welcomed to enter into the 2018 competition but Scottish rider Dorothy Drury’s Wobbleberries Challenge inspired fence was a clear winner for the judges.
Dorothy Drury’s winning entry was supplied in 2D and 3D designs and inspired by Wobbleberries Challenge…
The standard of fence design entries were impressive but the judges felt that this Wobbleberry design had the edge over the other great entries because it had great profile, colour palette and the judges really related to the charitable theme.
Lindores Equestrian is a popular venue for Wobbleberry Challenge riders training or attending residential camps and the team felt the Wobbleberries fence would bring a smile to riders faces and continue to encourage them to keep training and fundraising.
Primarily, the Wobbleberry challenge is a fund raising initiative for horse riders to raise money for Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony Charity. The “Wobbleberry Challenge” was set up because the founders were inspired by the young event rider Hannah Francis who sadly lost her battle against a rare form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma. Hannah was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 17years and demonstrated extraordinary courage and dignity while enduring painful and debilitating treatment. Hannah’s sheer determination defied all medical opinion as she continued to ride right up until her tragically early passing at only 18years of age. The founders of the Wobbleberry Challenge wanted to raise money for Hannah’s fantastic charity, where every penny will fulfil two principal objectives – to fund research into osteosarcoma and to provide equestrian experiences (“Willberry’s Wishes”) to seriously ill people.
The Challenge has run for a year so far, raising over £269,000, with over 1,200 people initially signing up. This is not about a few people raising vast sums of money – it’s about what a group of normal people can achieve when working together. There is no competitive element – it is all about supporting each other. Lots of new friendships have been made because of the Challenge and people have done things they never imagined they were capable of. There are no failures – people celebrate every step on the journey.
People who take part in the personal challenge aim at completing a BE80(T) event, having never completed one previously with their equine partner. This has proven to be an effective balance between a proper challenge and one that is achievable by ordinary people, riding ordinary horses. It has encouraged fantastic feats of fundraising and sponsorship and created a real sense of achievement when completing.
BE Course Builder David Wilson… Genius!
British Eventing Course Builder David Wilson regularly course checks and builds fences at Lindores Equestrian and his talents and attention to detail have prevailed again! David Wilson spent over 5 days carving Willberry, building and painting the Wobbleberry fence. Willberry the enormous wooden ‘pony’ is utterly adorable! He is carved from one piece of a tree, he alone weighs 1 tonne and is an uncanny resemblance to Hannah’s Willberry pony. The fence profile is as per Dorothy’s entry vision with a 70cm and a 90cm fence height which can be jumped from both directions. The fence colours, stars, scarf are all painted to absolute perfection and the hashtag is a reminder that Lindores Equestrian is right behind #kickingcancersbutt
Dorothy Drury the entry winner said ‘I really like drawing and as a rider myself I just wanted to design a fence that offered lots of different options to train over’. Lindores Equestrian are delighted to add this latest fence to the existing 125 cross country fences available to train over 7 days a week.
Lindores Equestrian is ideal for riders and horses or all abilities wanting to practice cross country, dressage or showjumping for an hour or as part of a camp experience. With 30 stables, 3 luxury holiday houses, campsite with showers, Bothy, 2 grass show jumping paddocks, brand new 60m x 40m outdoor arena, hacking and stunning countryside views. Lindores Equestrian is hugely popular and always welcoming new riders, instructors and clubs to train, host events, clinics and camps.
We want to see you jumping this new Wobbleberries fence so please tag all of us in all your photos! We’ll give you updates from us on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Sue Hendry BE Coach – Pace Training Cross Country Training
Date – Tuesday 17th July 2018 (Day / Evening times available)
Sue Hendry Accredited BE u18 national coach and a PC eventing specific coach is offering limited places to her pace training and cross country clinic at Lindores Equestrian, Fife on Tuesday 17th July 2018. Sue will be one of the first instructors running a clinic using the innovative Lindores Optimum Time Trial. Designed to help riders broaden their understanding how pace is affected by: fences, fitness and different terrain. After approximately 45 minutes of pace work she will then be coaching you for a further 45mins on technical challenges throughout the cross country course.
Training
Ideal for riders and horses competing at Pony Club and British Eventing 80, 90 and 100cm.
British Eventing rules allow BE80 riders and above to wear a watch in competitions so Optimum Time watches area available to hire on the day for £5. Lindores have also introduced new fence profiles and lines for 2018 season so take this chance to learn the right approach and style on good ground, with Scotland’s highly qualified and experienced instructor Sue Hendry.
Limited spaces
Groups structured by ability.
Times announced in advance but please let Sue know if you would like an afternoon or evening slot. The training can continue to 9pm due to the lighter nights in June.
LOCATION: Lindores Equestrian, Braeside of Lindores, Newburgh, Fife, KY14 6HU
Day three is our final day of camp and it’s a busy day again for the campers. The day starts with a bacon and egg bap (thanks Lou – you rock) and of course endless cups of tea!
As this camp is for Wobbleberries who are aiming at BE80 we carried on our eventing camp theme and today our campers rode all three disciplines (a dressage test, show jumping course and cross country) in one day. Day three is about consolidating what has been learnt during camp and gaining extra confidence / self belief to then go and recreate it on their own.
After wolfing down breakfast I went out with some campers to walk the grid distances that were still out from yesterday, so that they can practice at home. After that it was down to the dressage field where I had a quiet half an hour with one lady who is dyslexic and struggles to learn her dressage tests.
I always love working with people, finding out what makes them tick and ways which I can maybe help a little. It doesn’t matter what someone’s own challenges are I’m a great believer that many roads lead to Rome and it’s just about finding out what works for the individual.
We soon had a plan in place of what we were going to do and how we were going to approach the dressage test riding together.
Dressage tests and show jumping…
We invited instructor Dossie Wang to judge the dressage tests and Lou did the writing. Its such a huge bonus having an actual dressage arena set out in a separate field for our use, and is so good for test practice. Each camper is allocated extra time so that Dossie could give extra feedback.
As the first couple of campers rode their dressage tests I built a show jumping course so that following their dressage they could come and pop around the show jumps, with the dreaded F word. For those of you unsure of the F word.. its fillers!
All of the campers jumped amazingly and proved that fillers are not as scary as some thought! What was really nice to see this morning was the new found confidence in both the campers and also in the horses. One camper had never jumped a course before today and went straight in and happily popped over an 85cm course like she had been doing it all of her life.
Three of the very inexperienced horses, (one had never jumped at all prior to camp), came in brimming with confidence and really wanted to do the job. The ground being so hard due to lack of rain at the moment has of course been a real consideration throughout camp and coupled with tired ponies everyone just jumped one round.
After 11 horses had jumped round I went to help the lovely lady with her dressage test. She did an absolutely brilliant job, I was super proud, and she bagged herself a lovely 65% test!
An afternoon of achievements…
After a super quick lunch it was time to climb up Lindores for my favourite office view and we were back up the hill for the cross country. Today I wanted to simulate course riding so after a warm up we walked the course discussing the varied fences and terrain and then each rider rode a course to suit the level they are currently riding at. Again Lindores Cross Country is so great for this as there is a big variety of fences.
One lady had a fall warming up cross country. As we all know this is something which happens, but it’s never nice for the rider (or instructor – believe it or not we dislike this as much as you!). She was soon back on her feet and dug really deep to carry on. This can often be the hardest part – getting back on after a fall and jumping the same fence again and then pushing yourself some more. The lady did absolutely brilliantly, rode amazingly and finished the session grinning from ear to ear having added many more achievements to her belt.
Everyone jumped brilliantly and some riders bagged the Lindores Boat in the water complex for the first time – lots more grins from horses and riders and a huge well done to you all.
After the last group walk back down the hill Lou and I had a mini de-brief about camp and we sat for 10 minutes in the glorious sunshine among the coconut smell of the gorse. Simply amazing! I always feel a mixture of emotions after the lessons have finished, so genuinely happy for people’s individual achievements, but sad that’s its almost over.
The final presentation…
Back at the hub of camp life (The Bothy) we did a final presentation, shared some big achievements, recounted a few highs and lows and of course thank our campers. We always ask our campers for feedback and ways of improving our camps in the future but once again we were totally humbled by comments and feedback – thank you so much. Watch first hand how our campers felt at the end of the experience here
This camp was dedicated Wobbleberries, inspired by Hannah Francis, and so Equiteam (Lou and I) and Lindores Cross Country will be donating a % of the camp profits to this fabulous cause.
As another camp has come to a close there are two tired but very happy camp hosts looking forward to an early night! A massive thank you to everyone who came to another brilliant camp and once again to the Black family at Lindores. Without this facility we would be unable to host anything like that in this area and I feel so very lucky to have it. We are always made to feel so welcome, nothing is ever too much trouble and I joke that Lou and I will be moving in soon!
For anyone thinking of hosting a camp I couldn’t recommend it enough. Thank you Anna and family – you guys are awesome.
British Eventing Course Builder David Wilson regularly course checks and builds fences at Lindores Equestrian and his talents and attention to detail have prevailed again! 
Day three is our final day of camp and it’s a busy day again for the campers. The day starts with a bacon and egg bap (thanks Lou – you rock) and of course endless cups of tea!
If you’re interested in attending an Equiteam Camp with Instructor Liz Daniels
horse at Lindores Cross Country