What an amazing time I've had recently. I had a week off work, which started two Fridays ago when I had another trip to my physiotherapist and surgeon who are both really pleased with the progress on my knee since my reconstruction surgery. I have managed to build my hamstrings back up and they are now stronger than on my ‘good’ leg, but I still have a little way to go with my quads. More work in the gym!
However I didn’t have time to think about rushing into the gym, as I was off to the Mounted Games World Individual Championships 2010. Yet again this was held at the Wales and West Showground due to the great all weather surface there. It is a little tight for team competitions, but ideal for individuals. I went to the competition a little apprehensive and concerned as to how I would get on. Although I have had no problems vaulting and jumping off when I need to in team competitions, I was worried how my knee would stand up in individuals, having to do all of the vaulting races, where you vault more than once in each vaulting game and have to do this repeatedly at race speed to keep up with everyone.
I was hoping to make it through the heats and into the semi-finals, I felt that if I worked hard this would be a realistic aim for me after the year I have had. The heats went from good to better and I cruised into the semi-finals easily. Blue and I were in perfect harmony and things went well. However the semi-finals are often the hardest part of the competition as everyone is pushing very hard for the seven places in the final. There are not enough races to take things slowly or carefully, and if you make a mistake in one race you really need to make every other race count. So the semi-finals were not my favourite part of the competition given the increased pressure. There is a particular focus on skill races and because as everyone is racing hard, it adds to the excitement and tension. Blue and I went really well, getting races right and fast. We won our semi-final and went into the final in first place. Everyone goes back to zero for the final, but the results in the semis determine the colour you ride in and the lane you start in.
I had got into the final and I was so proud of how far I had come with my knee and how well Blue and I were running together. It is do or die in the final, any one of the seven riders and ponies who make it through are capable of winning the competition. Elley Roberts (my England team mate from the European Championships) and I were the only girls in the final, and we wanted to make sure the boys didn’t forget we were there!
I started badly, very badly! Three races in and the points were evenly spread except for Dee Cherrington (a New Zealander who lives and rides in England) and myself who were well behind the other riders. Both of us gave ourselves a bit of a kick as we were throwing away the competition. I got my head down and started riding harder and faster. Blue and I picked up some good places and a few wins put us back in the running. As we approached the end of the competition Dee and I had pulled ahead and had a lead over the rest of the field. The final race approached, flag fliers. Dee had a 2 point lead over me going into the race and I put my head down and rode hard. Blue and I won and Dee came in behind us, meaning Dee had taken the title and Blue and I were just 1 point behind as Reserve World Champions 2010!
I was so proud of Blue and so pleased with how we had done, as well as being a little annoyed about the 1 point! No-one remembers second place, sometimes it is better to lose by 100 points than 1! But it was a great result and I had a fab' week planned ahead to take the edge off any disappointment. So after congratulating Dee on his win and ensuring Blue was safe and sound, my boyfriend Huw and I headed to the Royal Welsh whilst many others headed to Geneva, Switzerland for the World Team Championships.
Friends at the Royal Welsh Show helped me celebrate when I arrived on Sunday night, and we enjoyed the usual drink and a shopping-filled start to the week. I was judging the Invitational European Mounted Games Competition that was running on the Monday and Tuesday. Judging at the Royal Welsh is great, free food and drink always makes it a special occasion and with air-conditioning in the judging box on the Monday I felt rather smug. And even more smug to have somewhere dry to be on Tuesday while the riders half drowned out in the ring as the typical Welsh weather delivered a downpour!
Although the stop at the Royal Welsh was brief, I had plenty of time to do some shopping, sample huge quantities of food, watch the spectacular King’s Troop and have a snoop around some of the pedigree cattle. This year we weren’t staying for the whole week though, Huw was riding for Wales in the 
team World Championships and Steven (my Shropshire team mate) and I were also heading to Geneva to support our fellow Shropshire riders, Peter and Janey, in the England team.
We flew out to Switzerland on Wednesday morning and caught up with many friends from across the world. The World Team Championships is the one time of the year you can be sure to meet up with all the great friends that you have made across the globe. As Steven and I had gone as supporters, we spent the time keeping scores, cheering very loudly and doing the odd bit of assistant refereeing for our friends from Australia who didn’t have many people with them to help out. This was all done in between some extensive sampling of the local beverages and chocolate!
The International competition was varied, this year only 13 teams were competing and many countries were missing, such as New Zealand, Canada and Scotland. England had a shaky start, taking time to bond together in the ring and had us all biting our nails during the final heat as they had to get over 30 points to qualify for the Grand Final, but they did. The final consisted of Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, England and the hosts Switzerland. Wales and Northern Ireland were both in the ‘B Final’ as Northern Ireland made too many errors and Wales had to deal with a lame pony and a broken thumb!
The final was a real spectacle. It turned into a two horse race as France and Ireland battled it out, with the lead changing after every race. It was very exciting to watch and it was all down to the final race, when Ireland beat France to the World title. Celebrations were many and spirits were high for the final Gala night and everyone partied hard into the early hours refreshing friendships and making new friends before we all had to depart on the Monday morning. After a week in a field with multi-national friends, it is hard to come back to the real world, remembering life has been going on outside the World Championships and that it is time to return to work.
It was an amazing week all round, congratulations to Ireland and Dee Cherrington taking the World titles. Now it's just the World Pairs Championships to come in September. A week on and I am looking forward to being back on Blue in competition. Shropshire pulled out of the Southern competition this weekend as Janey and Peter had not long returned from Geneva with tired ponies and as the ground is not good it was not worth risking the ponies. So now we await the Welsh Championships at the weekend, with Blue and me on a high I am keeping my fingers crossed the team go as well as last year when Horse Hero came to film us!