Alex Franklin's Blog

Alex and Blue in action!Last weekend we headed away once again for another competition, Cock of the North, hosted by the Northern region and the final run out before the big, county competition of the year, Intercounties.

This competition was held at Oswestry, Shropshire and was the first competition in which I have ridden on grass for some time. This of course meant it was time to stud up again and that brought the first complication as one of my stud keepers had been dislodged, at who knows what stage, but I’m estimating a while with the number of little stones and compacted dirt in there. But I managed in the end to re-tap the holes and get some shiny new studs fitted into Blue’s shoes. Delegation is the key – there is no point dating a farrier and then picking the feet out yourself!!

Blue has been running very well on the all weather surface with fast, sharp turns as he is so sure of the ground, so I was a little concerned that we would struggle moving back onto grass, especially on a show ground renowned for having hard slippery going that doesn’t cut well in the turns. However I needn’t have worried, Blue spent the whole weekend flying from top to bottom of the arena showing me (of little faith) that he could be just as safe and secure on his feet and keep his fabulous pace he has had on the all weather surface.

Alex (right) and Elaine are relaxed in the ringIn the past this competition has always held a superstition around it (which avid blog followers would have read about a year ago!), where the winners of the event generally do not win the following Intercounties Championship. This, however, we no longer give a monkey’s about. Over the last few years superstition has bypassed me, from a time when I had to wear the right socks, jodhpurs and even underwear, put Blue’s boots on in a specific order and heaven forbid let anyone else even help with putting Blue’s tack on; I now wear whichever underwear and socks I pull out of the bag (comfort permitting – vaulting requires the right underwear!) and force myself to put Blue’s boots on in a "random" order (meaning not my old superstitious way). Yet I still don’t let anyone else tack Blue up (if anyone dares to help by putting his bridle on, I take it off again)! So back to the point, we weren’t thinking superstitiously; we just went about the whole competition the way we have every other this year, to make sure we perform at our best!

For Blue and I, performing well was not an issue this weekend, Blue was an angel and I was switched on. Throughout the whole weekend the only mistake we made was that I missed the ‘put in’ the cone at the top of the ring in the flag fliers race on Saturday morning. I took my eye off of the equipment and was thinking about the turn and the ground. A true school girl error, but made me switch on and concentrate the rest of the weekend!

Blue waits eagerly for the next raceOthers were not switched on at the beginning of the weekend. As Elaine leant down in socks and buckets, she heard a jingling, as she vaulted off and back on her pony, Ellie, she still heard it. As she crossed the line and pulled up you could see the off-side girth buckles rattling around doing very little! Elaine may have 10 World titles, but even the pro’s have to check their girth!

We went into the final in top position but in the trend of the year started very poorly in the final, lagging behind and giving ourselves a lot more work to do. But we put our heads down and rode fast and accurately from then. Two races to go and there were three teams battling out the top position, we had the joust race in the very end lane, which gave our first and third riders very little room to pull up in the fastest game. This however was not the problem I had. I was due to go last, starting at the top of the ring, galloping to take a flying handover, then down the ring to hit the target and across the line.

To get a flying handover you start back from the line and time your run to the line to match the incoming rider. Misjudge this and you have a line fault and elimination or loose ground being too far behind the line. As the horses continue to gallop after the line, the first and third riders gather in the far corner, right next to our lane in this race, and as Steven rode up the ring towards me, other teams were crossing in front of me. Regardless of a final or a heat, you always have to be very aware of all riders and horses in the ring. Two horses colliding at speed can have a disastrous outcome and so I found myself screaming at these riders to move out of our way. I couldn’t even register what team they were, let alone who they were, shouting at them was in no way personal, just purely for their safety and to get them out of the way so we could compete!

Rugby circuit trainingIn the end, the joust race didn’t separate the three teams and the final race was flag fliers, requiring speed, accuracy and big changeovers! Steven was the last rider for Shropshire and there was a photo finish between him and fellow Scottish rider Lewis, riding for Hampshire (luckily not one of the teams battling for first place) and all we could do is watch where the other teams finished - luckily in an order that left us in the lead and Champions of Cock of the North. We had won the competition and pulled back from another poor start. It was a lovely win, and I was so proud of the team and especially with how Blue and I had gone. Now we just have to keep focused and switched on for the next competition.

The captain's wish is my command!Away from Mounted Games, the rugby training is well and truly in swing for the season ahead. This weekend we spent Sunday having a training session, laser zone competition followed by a ‘dance off’ in the rugby club! It was great fun and great start to our season. I did however run flat out into one of my rugby coaches in the dark laser zone coming out with a spectacular black bruise on my arm! We have our first friendly game on the Bank Holiday Monday, and so I won’t be able to play as it is the mounted games Intercounties Championships; our biggest county team competition of the year. Rugby is great fun, highly competitive and great team spirit, but for me, it doesn’t stand up to the team work, competitiveness, thrill and adrenaline rush of Mounted Games and most importantly there is no room in rugby for the equine part! I wouldn’t change my sport for the lack of the amazing bond and friendship I have with Blue!

On a final note, I am just back from the physiotherapist and my "fixed" leg is now rapidly becoming as strong, and in fact stronger than my "good" leg. They have given me the go ahead to start contact on the rugby pitch (a couple of weeks late) and also to start vaulting again (yes, I know, a couple of months late!). So if I could only find where Whizz, our cat that has run away, life would be very, very good!

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Last weekend we headed once more to David Broome’s Event Centre, for the Welsh Championships. This is the event that HorseHero came to film last year and we were hoping for a similarly spectacular win – they were clearly our lucky mascot! (You can watch the video on the site.)

I finished work on Friday afternoon and made the delightfully short trip to Chepstow. It has been a while since the Shropshire team had been out together as there have been many International and Individual events recently. It was nice to park together and get our little camp set up with gazebos lashed together, chairs, tables and patio heaters! Blue has become very confused at this showground. As we have been there so often recently, he cannot remember which stable he is meant to be in. On Sunday morning he tugged me to the stable he had had during the European Championships!

The competition was hotly contested and Berkshire were hoping to continue on good form as they have the last two competitions they have been to. However there were many teams aiming to stop them in their tracks. This was the biggest Mounted Games competition that has ever been held in the UK, with 82 teams competing throughout the age groups! This meant early starts and late finishes.

Shropshire Superheroes (Alex second left)We settled into the games over Saturday, trying some new orders, such as our Hula Hoop running order (also known as the tyre race). Two riders leave the start line together, the first jumps off runs to a tyre, goes through the tyre and then vaults back on the pony as the second rider leads it forward to be in the best position. The riders cross the top line, where the second rider turns and is led back down the arena by the third rider. This continues until the forth rider gets to the top and is led down by the first rider.

I took the first rider position, as I am back vaulting now following my surgery and had managed to do it at the Individuals World Champs’, and as the race progressed we were keeping contention with the fast, strong teams on the ground, rather than our lagging behind them which we typically do in this race. Steve was the last rider and this meant I was leading him down the arena last. I took control of his pony Gamble as he leapt off and ran to the tyre. This is where it all ended, as I came through with his pony too quickly; he was still coming through the tyre and as I shouted random words to speed him up he shouted in return that he didn’t have his horse – I thought he was shouting because he did have him! I was riding for the line, and as I glanced back I saw Gamble galloping along behind me and Steve stood in the middle of the ring with his hands in the air. WHOOPS!!

The rest of our competition on Saturday was uneventful and we gathered the points to keep us in a comfortable 3rd place overnight, meaning we had to do something very bad on Sunday morning to ride ourselves out of the final. This left us to enjoy Saturday night. The Welsh had organised a fancy dress competition with the theme dictating that you had to dress as something beginning with the first letter of your county team, so S for Shropshire. We were a little late in participating and a last minute effort of felt tip pens, bin bags, tights and pants saw us transforming into superheroes! If done properly this can be a great outfit, but when homemade it becomes a little daring!

Steve and I are ready to fight the bad guys!Yorkshire put in a lot more effort on the costume front and had made a rather large yellow submarine in which the whole Yorkshire team and a few supporters actually fitted inside. Spectacular, but not so convenient for socialising, drinking or dancing!

Sunday morning came around much too quickly but we put in a solid performance to secure our place in the final. The final didn’t start as we had planned as errors crept in and we seemed to be off of the pace a little. However, after four races, we pulled our fingers out, picked up our pace and stopped making the errors. We had given ourselves a lot to do, but each race we worked away at the leading teams, Berkshire, Monmouth, Leicestershire and Warwickshire. Berkshire had an unfortunate collision between two brothers Andrew and Chris (known to friends as Bad Webb and Good Webb), which put Andrew out of action and Chris’ pony Will on the sidelines (nothing serious, I’m glad to report). Chris rode his brother’s pony for the rest of the final, but it shook their concentration and they fell behind.

The Hula Hoop race was three races from the end and we stuck with our new order with me promising not to leave Steve without a pony! We won the race, taking us one point behind the Monmouth team; however an Assistant Referees’ flag was raised. We were not concerned as we were all happy we had been over the change over lines and hadn’t got anything wrong. However, to our great surprise and anger we were eliminated for a line fault. The whole point of assistant referees is to see errors which the referee may not see. The referee has to trust their assistants and as there is no camera on the top line on which to check the call, we were eliminated and got 0 points instead of the 7 we would have had.

A conflab with Steve on tactics in the ring!Going into the final game four teams could still win the competition, Shropshire, Monmouth, Leicestershire and Warwickshire. ‘Joust’ was the final race, probably the fastest race in Mounted Games. As Steve took his change over, the top of the lance snapped. With flying handovers at great speed the plastic lances get whip-lash and the lance must have snapped where it had weakened from repeated use. When equipment breaks it tends to be where you are holding it, not two foot away! Steve took a look at the very short piece of plastic in his hand and kicked on. I took the final change-over, and we managed to come second in the race. There was then some debate by referees and officials if we would be eliminated for breaking the equipment! I was on stand-by to fight the case that we were able to continue with the race, and that the equipment was sub-standard, had they had chosen to eliminate us. However they saw sense! So I went to give a late congratulation to Monmouthshire who had taken the overall win. We came third, behind the Leicestershire team, just four points away from the winners.

Third place with an elimination in such a close final was still a good result, and we have positive points to take from the weekend, like our new, greatly improved order for the tyre race (the one where I don’t leave Steve waving at his pony’s tail, that is!).

We have Cock of the North this weekend, a big competition held by the North of England committee, before the main Intercounties Championships, and so it is our last run out before the big competition over the bank holiday weekend. There will be lots more games to be played and fun to be had, but hopefully without any lost ponies or broken equipment!

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Alex Franklin is delighted with Blue after a good race at the Mounted Games World Champs!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.

Alex and Blue take it steady to look after Alex's legI 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!

Alex (right) on the podium as Reserve World Champion!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!

A very proud Alex and Blue with their trophy!

Blue looking very cool in his Reserve Champion sash and rosette!

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.

Friend help Alex (right) celebrate at the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells!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 Alex Franklin's Shropshire team mate Peter in action for England!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!

Out and about in Geneva with international friendsThe 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!

Gala night! Alex with boyfriend Huw (left) and Shropshire team mate and great friend Steven (right)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!

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Alex Franklin and Blue during the hi-lo race at the European Mounted Games Champs!Well I’m sure regular followers of my blog have guessed that my lack of enthusiasm in writing about the European Championships relates to how we performed at the competition! However, the week itself was spectacular! The Welsh committee made a fabulous job of hosting the championships, from Dewi the Dragon to bucking broncos and from Welsh male voice choirs to human statues, the championship was a spectacular week where friends from across Europe got to meet and enjoy their time together.

I arrived at the Wales and West showground on Monday morning and spent the time setting up home for the week ahead, meeting new and old friends as they arrived throughout the day. England had the biggest base camp, as there were no ferry journeys to cope with and every rider brought their own lorry to feel at home for the week. There were somewhere in the region of 25 horseboxes, and compared to Germany’s one horse transporter and a family of tents, we were big!

International feet - enemies but friends!Tuesday allowed every team time to practise on the all weather surface that we would be competing on. Blue took an instant dislike to the national flags flying around the ring, but as soon as the competition started this was forgotten and his mind was on the task in hand! Competition started on Wednesday for the new European Individual title. This had big prize for Mounted Games riders, who usually just race for the joy and pride of winning. The competition had a £1,000 prize for the overall winner and £100 to the winner of each race in the final!

Wednesday night saw us visiting Chepstow races and trying out our gambling skills. Mine were not too hot and I only managed to pick the winner in the final race - well finishing on a high is better than losing EVERY time! Team competition started on Thursday and the England team bonded quickly and well and we cruised through the first three heats winning each of them. The fourth heat on Saturday morning saw some hiccups and we took it as our 'bad' session. None of us were concerned, getting mistakes out of the way is much better than having them in the finals! We came second in the session, just behind France, the reigning open champions.

The finals started on Saturday afternoon and finished with 13 games on Sunday. Scotland was the only home nation who failed to make the main final, but showed they deserved to be there by winning the 'B final' convincingly with a massive points lead. The main final was very close; after the first part on Saturday afternoon the top six teams only had 6 points between 6th and 1st place, which was held by Wales. That is so close that the first race in the second part of the final could have reversed the order!

We had the evening to stew over how close the competition was and debate the day ahead. To give us something to think about however, the Individuals final was held during the evening. Janey and Elaine, both from our Shropshire team, had made the final and had gone through the semi-finals easily looking like strong contenders for the title. The final was amazing and I was disappointed I couldn’t cheer on my team usual mates as I was judging the competition! I had spent the week judging each session plus the semi-finals, so judging the final followed. Having seven very fast ponies racing is hard to call as they come over the line. In team events you have longer races and the riders are more spread out. Luckily I had the trusty video camera to check any calls that were close, and it meant I knew who had won before anybody else did. All in all the final was spectacular and Elaine took reserve champion while Janey took the title and the very unusual but gratefully received prize money, even if she did have to ask her Dad for £40 to go to the bar that night! Both of them rode brilliantly and it was great to have two Shropshire riders taking the top two places.

Sunday morning came and we watched all the other age groups complete their finals, with England winning the minis (under 12s), the under 14s and the under 17s. We wanted nothing more than to complete the set and come away with England winning a clean sweep. All we had to do as a team was stop making errors and get it right. We had plenty of speed in the England team, we just had to get the races right; but we failed to do it.

Blue and Alex (front) in the association raceAs the drizzle turned into rain and the final progressed, the team went through some very low points. We started to pull it back towards the end, but it was too late. We were pleased to find we had a run off with Northern Ireland for the bronze position and after winning, our spirits were lifted a little, only to have an official complaint put in to the committee about some of the points earlier in the final and to have a sincere apology and be told that after a correction, Northern Ireland and Ireland had the run off for the bronze, so we fell straight down to 5th! It was pretty gutting but it reflected the way the final had gone. Too many mistakes were made and we just couldn’t pull back the lead we had given the other teams. Blue as ever was a star throughout, even though we did knock Craig flying into the field of play during the pony express, where we circled the fifth rider who was stood at the top, and then had to cross the changeover line once he had stood back up! I apologise to Craig and hope there wasn’t too much sand in his mouth to spit out! It was great riding with Elley, Kirsty, Danny and Craig, but when it counted it just didn’t go to plan.

Cowgirls Alex (right) and good friend and Swedish Rider Ulrika at the Wild West night!Congratulations to France who held their nerve and retained their Champion title from Belgium who took a well deserved silver position. Northern Ireland took the bronze after the run-off and Ireland had to settle with 4th. We had to take pride in representing our country and took 5th place. The home country, Wales, followed us in 6th and Sweden came 7th.

We had a final celebration night on the Sunday to congratulate all of the Champions, with a Wild West theme. Guns, hats and checked shirts ruled the evening and it was a lovely way to say goodbye to all our friends from across Europe. We partied late into the night and early into the morning and reality hit on Monday morning as we had to pack up after our week away and head back to work!

All in all for me the European Championships 2010 may have been a disappointing result, but it was a spectacular week, and Northern Ireland have a lot to live up to next year when it's their turn to host the Championships.

The full England squad at the European Champs!


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