I think this is best left to Sienna Howell to explain and the answer to her final rhetorical question is a resounding YES!
The England trial is a yearly event giving just one selected member from each pony club the opportunity to represent their country in Prince Phillip Cup mounted games at Windsor. Selected to proudly represent Southdown East was me, Sienna Howell riding Mandy, which was a great privilege for us both! Unfortunately Mandy is a grey, which means having to get the shampoo out on a regular basis. So our weekend started with drastic scrubbing in order to try and get her as close to clean as possible. Luckily my tack and boots were already clean till they were shining, so everything was eventually prepared and all that was needed to be done was to get Mandy in the lorry (always a tricky operation) and get going.
So, Saturday 5th March at around 12:30, my mother (Tina Howell) and I got going in Lolly (our lorries name) with about a 4 hour drive ahead of us, but luckily we were accompanied by Helen Walters- my second mother, who was with us to help, although, despite the fact it was me riding, Helen was actually there to keep my mother calm!
The four hour journey there was eventful, what with Mandy getting so excited that she couldn’t keep still in the back of the lorry, whilst mum tried to break her record in panic, and me relaying between helping Helen with the pony and helping mum with her breathing.
When we finally got there safely, we settled Mandy into her temporary home and with that came the boring bit- sitting in the lorry until bedtime. Although we did try to make finding the toilets, being nosey, chatting to people, moaning about the trains and obsessing over the electric pylons as entertaining as possible. In the end we did what every lorry owner did- sat eating our dinner having a chat and waiting for a reasonable time to go to bed. Eventually, after a long night of listening to my mum’s snoring, it was finally time to have a carbohydrate full breakfast and get myself ready!
At around 10:00 the usual routine was carried out with all of us warming our ponies up, with a number of riders sneaking in a quick practise, and others just simply having a steady walk, trot and canter. Before we were released into the all weather surfaced arena, all 24 of us had to go through a simple tack check; unfortunately I had to wait till almost the end (although it did give me a chance to quickly empty my bladder!). It eventually came time for my tack check and after being checked for any issues, the trial finally got off to an enthusiastic start by each and every rider, especially me as I had my calming trainer (Katie Pheasant) at my side, with the opening race being “bending”.
The first race got off to a flying start for every rider as the race quickly went through its 3 runs, what with the race being one of the most simple. This was followed by “sock and bucket”, which thankfully was another mistake free race for me and Mandy.
The trial went on for a tiring 2½ hours, which was filled with the races ball & cone, stepping stones, pony club, sword, quotes & cone, two flag and bottle, along with bending and sock & bucket.
Throughout each of the 48 individual races we had to do, Mandy was absolutely outstanding and didn’t put a single foot wrong, and what with me too putting my absolute all into it, I was proud of her and myself when near to the end I was put in the group of riders they were specifically watching. This group of chosen riders and ponies consisted of around 10 riders, however unfortunately they only selected 8 out of an overall 24 talented riders, and with the standard being so high this year it was announced to have been a tricky task selecting the team.
But it was all a fantastic experience what with making new friends, suffering from surprises (and by surprises I mean my brother and dad turning up unexpectedly to support me), but overall, riding Mandy doing mounted games, at an England trial, representing Southdown East meant it was a successful and privileged day! And I feel confident to say that I haven’t let my family, my team, my pony or Katie & Sue down, and I hope I’ve made my pony club proud!
Sienna Howell