Here we go again

The British Equestrian Federation (BEF) is our National Federation and is formed from the member bodies of the individual disciplines; Olympic (Show Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage, Eventing} and Non Olympic {Reining, Vaulting, Endurance, and Driving).

The World Equestrian Games (WEG) happens every four years and this year it is happening in Lexington Kentucky USA. British Reining will hopefully be sending a team of five of our finest Reiners to compete. The BEF want all teams to be fit and tip top condition, this includes riders, horses and staff/grooms so they are organizing events for teams to go and get information and advice. BR reiners who have put their names forward were invited to Northampton for the first of these events on Saturday 13th February.

My husband, Adam Heaton has been the British Reining Chef d’Equipe since 2003. I have over the years travelled with him and the team to many events in lots of countries but I have only ever done one WEG which was in Aachen, Germany in 2006. It was truly an amazing experience and quite a daunting task for all who went.

The amount of paper work just get our team there is incredible and this now getting underway with riders, horses, grooms, owners, vets, farriers and alike all having to send and give a huge amount of information. I thought it would be a good idea if I shared a bit of what happens in the run up to the games with BR members so you can all be in on the road to Lexington. Adam will be doing his daily blog once we are there but I will try to keep BR folks abreast of what is going on so some may wish to come and support our team in preparation and hopefully some will be inspired to want to become a team member.

Our weekend started on Friday lunch time leaving work at 2pm for a 2 1/2hr journey to Northampton so Adam could attend a Chefs meeting at 6pm. We know from experience that travelling on a Friday in the UK can take longer so hence the 1 1/2hr buffer. We pulled up outside the hotel at 6.20pm after having a nightmare of a trip due to traffic accidents etc. Adam jumped out the car and ran off to his meeting and left me to check in and sort out the dogs etc. I next saw Adam at 9pm for dinner and really enjoyed talking to the other disciplines about how their plans are going. It looks as though Driving may be sending only one team of horse as there are four horses per team and the cost of shipping horses (and carriages!) to Lexington is prohibitive. Despite having a huge amount to discuss, we went to bed at around 10.30pm as we all had to be at the College at 8am sharp for our first session.

We came down for breakfast at about 7.30am the next morning but breakfast did not start till 8.00am so it was tea and coffee, over which Doug Allen appeared. Doug had experienced a similar journey to us and had arrived at 11pm. Francesca Sternberg was still stranded in Arizona due to the awful snow in the USA and Tammy Greaves was in Belgium collecting an award so we knew that we would be a couple of riders light. Jessica Sternberg and Elaine Forbes had driven up the night before arriving at around 10.45pm. We set off for the College which was supposedly only a few minutes down the road to find it was about 10miles.

On arrival we found Lee Rutter who had driven up /down that morning and while the riders and Chef went in to see the first expert Elaine and I got everyone Bacon rolls and Coffee.

On entering the class room we discovered that our fist session was with the Nutritionist!!!! Good start Reiners. We had a very good and well informed talk on the best way of keeping the energy levels right for competion and it would be us full if BR did a sheet for all our members for show days. Bacon Rolls are not on the ‘best to eat before a competition’ list.

We then went to an all discipline 2hr talk on Lexington and how we got things there and where things were. We now know the grooms accommodation is a mile from the stables and arena so bikes are a must. The weather can be very hot, very cold, very wet and very dry at that time of year so pack everything said Will Connell our Chef De Mission. The GBR teams are staying in the Holiday Inn in George Town so if you feel the urge to come and want to stay with the Brits let us know as there are a few rooms still available.

All the horses that are going from the UK are being transported to Lieige in Belgium and flown in to Cinnciatti for quarantine before travelling to the show ground. Reining is the first competion of the games and our team will be able to get on site on the 18th September. The Reining Horse inspection (trot up) is on Friday 24th at 8am. The first run is on Saturday 25th at 9.00am. We will have had one run before the opening ceremony which is at 7pm on the 25th September. Reining has been given dispensation if the riders do not want to be in the opening ceremony as they are competing again the next morning the 26th September. We will make sure that the BR reiners are represented if the riders feel they are unable to do the opening ceremony.

The top five scores will go through to the final automatically then the following top fifteen will go through after the second go round. The final for the individuals is on Thursday 30th September and the FEI are saying all medal winners are to be at the closing ceremony on the 10th October. All reiners have to be off the show ground by the 1st of October to make room for the other disciplines so watch this space as no one can say where the medal winners are going to stay at this moment in time.

The first pattern the team will run is 5#. The second is 6#. The Final is 10#. Let’s all hope the friendly show secretaries are reading this and run a few opens with these patterns.

Our next session was with the Team Physio. Lee went in first while we all had a cup of tea. All were now aware we do not drink enough of the right fluids. Doug was up next leaving Jessica to go last. As Jess was about to go in Doug said in his most casual voice “hope you got clean underwear on” which caused Jess to give a little scream of panic as to what was going to happen. As it turned out the Physio was able to free up Jessica’ left hip which had been stiff so Jess reappeared very happy.

Just before we went to lunch we were able to start on some of the accreditations we all needed. The riders who were there had to give an appraisal of their achievements. At this point I must just say that all potential team members were sent out forms to complete and send back. Adam has worked with some of the people for a long time and has been known to say getting paper work from some team members has been likened to pulling hens teeth. Imagine everyone’s surprise when Doug tuned up with not only all his paper filled in but filled in electronically. Doug is now fondly known as IT Doug!

After lunch we all had to see the Team Doctor. Some of us already knew him from Aachen when one of the Reining Team mothers slipped and broke her hip. We found out that if anyone has any metal holding them together they cannot have an MRI scan as it will pull the metal through the body. Nice thought. Our last stop of the day was with the Psychologist. This was a really great session and I think everyone got a lot out of it. Everyone felt it would be of great benefit to get this lady somewhere, maybe at a show to talk to BR members and other team members of how to get in the zone and stay there when showing.

That was the end of a really good day and I think everyone came away with a lot to work with. BEF had put a great deal of thought a time into this day and it was a lot of help to us all. Hopefully we will keep you all updated regularly as to how the Team are progressing. If anyone wants to know about WEG or has some questions we will do our level best to help.

Thank you for reading.