Third time lucky...we made it!

 Third time lucky and we finally made it to the British Showjumping National championships at Stoneleigh! The past two years I've been due to compete at this show again, and each time I've ended up in hospital seriously ill. Two years ago I was granted day leave, mum was half way en route and Dad had driven to hospital with my show gear to get me in the ring for the afternoon..only to be told I needed an emergency brain scan and wouldn't be able to leave the hospital. Last year I spent August in hospital after being rushed to QMC in an ambulance with a bowel obstruction that nearly left me in intensive care. So just getting here has been a huge achievement, it took three years but we made it!

Unfortunately luck wasn't on our side today and I picked up 4faults in both the para and 1m open class. Daisy jumped wonderfully, especially in the bizarre mix of rain, heat and wind. However with Dinosaur reliably giving her all, I found myself in a body that was anything but reliable today. A mix of malnutrition, muscle waste, fatigue from hours of treatment the night before and my legs playing up certainly made for an enlightening warm up- I was having to learn how able/unable I was as I my class began. It was like being introduced to a new body with different instructions, and as if my energy tank had been filled with strawberry milkshake instead of diesel! 🥛🍓 ⛽️

To pull things together, become acquainted with the foreign limbs I now found hanging in my stirrups, keep Daisy on side and get in the ring felt like a miracle. I'm sat half way through doing treatment, a little sick but feeling elated to have jumped today with a minor 4faults. I did it! We made it, I stayed, out of hospital and nothing stopped me and dinosaur having fun. 🤗

Its been wonderful to see so many people support the para showjumping at such a large event, the classes were filled with fantastic rounds from fellow para riders, showcasing the sport perfectly. For anyone who helped us/offered to today, I'd like to say a huge thank you for making a stressful struggle much more manageable. Once again, today saw me testing my motto 'Find a way, not an excuse' to the max, but that's what it's there for!

And of course thank you to Daisy, for giving me the freedom my legs can't- and being a pretty cool dinosaur this whole summer.