Well, what a season it’s been and one I’m never going to forget, with my first winner and first outside rides (although they did not go to plan, cheers Zac Baker!) however I’ve loved every minute.
A definite high has to be my first winner at Ffos Las on a tank of a horse Tango De Juilley, who is now out in the field with his mates enjoying a much-deserved break at the ripe old age of 14, ready to come back fighting next season! However, it wasn’t all smiles this season as next time out at Chaddesley Corbett he tanked off with me and there was no chance of stopping him! I’m very grateful to Venetia for letting me ride this special horse of hers as I know he means a great deal to her and the entire team at VW racing.
A low point this season were my two outside rides at Bitterly point-to-point, where everything was a shambles, one horse got carried out by a loose horse in the mixed open and another ran away with me due to a lack of vision in the bumper! However, you live and you learn! I was extremely frustrated after that and wanted to get out and give it another shot, which is exactly what I did at Mollington, bagging my 2nd win on Tango.
Next season is looking good as Venetia has agreed for Tango to go back out point-to-pointing before he inevitably retires, as he still is loving life you can hardly stop him! However, I would like to get more outside rides next season and fingers crossed they go better than my first few as well as under rules. There may also be a change in direction for me next season as I am a dual amateur I am planning on riding a bit on the flat under rules this summer and look forward to seeing where that takes me. I'm keen to get as much experience as I can before next season, riding out wherever I can during this summer.
The summer is slowly starting to shape up; I am currently working on a flat yard in Wiltshire for trainer Richard Hannon, where I also have appeared to bump into fellow blogger and pointer Zac Baker who also traded in his jumps for speed! A trip down to racehorse central (Newmarket) is looking more and more likely to get some more experience and see how they do it down there! Bring on the pointing season where I can brush the cobwebs off the old racing saddle!
Images kindly provided by Chasdog & Hattie Austin Sport Photographer