Sarah-Jane Brown April Blog 2021

I thought I would take the opportunity to look back as well as forward to the year ahead. I certainly don’t think 2020 was anything like I imagined this time last year. The biggie has been COVID19 which has affected us all in many ways and obviously curtailed what we have been able to do with the horses. For me it meant no eventing, with being based in West Cornwall the uncertainty of what would happen, the travel, the limited training opportunities and the need to stay away frequently alongside the pressure of the job made eventing for me impractical.

My job has changed both in role and intensity, my normal role was a health and safety inspector dealing with accidents, workplace inspections and safety concerns. A job I was confident in and fitted nicely around the equine plans. I am now helping lead a team tackling the COVID response in the Council. This involves primarily working with businesses to advise on what COVID safety measures they should be undertaking, responding to complaints and ensuring where practical and needed we enforce on those businesses not complying with the rules in terms of COVID secure measures or being open when they shouldn’t be.

The horses for the little they have done have gone well. In 2020 British showjumping Fliss jumped 12 classes and had 9 double clears and 9 placings including a super double clear in the Foxhunter at Pendarves. For Ellie it was a different story only jumping 3 classes but winning her last one before injury came to the fore.

We have also really moved to the dark side and not only registered for British Dressage but had a dabble with dressage to music qualifying for the national BRC dressage championships and not disgracing ourselves at Elementary level. Fliss also gained 14 points in 3 classes and a huge 72% in her music at the close of the year. Certainly for the moment looks like dressage will be the most accessible to continue with under the tighter COVID restrictions in the short term. 

There has been some great training. I was lucky at the beginning of the year to have some great sessions with Hannah Esberger and Lucy Jackson through becoming a Dengie Ambassador at Vale View that was an inspiring start to the year (that never was). I have continued to travel to Owen Moore at Lyneham Heath who as really helped us develop and continue my regular flatwork training with sponsor Stef Eardley who had some good news of her own this year when she became the new Para Podium Potential Pathway Mentor Coach for British Equestrian.

Sadly Ellie developed a strange intermittent lameness  one day she was fine (usually the day the vet came) and a few days later crippled. We eventually diagnosed a bone cyst which needed an operation to place a screw in the foot that took place in October. We have worked hard to bring her back into work but sadly things have just not settled down and the decision has been made to give her 18 months off and review again. This does give her an opportunity for a change of career and in April she will be off to stud where she is being loaned to a friend to have a foal. Much as I would like to breed one myself I don’t have the time or facilities to do it myself.

Ellie has always been special to me, my 14.2 pocket rocket that has helped me through a confidence crisis and been a real over achiever. The first time I jumped her and she crabbed sideways through a few fences I wondered what I had bought, Yet she has won two BE100s, jumped clear round adult Newcomers and won points at Elementary. I do hope she can come