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The Golden Valley Border Raider's
Story so far...
Paul's Experience
I have been Team Chasing for just the last season
and a half - going to my
first competition at the Worcester last October (Oct. 2003) when I
eventually managed to find a few like-minded folk wanting to have a go from
around our country... As you probably know among 'normal' folk it is pretty
difficult to permeate 4 very good / fearless riders with 4 bold big jumping
horses and all of them to be fit at the right time as well as be willing to do
the courses you get team chasing as well as drive all over the country!
I eventually caught up with a mate by the name of
Percy Haynes from the
Hay-on-Wye area at the Golden Valley Hunt Supporters Club Show
September 2003. He put me in touch with Colin Thompson whose
enthusiasm knows no bounds and organises our entries... when it
happens! The other members of our team are Tom Haynes (when not
touring Australia like he did this autumn...), Lorna Brookes (nicked off (or
kicked out of?) the Teme Valley Tigers) and Hugh Evans-Bevan.
Generally Percy (who couldn't compete autumn of
2003 due to slipping and
dislocating his knee at Freshers week at Bristol Uni!) rides his well-known
19 year old Biggles, while Hugh rides Skyver and Tom rides his mare...? I
was hoping to ride my Welsh Cob cross TB Magic but he went lame for
the year just at the worst possible moment... However he is fine now and
will be back for next spring's big courses. So I have been having to survive
with big-hearted pure little Welsh Cob Sinbad for the past 14 months.
During the Autumn 2003 and Spring Seasons we only
did Intermediate
classes and often only started with 3 riders. Ultimately tempting fate as we
did would lead to our ruin... The record speaks for itself...
Autumn Season 2003
Worcester (Int. Oct '03) - 3 started - Colin didn't
jump the drop - 2 finished -
disqualified...
Bicester (Int. Oct '03) - 3 started - Colin fell off - 2 finished - disqualified
Cotswold (Nov. Speed Oct '03) - 4 started - 4 finished but not quick
enough.
Spring Season 2004
So when the spring season came up 4 of us went to
do the Intermediate at Taunton Vale TC at Pontispool at the end of February
where Colin fell off...
However we still came 7th or so having to deal with his loose horse for most of
the course - he fell at fence 3!
Next up was the Old Berks where we had 2 teams and
were 1 minute too
slow in the speed class and 1 minute too fast in the bogey time!
Then came the VWH Intermediate where we came in 2nd
which was our
best result to date.
We then went to the Hunt Championships at the
Fernie with 2 teams - the
faster team losing 2 members (Tom at the water and you guessed... Colin
again). The second team led by myself on my little Welsh Cob Sinbad
came in with all 4 members intact but too slow to trouble the rosette
makers!)
Autumn 2004
Colin Thomson decided to sponsor our team The Gold
Valley Border
Raiders through his hotel in Hay-On-Wye, the Kilverts Hotel... So on to a new
level...
On our first ever Open outing - having decided to throw caution to the wind
- we went to the Meynell & South Staffs TC on September the 12th. The
reasons for this were many and all good!
Firstly I personally had failed to get selected to
represent Britain at the
World Championships being held in Germany. This is in the up-and-coming
sport of TREC which I have been competing in for the last 7 years and
having competed for Britain on 4 previous occasions. I wanted to show
them that I was having a better tie than they were... And we did - the GB
TREC team did crap and we did really well!
Secondly in order to get on Sky TV at the National Championships we will
have to be in the Open Class at the Fernie next March and qualify in a
Goring Hotel Qualifier Open.
Thirdly to get a mug shot in the Horse & Hound you really do need to be
jumping Open as there are normally 2 facing sides of the magazine with
photos given over on the Open TC and about a paragraph referring to the
Intermediate Class!
Meynell & South Staffs
Anyway with the help of our new recruit Lorna Brookes (the only person to
have previously jumped this course at all at Open level) as well as Hugh
and Percy as ever leading the way we managed to secure a 2nd position
behind the Wasps. We managed this even though I fell but held onto and
remounted Sinbad at about fence 7 whilst Percy also fell, held and
remounted Biggles at fence 14. This, to our amazement meant that we had
qualified for the Championships next March on our first attempt! Biggles
was Team Hero...
Grafton
We then went to the Grafton on the 19th where Sinbad just wasn't fit
enough and I'd ridden a novice round making me knackered and hence I
had to pull up at the massive hedges at the top of the course... (the bit that
Percy and I hadn't even seen when we walked the course!). This made me
wonder whether Simby was actually up to the strains of 2 mile 309 fence
courses. The team however came in 3rd which was good.
Belvoir
At the Belvoir we were all psyched up at the racecourse but there were 2
hold ups before our start and then when we did go the weather was
deteriorating all the time. Biggles had 2 uncharacteristic glance-off's and
drew most of the team out with him whilst Sinbad strided the 'V' perfectly
at 26 before just being pipped on the run in by 2 members of the team. We
came 5th in that competition...
The following Thursday I had finally fulfilled my
lifetime ambition of getting a
shot of me and Sinbad jumping huge fences in the Horse & Hound!
Bicester
At the Bicester I was forcibly smuggled out to Germany leaving the team
starting 1 short. Suffice to say that Hugh jumped the wrong Intermediate
fence and while correcting his error fell and broke his wrist... This was all
conveyed to me on the German Autobahn at about 100mph per SMS...
Berkeley
Finally we did a Hunt Competition at the Berkeley and came second before
Colin's enthusiasm and the weather ran out at the end of October bringing
us up-to-date... That's why you haven't seen the Golden Valley Border
Raiders out at the latter part of the season...
Well there you have our Team Chasing Experience so
far...
Watch out the Forge Fliers next year... Once I get Fat Magic back on form
and into a real flying machine again!
Oh and the photos are brilliant! I'll show you when
I next have a moment...
Check it all out at...
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