The Badminton journey...

The Badminton journey got off to an incredible start but we didn't quite arrive at the destination we were hoping for.  Firstly a big thank you to everyone that has supported us on the 4* journey, it has been a huge team effort to get this far.

The Trot Up...

I was lucky enough to meet Lucy from The Pesky Partridge at Belton, who made me the beautiful and very bespoke waistcoat.  Combined with an Oxford Shirt Company shirt and Fairfax & Favour Chelsea boots we certainly looked the part.  It was obviously the Uvex glasses that topped the look off though.

The Dressage...

A 29.5!!! What a start! Louis went in the arena and really did me proud.  What more could we ask for?! I was just so impressed with his attitude in the arena, it was all we could have hoped for.

To get a 9 and a sub 30 in a 4* test was absolutely incredible.  We were sitting in 29th going into cross-country - for a first Badminton and only our second 4* that was pretty special.

The Cross-Country...

I'd walked the course and there were certainly quite a few questions, but it wouldn't have been Badminton if there weren't.  I was really looking forward to just getting out there and giving it our best shot.

Louis can be a bit of an inward character and the crowds and atmosphere on the Saturday meant he didn’t come out of his shell and wasn’t his usual self.  He was just a little bit green and tight and a bit worried about all of the spectators.  With a couple of long routes behind us he was jumping well he just didn't really lock on to the Vicarage V at the last minute.  Ending up on the floor the other side of the ditch wasn't really what we had planned.

We were both fine.  Luckily it looked a lot worse than it actually was.  Louis was fully checked over by the vet and was 100% ok.  My knee was very painful and swollen but nothing broken - other than the fence, which I seemed to break with my leg!

Thank you to everyone who sent us messages of congratulations and concern, 
hopefully next year he will know what to expect and not be so shocked by it all and we'll be back to complete our Badminton dream next year.