CHESHIRE GROUP of ENDURANCE GB

With the impressive backdrop of Thoresby Hall and the extremely good going, Dukeries is one of the best major rides on the calendar. This year was certainly not a disappointment. The going was good if anything a little hard but rain in the night and during the ride softened things and meant ride day was much cooler than the heat wave we had been having. We were entered in our first ever FEI ride which was the 1* 90km ride. Completing this would mean going on to 120km. The distance needed to qualify for the British team. Nerves were high as Tash was just coming back from injury and was probably not at his peak fitness. However the day ran reasonably smoothly. We started with all three of us entered in the young rider class together for the first loop. Then Carri split from us. Alex Tennent and myself then stayed together for the entire ride. We saw few other people out on the ride and I think it is always good for the horse psychologically to have company and me and Alex had the same goals - to simply complete. The only pressure came when we struggled to get Tash’s pulse down in VG2 and had to represent, maybe a sign that he wasn’t as fit as we had hoped. None the less we still completed and the leg that was injured showed no sign of problems. There was definitely a sense of relief as we both crossed the line together knowing that both horses were sound. The ride also gave us a chance to meet the new Chef D’Equipe Helen Boston and Selector Stevie Martin along with Team Vet Georgina Hirst. All off whom were eager to offer assistance along the way and really get to know us. It’s really nice to know that people were so supportive and we discussed how we would proceed after the ride. Finally I must thank my dad Peter Ingram for being a fabulous crew and as Stevie said; “You can have a good horse and a good rider with a poor crew and you wont succeed” Which I thought was very true!

Left to right: Carri Ann Dark on Soveriegn, Harry Ingram on Chi Lin Tashiq and Alex Tennant on CS Chimera. Photo by Kerry Dawson

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