Foxxy Champions

Lily Good

When I think about it I cannot remember or imagine my life without riding horses. I started as most young riders do at Pony Club but also in the show ring where I competed in Lead Rein and First Ridden classes. By the age of 8 I thought jumping had a certain appeal which is when we purchased Pepper (Pebbly Sultan Pepper) a very green 5 year old 13hh coloured pony who had just come over from Ireland. After falling off at almost every lesson and show for the first year, we grew to trust each other and finished our time together in 2013 being one of the top Nursery Stakes combinations in the country.

With a twist of fate and the curiosity of riding outside the show ring, I decided that it would be exciting to give eventing a go, and with (Mouse) Carnsdale Mighty Mouse to show me the ropes, I was soon hooked. At the same time I was also producing Harry a 5 year old Connemara pony from Ireland at BE80/90 level, but he proved particularly successful in dressage and qualified twice for the Pony Club Dressage Championships finishing 3rd in our last year. With a clear focus now on eventing, we bought a horse- Leon (One Misty Morning) however as horses are such levellers he decided to kick the fence in the field 3 weeks later and put himself out of work for the good part of a year.

Now I believe everything happens for a reason, and quite possibly the biggest opportunity I’ve ever had was offered to me as a result of Leon’s injury. I was offered the ride on Winnie (Winnal Bee Bee Banwee) a pony trial pony returning from an injury herself, for the 2017 event season. She took me from BE90-BE Novice in 2 months and took my love for eventing to another level, I am so grateful for being able to ride her. For the latter part of 2017, fortunately Leon made a fantastic recovery and we have been training all through the winter with my trainers Kylie Roddy and Ian Cast. So far in the 2018 season we have had 4/5 double clears including a double clear in our first BE Novice together at Aston Le Walls.

My aims for this season are to be selected for the South East Team at the Frickley Park National U18 championships and complete an FEI CCI* by the end of the year. Next year I will aim to compete in the Junior Trials in the hope of being selected for the GB Junior team for the Europeans and also bring a younger horse on at the same time. In September I will start studying A levels at Aylesbury High School where I have been for the past 5 years, trying to balance my riding and school work, but also trying to work out how I can earn enough money in the future to allow me to keep eventing!

More coming soon…