Ride Report: Shuckburgh Hall

Shuckburgh Hall is actually our closest endurance ride - just 40mins away. It's so nice to have one so close as it's so rare that we travel less than 2hrs to get to a ride! And, believe it or not, I'd never actually ridden here before! So, a new adventure on my doorstep – what a treat!

In a new turn of events, some might even call it personal growth, I really felt no stress or usual panic in the week/days leading up to the event. I mean, who is this calm, relaxed version of me? It turns out that riding at this lower level has its perks, and experience really is everything. I think I've finally mastered the art of enjoying the ride, literally.

But, let's be honest – I always have at least one little worry because with horses (and me) anything could happen. This time, it was the ground. We've had so little rainfall in the last two months it's crazy! Chip’s joints and concussive surfaces don’t mix well. However, the trusty Explora hoof boots and pads came along for the ride, and I’ve got to say, Chip’s feet are in much better shape these days. His posture's improved too, and all in all, I believe he’s the happiest and soundest he’s been in years.

Also too, I'm in a new mindset where if I'm not injured, the horse is not injured, I have a working tow vehicle and trailer, then we are absolutely not passing up opportunities to ride.

So in my new found relaxed manner I only packed on Friday night. I'd usually have started packing on the Wednesday for a Saturday ride - cleaning and organising kit. But again, it's only a single loop ride so there’s only so much kit you can pack, right?

One key difference for this ride was in my crew team. It doesn't feel right to ask my usual crew to travel so far to crew us on such a short distance and we don't need a full team when there's no vet gate either so I managed to persuade my boyfriend, Keaton, that he'd like to do it. Our 16-week old Dalmatian puppy, Rita also joined us for first taste of an endurance ride.

We were supposed to be riding with my boyfriend's sister but this plan was scuppered by her pony's skincare woes, leaving us without our scheduled company. I didn't worry too much as I knew Chip would manage alone anyway and usually you can tag along with someone or naturally find a riding companion on the course.

Ride morning went to plan and we arrived at the incredibly spacious venue right on our planned time for 9am - what a lovely relaxed morning we had with such a short journey to get there too!

Since the day parking, the overnight parking and the vetting/secretary fields were all so spread out we took Chip with us to check in and then vetted at the same time to save walking back twice.

It was a warm day with lots of sunshine so I had made sure to pack quite a lot of water for on course and SPILLERS Perform & Restore Mash for when we got back. I knew there was a good chance Chip wouldn't drink on course on a 30km but with the warm weather I was still hopeful.

By a stroke of luck, the start worked perfectly. I started just 1 minute behind Dominic Smith & Heather Plasted and so within no time I had caught them up and then we ended up riding the whole way together. It was so much fun as chatted all the way around and we all wanted to ride carefully and considerately on the hard ground. They all matched paces well and we soon found our riding order, Dom in front, me in the middle and Heather at the back.

Despite the hard ground, there were still lots of places with good grass cover which allowed for some nice cantering opportunities. One thing I did forget, though, was gloves – Chip was feeling strong!

Armed with the What3Words locations, Keaton & Rita made it to the first two crew points without any challenges and Chip was definitely grateful for the sloshes. We had already agreed to offer Chip as drink at the third crew point as I knew he wouldn't be interested any sooner than that into the ride.

Unfortunately, Keaton faced some navigational challenges and only arrived to the third crew point at the same time as we did leaving no time to offer Chip a drink.

We continued on the lovely route and before we knew it had made it round to the fourth crew point which happened to be in the midst of a tractor rally! Obviously there was no chance of Chip stopping to drink as he's really not keen on heavy vehicles. He took confidence from our riding companions though as we rode in the middle of the rally for over 10 mins as they went down the same bit of road as us.

It was such poor timing as if we'd been just a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later we would have missed them entirely. We were all so grateful for our seasoned horses who coped really well in the situation.

Before we knew it we were back onto the two way section coming back towards the venue. I realised we hadn't seen anyone at the fifth crew point so I guessed they too had got held up by the tractor rally. I sent Keaton as quick message to say I'd meet him back at the venue.

Riding into the venue I was so happy with how Chip was feeling - so strong and up for it. It was lovely!

Unfortunately, Keaton wasn't able to make it back to the venue in time and with venue being so spaced out Heather and Dominic very kindly invited Chip and I back to their camp to help untack and get ready for vetting.

Chip had a drink and little sponge off and then I just let him graze whilst I waited for the others to be ready to go to vetting. My biggest worry is always about Chip getting cold and stiff, especially as by this time the wind had a bit of a chill to it and the temperature was starting to wane. I obviously didn't have a rug with me either!

Nonetheless we headed to vetting as a trio and as usual I needn't have worried. HR46, A for everything. Top boy

Keaton did made it to the vetting with our rug but we were already have his HR taken at that moment so I just put it on him after vetting.

It was a complete success – all three of us finished, and I felt so good about the ride.

There was no doubt in my mind that we could have happily gone out and done that whole loop again and he would have been sound and content. I don't think I've felt like that for a long time! He's feeling really fit and well and it's so rewarding to see him so happy in his work.

Most importantly of all there was absolutely no filling or heat in his legs anywhere at all the next morning - pretty unheard of for him. I've always struggled so much with his legs stocking up after a ride despite liberal use of ice boots and anti-inflammatory gels.

I do think the Exploras are making all the difference as the ground was largely unforgiving and there was quite a bit of roadwork. Of course, training is so much less now which is kinder on his body too and our ride speeds are slower too so there are lots of factors at play.

Nonetheless, it seems to be working and excitingly we've entered the 25km at Golden Horseshoe now! I've never been to GHS - it's an absolutely iconic ride.

I would like to try upping the distance with Chip at future rides but having never been to GHS and all the scare stories about what's it's like I don't think that's the place to increase the distance this year. The plan is to have a lovely bank holiday weekend away and no stress. I've also managed to not put Keaton off for ever as he's agreed to come with us.

Rita is coming too and we're planning to enter her into the fun dog show on the Sunday afternoon!

And there’s more! Raine is all set to start her competitive endurance career in June. Chip’s going to have some company on the course soon enough, and I’m beyond excited to see what she’s made of!

All in all, a successful, stress-free ride – and the start of more adventures to come!

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