I wrote a pre-read blog which you can catch up on the ‘before’ part of the story here. So this blog can begin on Friday 18th August, travel day. Crew for this weekend was to be both my little sisters, Pheobe (who many of you will have seen at rides over the years) and Amelie who has actually only crewed once before (at the Europeans no less) as she is usually busy eventing herself!
Amelie and I both took the day off work so that we could leave on the Friday at lunchtime with a view to arriving in plenty of time to set up. Pheobe was leaving directly from her work in Northampton at 5pm so wouldn’t be getting to Well Vale until the evening.
I had been packing odds and sodds all week so the final packing ended up taking no time at all as it was just a case of putting the kit boxes in the car. Although it was a bit like a game of Tetris as there was a lot of stuff to pack with corralling equipment and camping stuff as well as actual ride stuff. And I’m not exactly famed for being a light packer ahha
Luckily, we set off in good time, even a little earlier than planned but my goodness did we appreciate that as we had no idea how long it was going to take to get to Well Vale. I had looked at the routes beforehand of course and had planned for the longer mileage but ultimately quicker motorway route but just as we were set to leave there had been a crash on the M1 at Leicester and another traffic jam on the A46 meaning our quickest route was across country. All well and good when you’re not towing but it took us just shy of 4hrs to get there! It felt like a never-ending journey and we went through villages, and on B roads that you couldn’t really get any consistent speed up.
Thankfully Chip is an excellent and experienced traveler and arrived none the worse after the arduous journey. I don’t think the same could be said for Amelie and I who had just about lost the plot haha.
Despite this, we managed to set up his coral in a great spot – tree cover for the impending heavy rain forecast and a nice large space as there was plenty of room at the venue. Chip was relaxed as ever and pleased with his view of the grand house and lake. The grass appeared to be quite bitter and he preferred to eat his hay which was fine by me – less forage change and potential digestive upset.
Amelie and I also managed to set up our camping spot, rest area in the hold as well as fast cooling lane, so we were all set. The organisers had done a brilliant job of having IBCs in the hold area which was much appreciated as we didn’t have to lug water too far after all!
Once we were all set up, we had a bit of time before dinner so I gave Chip a massage and used the Epiony heat pads to help relieve any travelling tension. I was so impressed with how loose all his muscles felt it gave me quite a bit of confidence ahead of our race.

Pheobe arrived just after 7pm and we all headed over to the marquee for a real treat! Thay, the organizer of Well Vale, is such a fabulous host. We had a delicious hot meal and a quiz night which was really fun. It was so lovely to have so many of us there having a blast in the middle of a field in Lincolnshire!
After our dinner, we took Chippy a second dinner as we know he doesn’t always eat breakfast at rides and then we got an early night. As forecast, we did have some very heavy rain in the early hours of the morning but we stayed dry in our tent if a little sleep deprived. I think a 2024 priority should be upgrading the trailer to one with some living. It would certainly reduce set up/pack down time at rides as well.
Once morning came around Amelie was up first and gave Chip his breakfast at 5.30am. As expected he only ate half of this so we’ve agreed we might go for three dinners the night before and just drop in a small breakfast going forwards. Good news he has drunk well overnight and eaten plenty of hay too so I wasn’t too concerned.
After a little confusion on what time we were vetting and actually starting (as there seemed to be two official timetables in circulation) we vetted easily and then ended up tacking up a little too ahead of schedule as it seemed to take ages for it to be finally time to get on! In this time we hand walked Chip and gave him an extra breakfast of SPILLERS Perform & Restore Mash up at the hold area which he tucked into well.
Following a 15 min ridden warm up, the start area was getting a little congested with some 20 horses all in the class. I made the decision to keep myself at the front and out of trouble in the melee for space.
We crossed the line at the front and I hoped to be able to control the pace slightly by trotting out the narrow venue starting line but as soon as we had made it through the bottom gate the pace picked up and there were horses literally galloping past us on both sides.
My ride strategy to sit on the tails of the leading group went out the window at this point, all of 45 seconds into the ride. The pace felt way too excessive and I wasn’t yet confident about how much traction I had in the hoof boots. I held back in a more conservative group, and by the first crew point we were still travelling at just under 16kmph.
It was my first time at Well Vale and I was blown away at how excellent the route was. Largely grassy headland but with plenty of grass cover – not mown to within an inch of its life like we have at home. It meant for truly excellent going under foot and even the road sections had decent grass verges. The marking was flawless too, not a moment’s hesitation anywhere.
As the course progressed we naturally started to split out more but I was really happy with our pacing and we were travelling along nicely at 15.5kmph overall. Unfortunately, my ride companion at this point, Heather Plasted, took a nasty tumble right up side of us as her horse Valley completely fell down from canter. We think there must have been a hole that we’d missed as it was a very dramatic fall. Poor Heather got crushed but impressively got back on to finish the loop! The woman is made of iron! We stuck together and I kept on checking on Heather as I was aware she had hit her head too and I didn’t want her to suddenly faint on me. The accident dropped our speed a little more but of course it didn’t matter, I was just glad Heather was mostly okay!

Into the first VG for a sub 2-min presentation for a HR57 and a straight A card apart from a B for guts which isn’t unusual for VG1 for Chip. We noticed whilst his HR was being taken that his LH boot had twisted and the vet very kindly let us rectify this before trotting up. I don’t know when this had happened as I hadn’t felt it out on course and he had felt completely sound. Anyway, he trotted up with an A for action and we headed off to our hold area for just a 30 minute rest time.
Our hold was chaotic. Not having the usual crew team and needing to sort the boots added extra stress to what is usually a very slick process. Despite this, we did manage to get his ice boots on, swap to fresh numnahs, swap to fresh gaitors for the hoof boots and ensure that Chip ate and drank and had Energex too.
Heather was unfortunately not allowed to go back out on course owing to her injuries so I had ended up alone from a very early part of the day for the start of the second loop. Usually this really worries me as I know how much Chip can switch off alone but for some reason I don’t think I was very phased.
I genuinely think I was just so grateful to be getting to race again that I knew I had to make the most of the opportunity. I also was quite confident that I’d only be doing two loops as per my original intention and therefore I really needed to make the most of this second loop and enjoy it!
I had some tears a few kms into the loop about Spice as well. I was by myself so there was no one to see and no one I had to save face for. But even the tears were motivating because I knew my little Spicickle would have never switched off, that pony was too game. And so it was in this mindset of absolute gratitude that Chip was doing this for ME, and that Spice was certainly watching from the sky that we totally cantered our hearts out and maintained a nice and even speed for the whole loop. I don’t think we actually lost momentum at any point.
However, our chaotic hold proved to have consequences for my poor feet. You’ll note I didn’t manage to eat or drink in the VG (no big deal for me particularly) but what was desperate was forgetting to change my socks. Yes, I know it’s strange and the fact I even talk about socks every time I do a ride must be funny but my feet were in agony. It’s completely gross but I feel like my feet sweat (especially now I have to ride in boots) and this moisture makes the skin on the bottom of my feet soft and over time it feels like I am making my feet bleed ☹ So much so that for the first time in my endurance career, I had to get off at a crew point and quickly change to fresh socks. Once my clean and dry socks were on I felt totally fine again and we were able to continue with a much happier Bella!
Even though the ride was really busy we didn’t have any company for the whole loop and every horse we saw was either travelling too slowly so we overtook them or they were going a completely different way to us. It was reassuring repeating the same loop twice though as I knew where I was going and which tracks to push on and where to take it steady.

Into the second vet gate we were even more coordinated this time for a 1.30min presentation with a HR58 and this time a straight A card across the board. I was so bloomin impressed with how Chip was looking and feeling. I couldn’t quite believe it. My under-trained pony was finding this easy! Very easy!
This hold was 40mins which gave us a little breathing room but also we were all in sync for this VG and we had a really seamless hold time, getting everything done we needed to do – including a sock change! After a quick team chat, we agreed yes we would go out onto the last loop as there was absolutely no reason not to. Chip was eating and drinking well, the boots were staying in place and the little rub on his pastern we had started with hadn’t progressed so that was looking good. His back was the best it’s been for years so I’m really pleased with the saddle change and medication early on this year.

Out onto the last loop, at canter like the total professional he is, we were still all alone on the course but we made it to the first crew point in no time at all and saw the 160km riders too (albeit in the distance it was nice to see some other horses!). They were riding a different loop to us but by the last 5km I had caught them up and we were able to ride the last section into the venue together. As soon as Chip saw them ahead and travelling the same way as us he got a little pull on and was so happy again that he wanted to get up front. I held him conservatively behind their group and just let him bob along at the back. It was so nice to have some company for the last bit but also it felt so good to know that Chip had so much left in the tank. I’m so sure that if we’d had company in the earlier part of the course we would have completed a lot faster.
It took me by surprise when we came into the venue as we approached from a different part of the woods compared to the previous two loops. We were back! We’d done it! Chippio could have kept bobbing along with his new friends for ages yet!

Across the line at a little canter and I had to hold in the tears again. My crew met me in the fast lane and we treated this like another VG. We could have presented in less than 2mins but gave ourselves an extra minute for safety (as you can’t represent at the end if you misjudge it) and then we were in. A low 50s HR and As for metabolics. Now for the panel as it’s a final trot on a CER you have three vets watch the trot. It was a rolly trot but he was sound and I was hopeful. And then YES, we’d done it! We had passed! A for action and therefore As all day apart from that one pesky B gut at the start.
More tears.
How had this happened? Literally a month’s prep, pulling myself out of a very deep depression episode after losing Spice. Riding my most trusted stead who has carried me around so many tracks - just like that. Easily. How?
Perhaps I don’t have to give up endurance afterall.
It’s genuinely so hard to find the words to describe how this felt. There has been a lot of trauma in my life and a lot of disappointment and so many ‘nearly’ results that I had told myself I couldn’t keep going through with it. Retiring Chip from top level competition was so hard but it came off the back of several failed attempts despite trying different formats and terrains. The decision had been eased by the fact that I had Spice up and coming and I could turn my focus to his career progression.
When Spice died so suddenly and unexpectedly I didn’t know if I would even make it to an endurance ride this year. I certainly didn’t think I would be back to racing 80kms. We just hadn’t been able to keep Chip sound to this distance in recent years and when we had I think it had been ‘by the skin of our teeth’ rather than utmost success. On top of that, we’d really been struggling with his back and those kissing spines (first diagnosed in 2018) were starting to catch up with us.
The path of least resistance was definitely to just cap out at 40km but it certainly did feel like I perhaps wasn’t doing Chip justice. But then again, I couldn’t really afford to compete two at race ride level and it just made so much more sense to take the pressure off and be more focused with Spice.
When I was first recommended trying hoof boots for Chip I was really dubious. I’ve avoided them for a long time. In many ways just because of the stigma attached to them – ‘just put shoes on’. But I know shoes do not make Chip sound, in fact they really seem to confound his joint issues.
I do believe the reason Chip has been training so well and stayed sound throughout and after the 80km is due to Explora Magic boots. We have done nothing else different to contribute to this shift change anyway. I have the newest model of boots from Explora which have a heart bar tread shape (smooth( rather than an all-over kind of tread (original).

They have completely transformed his way of going, from adducting noticeably behind to moving totally straight. It’s given me the ‘push’ from behind again and even after 80km he was still moving perfectly. The only downside is that they have rubbed his pasterns slightly, even after using sheepskin noseband covers to try to provide additional protection.
So now I’m in a bit of quandary. Explora also have a glue on option which is just the shell of the boot stuck to the hoof wall rather than secured with the straps. This has the potential to work really well given it will provide the same hoof support but take away the risk of rubbing. BUT I am scared if they’re going to stay on well? Also, Chip needs to be barefoot most of the time so we will probably need to train in boots so that we can take them on and off and apply the glue ons a few days before a race perhaps? Also, we did start with a rub so perhaps if the skin has totally healed before we start our next ride boots won’t cause a problem in future?
Isn’t it funny that after all these years of horsing I’m now having to learn something completely new ahha. I have reached out to a few trainers that I know have had success with glue on options and so I will try to learn as much as I can from them.

The plan going forward is the Newmarket Heath Sponsored Ride in mid-September. I’ve only done this ride once before and not on Chip. I really wanted to go last year but it was the weekend before Scotland HI last year and I felt it was too risky. So this year I entered as soon as I saw it advertised – determined to get there!
I think I will try the glue on option there for the 30km loop and see how we get on. I’m hoping to up the speed a little (with a view to putting some more speed into the final race of the season) so it should be a good test of how well they stay on and work without the pressure of an actual competition.
So yes, there is a plan 😉 and I’m as surprised as you. I guess Chip is officially out of semi-retirement and back into the racing fold. All because Pheobe peer pressured me into trying some hoof boots.
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