We were delighted to sponsor the British Eventing Under 18’s 90cm & 1m team and are so proud of their amazing efforts at the Bishop Burton Youth Championships. The team performed incredibly and have certainly made their mark on the British Eventing scene. We can’t wait to see what comes next for these passionate young Equestrians!
Here at Lindores, we are passionate about helping to develop the next generation of young equestrians and wanted to give you a glimpse into life on the team. We asked BE90 Scotland Captain Meg Christie to blog the teams journey at the Bishop Burton Youth Championship to share their experience and inspire other young riders to get involved!
Hi, my name is Meg Christie…
I was Captain of the Scottish British Eventing 90cm (BE90) Under 18 Team at Bishop Burton Youth Championships.
Being asked to be part of the BE90 team was a dream of mine for many years and I was over the moon to find out that I’d been selected. After my last qualifying event at Hopetoun House, the wait was so nerve racking!
Sorting all of our team’s merchandise was so exciting! I loved designing it and waiting for it all to arrive. Trying to figure out how we were going to get it all down there was the hardest part!
When we arrived, it was so exciting meeting everyone for the first time and getting everything set up. I loved putting up the Scotland bunting as it made it feel so real… Scotland definitely had the best-looking stables!
Participating in the Opening Ceremony was such a great experience and a feeling I will never forget! I was so nervous doing my first ever trot up, never having done one before, but the whole team passed without exception.
On the Thursday night, we had our team dinner which turned into a talent spot competition and even though Scotland didn’t win, we certainly left our mark!
It was so amazing watching everyone in the team riding lovely dressage tests and coming out of the arena delighted with how their test had gone! It was such a buzz of excitement riding at Bishop Burton College and I was so happy with how calm my pony Midnight stayed all the way through the test in such an atmosphere.
On Saturday morning the BE90 team helped wash down all of the 100 horses after Cross Country. It was great fun trying not to soak everyone with buckets of water but, we all came back soaked… whoops!
That afternoon, the BE90 team went Cross Country – some riders had their challenges but everyone had a smile on their face at the end of the day!
I was last to go in the team and the second last run of the whole day, which meant everyone was there to cheer me at the finish! Midnight flew round the Cross Country and I never had a moment of doubt!
The last morning was a long one getting Midnight cleaned for trot up, but I was extremely grateful to my sister and the rest of my family for helping me to make sure that we were both looking at our best! Again, we all passed the trot up and went on to Show Jumping in the afternoon. Midnight jumped an amazing round with just one unlucky pole.
Our team finished 8th overall with some amazing scores and it was really nice handing out the rosettes to everyone at the end!
It was such an amazing experience and I have so many memories that will stick with me forever! The team was such an amazing group of people, children, parents, helpers – they all made the experience! The coaches helped so much, and we are all extremely grateful to them. All of our sponsors were so generous, and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without their assistance. Finally, we all want to say a massive thank you to our ponies, we wouldn’t be able to achieve any of this without them and they really are the best!
If you would like to find out how you can become part of the British Eventing Youth team, check out their website.
Here at Lindores we have multiple facilities available to hire including our British Eventing approved Cross Country course, 60m x 40m sand arena with full set of show jumps, Working Hunter field with full set of rustic jumps as well as Show Jumping and Dressage on grass. For more information and to book your next training session, visit our website.
