Hi! I’m Sarah, and this is Belle. Together, we’re Totally Amateur Eventing.
I’ve been horse-obsessed for as long as I can remember. Growing up with non-horsey parents, I wasn’t able to have my own pony but I had weekly lessons at a fantastic riding school which I loved, and then share ponies on and off until I was finally able to buy my first horse when I was 22.
Fast forward to two years ago, and I was lucky enough to meet the best horse in the world. Nope, I’m not biased – it’s actually true.
Belle is a 12 year old Irish Sports Horse mare, who has been exactly what I needed in every way. She’s been a complete confidence giver, enabling me to finally get out and compete. With Belle, I’ve done my first dressage test, my first showjumping competition, and most excitingly, my first One Day Event – something I’ve wanted to do for my whole life. She’s taken me from being nervous about riding in an open space to flying round the 80 track at the British Riding Clubs National Horse Trials Championships! We don’t always look pretty, and it doesn’t always go entirely according to plan (we are totally amateur, after all), but when I think about how far we’ve come I’m amazed – and completely grateful to her.
And evidently, it’s no longer enough to spend most of my free time riding Belle, mucking out Belle or just hanging out at the yard with Belle. I’d now like to write about my adventures with her, too!
I can’t promise it will be interesting. I think I’ve probably already bored some people to death on Facebook with my endless horse-related updates. But I do hope that it will be a light-hearted, realistic portrayal of my world of low level Eventing, from our totally amateur point of view, as we bumble our way through competing, training, and trying to generally appear like we know what we’re doing (major plot spoiler – we don’t.)
Hope you enjoy reading!
Sarah and Belle x
Totally Amateur Eventing 