On my ASH I had great success up to 1.20m level before his little legs sadly couldn’t keep up with the bigger heights, but very rarely would come home without a placing! I then moved onto my first WB-Mare: Bella. Bella was not an easy mare, very rough around the edges, incredibly temperamental, only male coaches being brave enough to even flat her, she taught me to ride that’s for sure! I definitely couldn’t have ridden track or breakers without Teacher Bella giving me a few lessons first… As explained to Cath who’s aware of Bella’s whole story (which was a tough one to say the least) I really started to make it in the showjumping ring. Our training slowly went from 1.05m to 1.35, my events slowly went from young Riders 95cm to 1.35. Sadly just as we were entered for our first 140-145 FEI Rising star International qualifying round Bella went downhill (Cath has the details). This was a massive hit for my career, and with no back up horse and having to make it with pure grit and determination unlike so many of the young riders these days I really felt defeated, and that my days of jumping were over. We put Bella in foal with the 50/50 chance of her ever coming back to the ring, definitely to never jump over 1m again.
Young Charlotte realising the financial situation and the reality of never being able to purchase a horse competing the levels I was ready to reach, I set out on the search for a young untouched potential future star to bring up the ranks. After heartbreak, after heartbreak of finding “The one” to be presented with “I wouldn’t take the chance” on 2 incredible horses, I had decided to slow my searching. Upon going on one of my favourite Equine sites ‘Kentaur Australia’ a local site - having looked previously at horses over East, I just happened to contact Lucy the stud owner and see if she had any young horses in my price range. She presented a few options, but a beautiful grey had caught my eye! A lot of back and forth later, videos and vet checks sent and completed, we drove up to pick up my new horse….. Or so I thought, the luck turned from bad to worse as her best friend showed up and deemed the horse hers, buying him on the spot in front of us, a heartbreaking event to say the least. The next few moments have changed my life and I’ll forever be grateful for the world working in weird and magical ways. Lucy turned around in complete embarrassment and said “ I’m so sorry, I never realised she actually was going to purchase him. I would never do this under normal circumstances but I have a 2 year old called Victor, he was going to be my breeding stallion. Would you like to have a look at him” Stood in front was a gorgeous, humorous, athletic little colt, gangly as ever! Love at first sight. We saw him free jump, handled him ( he was very naughty and can count 4 bite marks from that day) but after a lot of talking, breaking preps, Stallion assessments, freezing his doses, gelding him, and handing over money later, it was time to bring my boy home. Again no sunshine and rainbows, there were more cuts and tears within the first few years of owning Victor then anything else. Many trees I was put in, many surfaces my face came accustomed to, many broken bridles, baby breaks, but despite this he has become my best friend and has really started putting his stamp on the competition ring! I’ve had 2 foals from him my first was called Vali, and the second is Bella’s foal Diva. Vali very quickly became my heart horse encompassing all the amazing traits passed on from both his dam and Victor. Heartbreakingly my time was cut short with Vali and we lost him last Christmas at a years old due to an irreparable disease. His loss had a big impact on me and my time in the ring after that became quite limited whilst I took the time to regain confidence. I’ve slowly been making my way back into the ring, with a more worldly outlook on the showjumping community and the ultimate priority being the well-being of my horses. Alongside Bella, Diva, and Victor (who’s now stepping up to his first 1.05m next weekend at 5-nearly 6 years old) I also have Freddie! Freddie was purchased from Adelaide, the same owner as my first horse (Australian Stock Horse) who’s so kindly owned by my Grandpa who’s the absolute rock in my horse career, who continues to do more then he needs to make sure I’m still loving my one undying passion for the equestrian sport, and who always makes sure the horses have unlimited carrots and liquorice on hand, who congratulates me if I win, and congratulates me even if I hit the dirt (which we all know tends to happen with young horses)-Thankfully that hasn’t been occurring, must be doing something right 😂 I also have a rescue thoroughbred mare called Lulu which we have no expectations of, are working with your products (as well as all the other horses) to optimise her health, and see what she wants to do with her life after racing, even if it’s just trail rides, she’s still treated like the queen she is. Victor will continue to step up his training and class heights and show the world what a superstar he is! Bella will come back into work under Cath’s guidance (starting with her current feeding guide) and we’ll just assess to see what level she’s happy to work to, hopefully remaining sound and able to show my partner the ropes of showjumping in the near future. Freddie has been put out to grow which his then 16.3hh is now looking a lot like 17.1hh😬 but he’ll come back to low level 90-1m and see how he goes from there, just taking it slow due his big body and developing bones. Diva will socialise and be a happy foal until she’s old enough to come into work. On a personal note we have some exciting (but slow) developments happening on the new property to facilitate more opportunities for success in the future, and aim towards running an Equestrian training centre. My goal is to get all able horses into competition work, get to more shows, focus on their well-being physically and mentally, follow Caths guidance throughout all phases of their training and competition and re-assess according to their workload, and finally get on top of my own health with the help of Kerrie. Ultimately I want to enjoy the sport for all that it is, most importantly- Loving my horses. A personal view on each horse- •Freddie loves ear scratches •Victor loves sponge downs with warm water and Calafea oil whether he’s itchy or not •Diva loves a daily curry comb whilst trying to eat my slippers •Bella pretends she hates having a makeover- she loves it really (don’t tell her I told you) •Lulu loves warm speedi-beet on a cold winter morning, and also loves finally being treated the way she deserves! Thank you for the opportunity. Please feel free to watch my riding videos and photos both on my Facebook and Instagram. Insta- forrest_park_performance (will have the most recent images and videos)
