Report for international by Annabel James
The first competition of the exchange at the beautiful Punchestown racecourse started on the Thursday with a drinks reception (after tour of the Guinness factory!) overlooking the racecourse and some delicious nibbles. It was then early to bed before the shoot phase on Friday evening. This was different from the routine used in the UK, with ‘precision’ targets that didn’t turn. We then had a course walk with Heather Greenslade in prep for a big day on Saturday. The course was beautiful (and hugee!) and I was lucky enough to have a great clear inside the time. We then had a short break before the run along the racetrack. It was nice to see in Ireland they still have the Saturday night party, which we enjoyed before having a reasonably early night in preparation for the swim on Sunday. This was held in the amazing National Aquatics Centre in Dublin, and I managed a PB, helping me finish 11th. We had a great evening banquet at the Racecourse and a rowdy party to finish the day before we went up to Necarne via some team building fun with the other international teams.
Once we were settled in Necarne on Monday evening, we had a great pub dinner courtesy of Mahon’s and a good nights sleep before visiting the Bushmills whiskey distillery and Giant’s causeway on Tuesday. The coast round Northern Ireland is stunning and the story of how the whiskey is made was fascinating. On Wednesday we were lucky enough to have a boat trip on the Lake and some fun on hydrobikes in Enniskillen before a quick swim session. We were lucky enough to be part of a parade through Irvinestown in our teams on Thursday after the horse matching for the overseas competitors, and suddenly it was time for the practice shoot that evening and the competition on Friday!
As usual with Regionals, we had the competition shoot in the morning and the swim in the afternoon, which brought the usual entertainment of the regional relays, but with the addition this year of the international teams, coaches and parents (!!) joining in and even a Floody in Union Flag budgie smugglers courtesy of Ollie Loud, which although mildly traumatising was very funny. Afterwards we had a Wales and Borders cross country course walk for the regional competition the following day before a bit of socialising and bed. Saturday brought ups and downs thanks to a technical course that caused lots of issues with testing ground and a tight time limit. I was lucky to be one of the few 1400 scores to be in the overnight lead going into the run the following day, so a quieter Saturday night party was had before the run the following day. This was using chip timing again, and went very smoothly. The course was very hilly and rather boggy so produced some slow times, those used to regular cross country running definitely showing the rest of us up! I was pleased to hold onto 5th place regionally, before a quick change and focus swapped to the showjumping course for the international competition. It was a lovely inviting 100 course with a slip rail and hold box, and the overseas people rode brilliantly on borrowed horses. However the heavens opened and we all got thoroughly drenched, meaning we had a very quick change after prize giving before the gala dinner that evening. Heather and Johnny Williams put on a fantastic night and we all danced away until the early hours, resulting in a rather hungover tour round Belfast City Hall the next day before the flight back to Manchester.
We hosted were among the families hosting the overseas tetrathletes for a couple of nights and they had a day at our house on the Tuesday, which was great fun – Mum was in her element – followed by a trip to the local pub for them to experience proper British pub grub. We then saw them off early on Wednesday morning to go and see Warwick Castle and visit Dan Skelton’s racing yard before meeting them at an aqua park in Warwickshire for some fun on the assault course followed by a barbecue kindly provided by Nick and Mel Cripps. Thursday saw some team games including dancing, egg fights and a photo competition, before another lovely drinks reception that evening and competition starting on Friday. We shot super early (which worked better for some than others) and swam mid morning, leaving us the afternoon to walk the course and get prepared for the cross country the following day. It was widely said that it was the best Tet track we had seen at Offchurch – Lloyd did a fantastic job and the fences looked brilliant – and caused enough problems throughout.
The Saturday night party was Olympic themed, so a group of us decided to dress up as Charlie Brown, in honour of him competing in the Pentathlon in Paris. This caused a lot of laughs and we even ended up on the official pony club Instagram! Sunday, as ever, saw the run phase in the morning, with a gruelling course that included the water jump, to finish our national competition. We then quickly threw plaits in the horses ready to swap for the showjumping, which was a smaller course to reflect how tired the horses (and us!) might be and that we were all sat on different each others’ mounts. It was boiling hot, which possibly contributed to the relatively high number of poles falling but good riding was generally rewarded with high scores, leaving the Girls Blue team second (again!!) and the boys team second to the Irish lads as well.
After presentation we had time to get ready for the farewell dinner, which was beautifully set up by Zoe and great food provided by Roaming Giraffe again. This was a wonderful night and the best way to close out the exchange. We said some very sad goodbyes on Sunday night and Monday morning and left nostalgic, very tired, slightly hungover and immensely grateful for the three weeks we’ve had!
A special thank you to Chefs d’equipe Zoe Kennerley and Richard Moseley for the three weeks, and to East Cheshire pony club, Area 5 Tetrathlon and Wales and Borders region for all their support over the years; it’s hugely appreciated and I wouldn’t be able to have done it without you!
