My Last ODE

Dear Friends,

Today is a historic occasion as I am announcing my retirement from Eventing.

Before you all go into a deep depression I am still going to be out and about competing but I will be concentrating on Dressage and Showjumping which my warmblood genes bred me to do.

I have had great fun at eventing and really enjoyed my days out with Jonathan (Jonathan Chapman) and Kylie (Kylie Roddy), but we have to face the fact that I am built to jump not to gallop.

I have had a very successful season and my last event was a Novice ODE so it was a big step up for me.

Jonathan and I did really well in the Dressage with 29 and I was one of the few clear showjumping rounds, so I was leading by a good margin going into the cross country.

It was a very hot day and the ground was very hard. I must admit that I didn't like the look of the very steep hill at the start of the course (I thought this is really looks like hard work!).

We started okay but by the time I got to the top of the hill for jumps 5 and 6, I was completely done in. I think this contributed to my stop at the 7th (which was a tricky combination) and also I was very slow. I am big girl and the heat really gets to me. So all in all not a good day on the XC course. If I had of gone clear (even with time faults) I would have won very easily.

I know that I am very good at showjumping (my dad was a top international showjumper) and you are not required to gallop for miles and miles - so I am really looking forward to my new career. And I get to wear lots of 'bling'.

I will go home for a few weeks holiday and then I will be out and about again in the New Year.

Thank you to Jonathan, Kylie and the whole team at Green End Farm in Sarratt for looking after me so well. I will miss them. Also thank you all for supporting me at my events and reading my diary entries.

See you all soon.

Love Tango X