British rider Fiona Kashel has known she would be competing at the Mars Badminton Horse Trials for less than a week, having got the call to say she was in off the waitlist last Saturday (3 May).
The phone call came just a few hours after she discovered that she had been practising the wrong test on her horse, Creevagh Silver De Haar, since February.
“I’m going to blame my mother, who does all my scheduling”, said Fiona with a smile, after she received a text from her at the beginning of the year stating which test she needed to learn.
“On January 28th — I did screenshot her text to show it to her — her answer was 2024B,” added the 43-year-old rider.
“So I’ve had a lesson every two weeks [riding test] 2024B and on Friday night I see Kirsty Chabert doing a Facebook run through of her test and [it’s] not the one I’ve been going through.
“I looked at the schedule and it’s 2025c. I thought it doesn’t matter because I’m not in. I’m not even going to say anything to my mum. And then I get the phone call on Saturday — I’m in.”
Fiona stated that she owes her 28.4 score — a personal best — to her trainer Damian Hallam.
“Damien drove up from the New Forest on Monday night — because I was at Bovington on Sunday so I couldn’t run through it then and [the horse had] already galloped on Saturday. He drove two hours to come and run through my test,” said Fiona.
“I’m just pleased I didn’t go wrong. I think my mother’s pleased I didn’t go wrong as well.
‘He failed every vet’
FIona, who runs a livery yard near Cranleigh in Surrey and has a five-year-old son, is competing at Badminton for the second time aboard Creevagh Silver De Haar.
They completed both Pau and Luhmuhlen CCI5*s last year.
“To do [a PB] at Badminton, right in front of everyone, it’s nice to actually say that I can ride,” said Fiona.
It hasn’t always been plain sailing, with the horse proving a tricky project when he was acquired from JP Sheffield at the age of six.
“I couldn’t keep any showjumps up on him as a seven-year-old; I couldn’t stay on him as he kept leaving legs,” confessed Fiona.
“So I tried to sell him for a year and he failed every single vet, even though he’s the soundest horse I’ve ever had. So I kept going with him and he’s just answered each question as I’ve gone on. Actually, the last two years he’s felt better than he’s ever felt, so he’s like a fine wine.”
‘I hate going cross-country’
Rather unusually, Fiona announced to the media in the mixed zone today: “I hate going cross-country.
“If I never went cross-country again I think I’d be very happy. I do quite like it once I’m finished, but that’s about it,” she said.
“He’s not the biggest jumper and it’s a big, bold scopey course. He’s 17 years old and I’ve said I’m going to take one fence at time and if he’s going well then I’m going to keep going. If it’s too much for him we’ll pull up. I’m just going to enjoy the experience.”
Main image by Tim Wilkinson
