Full-time business development specialist Libby Seed is chasing her third consecutive Mars Badminton Horse Trials completion aboard Heartbreaker Star Quality.
The former Exeter University student, 27, explained how she has been working on going faster across country in order to be more competitive this time.
“Fitness is a big part of it for the horse, but I watch a lot of videos. It’s amazing what you can learn from watching other people,” said Libby.
“Tonight, before I go to sleep, I’ll watch the fastest riders just to make sure that [I can] channel that. It’s like anything, if you want to get better, you watch someone that’s better than you and work towards [doing] what they’re doing.”
Libby added that the late Caroline Moore was a big influence in this training, as has Ros Canter.
“Ros did a webinar about how she learned to go faster. She said she can’t go fast unless she feels safe and she needed to have the gears, so I’ve really worked on having my gears,” explained Libby.
“Watching other really fast riders like Harry Meade — one of the fastest riders in the world at the moment — I’ll go and watch his Kentucky rounds and how smooth he is and really think about my preparation points on the [cross-country] course and how I can keep traveling.”
As a working rider with a limited number of riding and competing hours, Libby explained that practising her new technique happens at the lower levels too.
“I’m going around Moreton Morrell BE100 like, right, practice the body position, going down, going up, and my babies are like, ‘I’m just trying to stay on my feet’,” she said with a smile.
‘It’s a juggling act’
Libby works for the US company Boston Scientific selling medical devices.
She has five horses at home in Chippenham, three to compete and two youngsters who are about to start their ridden careers.
“It’s a juggling act and my mum’s very supportive,” said Libby, who trains with Richard Waygood. “It’s tough trying to balance time and everything is always difficult, but if you want to do it, you do it.”
Heartbreaker Star Quality is owned by Libby’s parents, Lesley and Jonathan Seed.
“I got sent her as a six-year-old to sell and she jumped like a stag so we decided to buy her,” said Libby. “She was pretty feral as a young horse — couldn’t walk anywhere, was screaming all the time at anything and everything that looked like a horse.
“She’s like a pet at home and when she comes to a party and knows that she’s the centre of attention, she loves it.”
Libby has bred from the mare and has a six-year-old who was born by embryo transfer at home. She also has two other young homebreds in the pipeline.
