For Open Championship debutante Jade Lazenby, Gatcombe does not spell one long eventing party. Jade is happy to admit she wants to remain focussed this weekend. “We’re staying off site tonight,” she explains, “There is a party tomorrow night but I won’t stay late. This is the biggest course I’ve ever jumped!”
Jade finished ninth in the U25 section at Bramham earlier this season and in the top 20 at Barbury CIC three-star last month. Sitting beside her lorry, with multi-coloured striped socks peeping out over her chaps and a bandana round her head Jade seems relatively relaxed for someone who has just witnessed the Gatcombe Open fences for the first time.
“The course here is bigger and more technical than Barbury but some of the fences are similar so it was good preparation,” Jade explains, admitting that on first inspection the course seems “pretty massive”.
“There are lots of places to kick on which I’m going to need to as Gatcombe time is always really tight,” she explains, “And by the water there are lots of fences close together so I think more time will be wasted there than people expect.”
After Gatcombe, Jade is heading to Blenheim and hopes to make her Badminton
debut next season.
Open Championship Timetable
Saturday 5 August
11:30am Dressage
Sunday 6 August
9:00 am Dressage
12 pm Show Jumping
3:00 pm Cross-country
