I’m Lucy Eddis, a 17-year-old from Essex, at full boarding school two hours from home where I’m studying four A-levels; English, Latin, French and classical civilisation.
Ten years ago I started competing in working hunter pony classes, first in tiny tots and then cradle stakes with Bradmore Raindance. I progressed to nursery stakes and open 13hh classes with Valentine Hazel, then 14hh workers with Champfleurie Cream Cracker. For the past three seasons I have had the 14.2hh Connemara, Cashel Bay JJ (Cash), who is pictured top after we went champion at Royal Windsor in 2014.
I have competed at HOYS and the Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) on all four of these fantastic ponies, represented England in last year’s BSPS WHP International (a real highlight) and have won HOYS.
I hunt regularly with the Essex & Suffolk Hunt, which I absolutely love, and I have done several BE events with Cash. If I could go back I would love to have done pony trials on him, but it was simply too difficult to squeeze everything in and do it properly, especially with one very precious pony. For this reason I really concentrate on working hunter pony classes which I absolutely love and recommend!
Cash on his way to winning at the 2015 BSPS Summer Champs
I have a younger sister, Susie, who is at the same school as me and has been very successful with several ponies, particularly Kyregate Peter Pan and Beat The Boss. I also have a 10-year-old brother who is a very good sports but avoids riding.
My father is completely un-horsey but very supportive from afar (he just comes to the big shows of the year where he yawns quite a lot!). My mother Polly runs everything pony-related for us and loves nothing more than a ‘board meeting’ as she calls it at our kitchen table when we have family post-mortems of classes and lessons and make plans for the future.
There’s plenty of travelling, early starts and compromise in this working hunter pony life of ours, but we have so much fun, a great deal of laughter and we love our ponies and friends. As we often say: “it’s what we do”.
I do hope you will enjoy following the ups and downs as I squeeze competing around my school commitments and exams this year.
Lucy
