Molly Evans, who has fought back after having two years out of eventing due to illness, heads the under-25 CCI4*-L at the conclusion of the Defender Bramham Horse Trials dressage this evening. The 24-year-old Irish rider piloted Wellan Graffiti to a score of 33.1.
“The test didn’t start the way I planned – there was a bit of a bump coming through the arch into the arena when two Irish riders rode into each other and it threw us both off. So I was a bit flustered and didn’t turn up the centre line on the leg I planned, but she was as cool as anything and did beautiful square halt, so that was a good first impression for the judges,” said Molly.
Molly has had Wellan Graffiti – a 13-year-old bay mare who has the same sire, Grafenstolz, as Ros Canter’s top ride Lordships Graffalo – since she was five. She bought her from her breeders Jim and Emma Newsam and the pair trained in Britain with Sam Griffiths when Molly was 17.
“He took us slow and it really paid off,” said Molly. “We’d have liked to have been at this level two years prior, but I missed two seasons with illness.”
Molly’s health problems started when she broke her pelvis falling off a young horse but didn’t realise.
“I thought I’d just twinged myself. I could ride but walking I had a limp. So I continued riding and then about a year after, I broke it again. I went into the hospital this time and the doctor said, ‘You’ve just re-fractured all your old fractures’ and I was like, ‘Old fractures?’ And then I thought, ‘That makes sense, I had a period where I couldn’t walk.’”
A year later to the day, Molly fractured her pelvis again coming off a client’s horse, three days before the season started.
“I was devastated – you couldn’t have picked me out of that hole for a while,” she said.
But Molly’s problems were only just beginning. She caught sepsis, which put her into an anaphylactic reaction, resulting in 10 days in intensive care.
“The recovery from that took quite a long time – I had ongoing health problems and I actually went through early menopause at the age of 18, so it was a real shock to the system. My body didn’t know whether it was left or right. So it’s been a journey and a whirlwind.”
Molly said in the long run she and Lulu have benefited from taking things slowly and described the mare as “the strong point in all this, the grounding”.
She said: “She’s been such a sound horse for us and she loves her work. She comes out and the bridle’s on and it’s go, but when the bridle’s off she’s a bit of a madam and will tow you to Timbuktu and back.”
Molly is based in Co Down, about 25 minutes from Belfast, and has a yard of horses from three-year-olds to Lulu.
“I take a lot of ex-racehorses on and turn them around to keep the whole thing afloat,” said Molly.
This is Molly’s first visit to Bramham and she described it as “like a mini Badminton”.
“The course is fantastic – big and bold and it’s going to be great to have a spin around. I’m looking forward to it,” said Molly Evans after taking the Bramham Horse Trials dressage lead.
France’s Johann Riem holds second behind Molly on his own Chronos Dujo, with Saffron Cresswell the best Brit at this stage in third on Barratt Eventing’s Vivendi Hero.
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