I openly admit that I am prone to wearing rose-tinted glasses — swimming goggles would have been more apt with the weather — but I will look back on 2012 as a golden blur of medals, tears, records and God Save The Queen.
And thank you IPC for bagging us a sizeable TV to catch all the action in the office.
I pity the wine buffs on Decanter, who share our floor, and endured the whoops and yelps as we watched the Games. They also had to put up with the intercom alerts that let us know when Britain had won a gold medal with a brief rendition of the national anthem.
It was almost embarrassingly frequent for the equestrian team, but with nails painted red, white and blue — no-one quite stretched to the Union Flag eyeshadow as exhibited by a row of ladies sitting behind me at Greenwich — we were well prepared.
My Olympic souvenir edition of H&H has been kept in prestine condition— surely an heirloom in years to come? And joining it is my Diamond Jubilee copy.
There is no greater horsey hero than Her Majesty. At Royal Ascot in June, there was no better time to be 5″10 and wearing heels to catch a glimpse of her.
And despite a hat that considerably impaired my vision (see picture above), I was able to gauge the sheer splendour of racing’s girl crush Black Caviar. I am only sorry that I was not there to see Frankel soar ahead to claim the Queen Anne Stakes on the Tuesday. Fortunately the office TV was in place to witness his magnificent 11-length triumph.
2012 has been a year when unhorsey people have got horsey, Frankel has became a household name and the general public (almost) know that Zara Phillips is an eventer, not a showjumper.
It has left us hungry for more medals and another excuse to be unashamedly patriotic. Bring on the 2014 World Equestrian Games — any reason to dig out our Union Flags… and keep the TV.
Madeleine
Horse & Hound celebrates an incredible 12 months for the equestrian world in our 2012 Review of the Year magazine (6 December, 2012). Grab your copy from your local stockist or buy a digital issue online now.
