Sarah’s triumph is an inspiration

SARAH Bawden’s triumph over personal adversity is an inspirational and uplifting story.

Sarah, who recently secured an emotive victory at the British Eventing (BE) Winkleigh Horse Trials, said: “In sharing my experience I hope it will give anyone in the same situation the motivation to listen to their bodies and not their consultants.”

Sarah won the BE90cm section at the event on her six-year-old gelding Boskenwyn Lad who finished on an impressive score of 26.50.

In 1999, the 61-year-old from Buller Hill, Redruth, underwent a full replacement on both hips and in that same year had a bone cancer scare which resulted in the removal of her right fibula bone.

Sarah explained: “Fortunately, it was entirely benign. But I lost my fibula and was advised by the doctors to do little else but breathe, and certainly not to ride. I put all my riding gear up in the loft and not in my wildest dreams did I dare imagine I would ride again or return to eventing.”

Sarah was determined to make the best of the situation and put her own fitness plan into action.

She said: “I discovered that by building up flexibility and strength my new hips would not only be just as good as the old ones, but even better. I focused on pilates for six months after the operation and this helped enormously.”

In 2005, Sarah was asked to hack out a 14.2hh cob for a friend.

Sarah said: “I was very apprehensive but unable to resist. The mare napped badly and I was about to let her get away with it when my old emotions clicked in. There was no way in this world that this mare was not going to go forward for me!

"Finding that bit of courage out of the blue, was a defining moment and ironically led to my win at Winkleigh.”

Sarah spent a season hunting the cob and found new confidence. She said: “In the end, she didn’t have enough gears for me and I decided to buy a horse with more spark.

Sarah acquired a six-year-old Irish-bred with show jumping form from Cola Fox, but unfortunately their partnership was cut short.

She said: “I was getting up to speed again but within 18 months he required an operation on his suspensory ligaments and was not going to be able to continue eventing. I still have him and he’s giving a young rider a great deal of fun.”

Sarah said: “My blood was up and I was thoroughly inspired by this stage. I bought another young Irish horse and although he was great on the flat, he was not interested in jumping.

"I sold him and in April last year I came across Kenny (Boskenwyn Lad).”

A five-year-old son of Mohill Cavalier Clover, Boskenwyn Lad was being produced by his owner Gwendra Pearce of Helston.

Sarah said: “He really caught my eye. He had a lovely temperament, moved well and I felt he had great deal of potential. He didn’t have the greatest jump at that time or the boldest personality, but I felt he had all the tools in his box and if he learned how to use them would gain confidence and start to realise his potential.”

Sarah spent time forming a partnership with her new horse.

She said: “We’ve clicked and now we would do anything for each other. Our dressage sheet at Winkleigh included some lovely comments from the judge. She wrote: ‘A lovely test from a happy partnership’, and that says it all.

“I’m a bit old fashioned and Kenny is being produced slowly. We’ll not move up a level until I feel he is thoroughly secure in all his phases.”

Sarah benefits from regular training sessions with Caroline Creighton during the indoor season at Colraine Equestrian Centre at Callestick.

She said: “Kenny’s strong point is his cross country. I come from the sit up and kick on generation and I think this sort of confidence helps a young horse in these early stages. But he was a bit reticent into water during training and needed someone more powerful than me on board at his first events. I called on local eventer Sarah Jane Brown to bring him out and give him a good start.”

Sarah Jane and Boskenwyn Lad landed sixth place on the gelding’s debut at Bickenhall Horse Trials and followed this up with a clean sheet at Stockland Lovell.

Sarah said: “Kenny hesitated a little at the water but went freely through under Sarah Jane’s guidance and has never looked back. It was a job well done. He’s now done six events and posted six cross country clears.

“We’ve incurred a few time penalties here and there, but that’s down to me getting back into gear. Our show jumping is not perfect and we’ve had the odd pole down here and there but we’re improving with every outing and jumped clear to win at Winkleigh.”

Sarah has recently sought help from Zoe Gwennap of Colraine to tune up her show jumping skills.

“I think I’m making too much of a mystery of show jumping. Zoe’s doing an excellent job of unravelling old habits and building my confidence while Kenny is waiting for me to catch up!”

Sarah’s ultimate goal is to qualify for the Grassroots Championships at Badminton 2012.

”Over the years I’ve had two ‘nearly got there’ Badminton horses and if I end up by getting a gallop over the fences at Badminton I will feel complete!”