Commitment gradually pays off for determined Lindsay

But what is life like for riders who are on the lower rungs of the eventing ladder, whose dream may be to one day compete at one of these major events?

Eventing is an expensive sport and good riders need sponsorship and the support of owners. But if you don't come from a horsey family or have any extra help, achieving your ambitions can be tough.

Lindsay Harrison is a good example. She works full time as a vet in Scarborough and has two horses at a DIY livery yard close to her home in Snainton. Her day begins at 6am with mucking out and riding one of the horses then she is back at 6pm to ride the other one, whatever the weather.

"I usually have a young horse to bring on and sell and one to compete," said Lindsay.

This helps to fund her riding. She has high hopes of her current ride, Milling Around and has just been awarded a welcome training bursary of 200 by the Event Horse Owners Association. Lindsay, from Fife, had a riding lesson when she was about 11-years-old and was immediately hooked.

"We weren't a horsey family, but I became one of those girls who hangs around the stables at weekends and helps... and then I got into teaching a bit," she added.

She helped out at a showing yard, worked for dealers and rode for other people. As soon as she qualified as a vet, she got a bank loan and bought her own horse.

The horse turned out to be happier hunting than he was eventing – she fell off in her first Intro competition – and Lindsay sold him to a hunting home in Shropshire.

Since then she has progressed as far as she can with different horses and went on to compete at Blair Castle with her last horse, A la Carte. And it was a good experience to compete at such an event, even though she was the only rider there with a modest trailer among all the horse boxes.

"I thought I needed him super fit to go up the huge hills there, but we had break failure on the cross country and retired," said Lindsay.

"Milling Around is fantastic. I hope he'll go the furthest of the lot. I took him to the Burghley Young Event Horse class at Bramham in June – it was lovely just to have a horse at Bramham. I'd love to have a crack riding there."

Lindsay hopes to move the five-year-old gelding by Mill Law up to Novice level in the Spring. She has several events lined up for the rest of this season including Hutton today, followed by Aske Hall and then Bishop Burton.

After that the horse will have a holiday and then with the help of the bursary, she hopes to have regular lessons over the winter with Heidi Woodhead. The bursary also means she has a place on a 2011 pre-season training course with British Eventing GB team trainers Kenneth Clawson and Tracie Robinson.

Lindsay still manages to find time to ride for other people in the winter.

Her father-in-law, Thomas Harrison, is Master of the Derwent Hunt and she helps to exercise his horses. Her husband John used to ride a lot when he was a youngster but takes a back seat now. Lindsay also rides point to pointers for her boss Chris Cundall's and does early morning rides for trainers Mike and Mary Sowersby, near Market Weighton.

With plenty of experience at the lower level of eventing, there is no doubting Lindsay's commitment and she is gradually working her way up the ladder.

"The next big step for me will be going up to Intermediate level successfully – and going back to conquer the Blair demons," she said.

"If I want to turn out and be successful at an event, I have to put the prep work in."

n The Event Horse Owners Association (EOHA) awards several bursaries each year to support owner-riders and provide them with money for training. For information go to www.ehoa.org.

CW 11/9/10