𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛. ʙʀɪᴛɪsʜ ʀᴏʏᴀʟ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ

27 ♔♕ 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀

𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟽

"Well Sarah is down at the stables, ready to talk to the riders throughout the day...Sarah who have you got with you now?"

"Thanks Claire," the woman spoke, turning to Bella as she continued, "yeah I've got Princess Isabella here with me now who retired after the sixth fence today, Your Royal Highness, I suppose that wasn't what you were hoping for was it?"

"Um no, not exactly, no," Bella chuckled, glancing down at her muddy boots as she spoke. She was at Badminton Horse Trials, and had been attempting to take on her first 4* event which was the most challenging one, but, rather unfortunately, she had retired half way through.

"Disappointed?"

"Yeah of course I am, I didn't come here thinking that I'd retire, I don't, I don't think you can, you know...I'm um, a big believer in that if you look down to the floor that's where you'll end up so, um, I came here wanting to compete and to try my hardest but and the end of the day I made a decision because I wasn't sure about the health of my horse, and that's always the most important factor you know, so..."

"You mentioned there the health of your horse, Renaissance Rose, were you concerned?"

"Yeah um, this is my second proper season on her, and whilst she is capable of 4*'s, we've only ever done 2 and 3 stars together, so um, she actually slipped going into the 4th and then obviously it's that really long gallop uphill to the fifth and the sixth and I just wasn't happy with how she felt, I felt as though I was really having to help her over which you know, when you're coming towards solid six foot fences you want to feel confident don't you, so um, yeah I pulled her up, and also you know at that point I wasn't sure if she maybe had pulled something when she slipped so I just thought that it was the best thing to do."

"And is she okay?"

"At the minute she looks fine yeah, we've trotted her up and she's sound, so hopefully she's fine but, you know, at the end of the day there'll always be more competitions and the horses health needs to be the priority...and I think for me as well you know as I said this is only my second season with her, it's my first four star, up until this point we've never competed together at something that I haven't previously done before so I just didn't know whether or not it was safe to push on, you know if that was what a horse felt like at a four star, or if she was actually injured so, hopefully next year after another year together, then I'll know better and I'll be more experienced and know when to make those judgments but I think at the minute, you know, there's no rush...I'd rather be going home with a healthy, fit horse and having not competed than having carried on, finished and have an injured horse but be able to say that I've done my first four star."

"Your Royal Highness, thank you."

"Thanks."

"Very mature that Sarah don't you think?" The picture changed back to Claire who was in the studio as she spoke.

"Very yeah, it's always a hard call in those situations and often young riders go the other way..."

"Exactly, I think it shows a lot of knowledge and maturity that, to be able to say, 'hang on, I might want to do this but actually I'm not sure if my horse is okay,' as you say, lots of people would, and have, pushed on in that situation..."