Eva Marshman

It was Easter last year when I broke both my elbows in an accident. I was totally devastated, missing most of the show season. Four weeks after surgery I was desperate to get back riding Mikey (Courtdown Kestrel). We bought Mikey back in 2018, he was very green and I was very novice possibly not the best match, I was 100% certain he was going to be mine when we tried him but mum wasn’t too sure, however I persuaded her and he came home. Recovery of my arms didn’t go to plan and I’ve been left with permanent damage to my right arm leaving riding very painful at times. Riding wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be and my confidence was shattered so much so that one of my instructors even mentioned how concerned he was about me getting back to my old self. We started back at the bottom and slowly worked our way back up, I couldn’t have done this without Mikey – I trust him so much. It’s taken such a long time to get jumping again and get back to jumping hights necessary for the qualifying shows. I knew 2024 was my last year in the 133 plaited WHP and I was determined to make this year the best yet. Having only done three open classes last year, aiming for RI and HOYS was a dream. Greenlands WHP Show was where I qualified- jumping the only clear to win the class! This will be such an emotional day, we will never get this experience again. We qualified for RI at our 2nd ever attempt which made me more determined than ever to get to HOYS – I even told Mike he could retire from showing with me if he qualified! I can’t believe that our final show together will be at HOYS !!