A Blenheim career highlight, a French adventure and an international rivalry decided by just two seconds – Jess Rimmer’s packed September

Where do I begin … when I say September has been an absolute whirlwind of a month – I mean it has quite possibly been one of my busiest eventing periods ever… buckle up!!
We started with one of my favourite events in the British calendar: Cornbury is an idilic venue set in the most wonderful Cotswold countryside, and boy do they know how to host! Every detail is covered, and it’s just such an enjoyable venue for both owners and riders alike. Jimmy was there competing in the 3*, having done the 2* last year.

As we all know, Jimmy is quite the performer and absolutely loves a crowd, so as you can imagine he really enjoyed competing in the atmospheric arenas at Cornbury. He made light work of the technical tracks, jumping a lovely clear cross country round and taking all the “grown-up” lines and distances.
The 3* level is perhaps one of the most interesting to ride, because it has to be educational enough that it isn’t boring for those using it to give their higher level horses a prep-run, but also confidence-giving for the younger up-and-coming generations.
So, you’ll understand how excited I was when, rather than taking the wider, more “baby” lines, Jimmy took on all the direct routes like an absolute pro – he is feeling more and more ready for 4* all the time, and it makes me seriously excited for the future with him.

Basil at Blenheim with a double clear
We didn’t have a huge amount of time to dwell on Cornbury – just a two-day turnaround before we headed to Blenheim for a seriously exciting week – Basil and I were competing in the 4* Long, as part of the Rising Lions team.
It is an exciting new concept, where a team of four young British athletes were paired into competition with four young American and Australian riders – known as the Stars and Stripes. The riders from the two teams compete within the main CCI4*-L as normal, but before each phase there is a draw, setting each member of the team against a rider on the opposing team for that phase. The rider with the better score in each individual match wins one point for their team for that phase.

And OK, the Stars and Stripes may have pretty much wiped the floor with us points-wise, but we had the most incredible week! It was really refreshing to meet new riders on the circuit (eventers on tour, extended version?), while enjoying a really fun new competition concept.
Plus, on a personal note, Basil was just EPIC – we jumped a mega double clear! We were the only Rising Lion to do so, and one of only 15 combinations across the whole section of 70+ competitors.
I am SO proud of Basil.
He tried so unbelievably hard all week – our partnership felt stronger than ever, and we really looked after each other out there. I’m so grateful to him for giving me so many opportunities of a lifetime over the past two seasons, He is one seriously special horse.
Blenheim was a real career highlight for me – but the September fun was far from over! We got back late on Sunday night, and had less than 24 hours to unpack, wash all my stinky competition clothes and repack, before we headed off on Monday evening to Lignieres in France with Max in the 3*L.

Max’s time to shine
It was both mine and Max’s first time competing in Europe, and it lived up to every expectation and more! Considering Max has never embarked on such a journey, he travelled like an old pro – although he did find huge entertainment in tipping his water bucket over the inside of the horsebox (and me!) while we were on the ferry …
We arrived at the event on Tuesday afternoon, and it was a little pocket of paradise: music, wine, the most beautiful sunrises … it really did feel like a holiday. The courses were creative yet beautifully built, and Max took the whole experience in his stride. I was absolutely thrilled with his performance in every phase. We finished on our dressage score of 33 to come 9th in a big section. Considering he only started the season at Novice, it is such a credit to Max – he has taken the step up in his stride, and much like Jimmy, is really starting to prove himself as a serious upper-level prospect.

There was just one bugbear, which admittedly provided some extra entertainment all week.
One of the Stars and Stripes athletes, Tommy Greengard (who beat me by a whisker at Blenheim, by the way), was also competing in the same class. When he arrived there was some joking about a rematch, so imagine how I felt when we not only achieved the EXACT same dressage score (to the decimal point!), but also both finished on that score… tense!
In this situation, the final position is decided based on who was closer to the optimum time in the cross country. And Tommy was two seconds closer, meaning he finished 8th, ahead of me and Max in 9th.
Fair play, Tommy, fair play. Although the stakes weren’t like Blenheim, it made for some entertaining rivalry all week (side note: Tommy is absolutely lovely and, much as I wanted the personal victory, he deserved his success).
Although things are quieter as we wind down towards the end of the season, we still have a few runs left in the bank before we fully head into winter – watch your back, team Greengard!