Showing Superheroes

Showing is no mean feat. It might only be down to you once you’re in the ring, but there are usually some very special people who help to make it all happen. Mum’s are the obvious superheroes, (and will undoubtedly be the subject of another post), but even they need a little help sometimes. My super fantastic, equally obsessed Grandma comes to our rescue very often.

She’s chief wardrobe lady, a long standing joke in our house and probably not a title my Grandma particularly likes, but her proficiency with a needle and thread has come to my rescue on more than one occasion. Whether it’s sewing new elastic onto the bottom of my joddy’s, running my jackets to the dry cleaners because, yet again, I got slaver all the way up the sleeves, or helping to make sure I really have packed everything I need, she has it all under control.

(Writing this reminded me of a time when I won a class which qualified me for an evening performance in which the judge said while giving me the rosette, “For goodness sake, make sure your stock is tied properly before this evening!” Oops, Mum’s below par stock tying skills had been found out – cue an emergency call to Grandma!! This is a skill I really MUST learn!)

If you’re anything like me, eating is the last thing on your mind on a show day when you’re running around like a headless chicken. Nor is it top of my priority list when I’ve got out of bed at 5am and need to leave the yard in an hour with a horse still to get ready. Once again, it’s Grandma to the rescue with a Tupperware box of sandwiches ready and waiting. Or, even better, a flask of soup and some sausage rolls! Just perfect on a cold show day when a below average beef burger just isn’t going to do the trick.

Super Gran is always there when you need an extra pair of hands. ‘Can you just hold him while I run to the loo?’ Just one more pair of hands at a show, or at home, can be so helpful! I’m very guilty of uttering things like, ‘Could you feed him in the morning, I’ve got to leave really early?’ or ‘Can you fetch him in if it starts to rain?’    

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Grandma has seen it all before, nothing is a shock or surprise. This means good advice and tough love. “All the good jockey’s fall off,” “Sit up straight,” “You didn’t win? Oh…right.”  But she’s also incredibly proud, the first to ring her friends and tell them that I’ve done well, the first to put the photographs on the wall. 

I hope you’ll agree, although I know I’m unashamedly biased, that my super Gran is a bit of legend! I hope I still love it just as much as she does when I reach her age!

I’d love to hear about your showing superheroes, get in touch…

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