Laura Collett looks back on her journey from falling at last year’s Europeans to her first five-star win at Pau
AFTER my fall with London 52 (Dan) at the Europeans last year, Tina Cook said to me on the Sunday, “Surely you’re going to take him to Boekelo? You don’t want to finish the year on that note.”
Between the Europeans and Boekelo, we went cross-country schooling a few times. We treated him like a baby, trotting to fences, trying to build his confidence and encourage him to trust himself because he’s always been quite a shy horse.
Going to Boekelo, I just wanted to put things right – to win was a lovely extra. It felt like the event was a turning point; now, Dan has belief in himself. He felt amazing cross-country and finished knowing he’d done well. After Boekelo, he had eight weeks in the field to switch off and he came back looking and feeling like a different horse, physically and mentally.
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