Introducing Bonnie Fishburn

We can’t wait to work with Bonnie Fishburn as one of our 6 Horslyx Ambassadors for 2014!

“I am absolutely delighted to have been asked to join the Horslyx Ambassador Team. My horses will also be thrilled as they love their licks.  I hopefully have an exciting year ahead of me, so to have the support from Horslyx will be fantastic”

“I am a 31 year old amateur event rider and have been eventing for 12 years. Originally I am from a non-horsey background. I started riding at a very early age of 4 after being sat on a horse belonging to my cousin and have been riding nearly every day since the age of 14. I started competing at local shows on friend’s ponies, always picking up handfuls of rosettes. By the age of 17 I was working with show jumping horses and progressed to working with event horses by the age of 18, which is when I bought my first horse and really got a taste for competitions. My greatest achievement that year was finishing 4th on my own horse at a two day junior event down in Somerset.”

“My next move was to Surrey for 2 years where I trained with Georgia Bale, who had ridden round Badminton and Burghley, 2 of the biggest events in the world. I regularly had lessons with her and travelled round the UK and abroad to events, looking after her horses. This was very beneficial for me as I got to learn about how the professionals run their yards and prepare their horses for competition.”

“From there I moved to Warwickshire, at the age of 21, to ride horses for Equestrian Direct, which is an arena business, which also buys in young horses, mainly from Ireland to bring on to compete from a young age and sell on when they have been produced. This must have been my biggest learning curve, as I had a huge responsibility to run a yard of up to 12 horses at a time. This included the daily running of the yard, producing the horses to compete, as well as organizing where the horse would compete next and getting them ready for the big day. I was based here for 4 years and achieved some very rewarding results, it wasn’t often that our team of horses came home unplaced after a competition.”

“Next was a move to Shropshire, where there was very little opportunity to compete horses for other people, so I decided to buy a horse to bring on for myself and to fund my eventing I started working with racehorses, which including working for Henry Daly (National Hunt Trainer) for 3 ½ years.  6 years on I have still got that horse and have produced him from a naughty show jumper into a talented eventer. Along the way we have achieved some amazing results and had a fantastic time in doing so. I have also bred two horses out of my first horse and added them to my string and I’m having lots of fun with them.”

“I have now moved to Cheshire and have been very fortunate in having a beautiful new yard built for me, where I have room for 8 horses. So hopefully in the coming season I may be able to start filling these stables. Another bonus is that I have an arena to work my horses on which is something I have done without for several years.”

“Let me introduce you to my horses. San Francisco II (aka Frankie) is a 16.3hh dark brown gelding by Ferro. He is currently at Intermediate/CCI* level. I have owned Frankie since he was 7, I bought him from a dealer as a switched off showjumper and 7 years on I have a wonderful horse that trusts me and has gone from BE100 to Intermediate and CIC**. Along the way we have taken the British Riding Clubs Open Horse Trials National Championship twice, been part of the British Riding Clubs Open Show Jumping National Championship winning team and been 16th at Houghton International Horse Trials and 8th at Brand Hall International Horse Trials, along with several other placings at BE events and BD competitions. He also won Burwarton Open Working Hunter 3 years running, also taking Champion twice and Reserve champion once.”

“In 2013 we did suffer a horrendous rotational fall, while competing at a BE Intermediate horse trials, where I was knocked unconscious and Frankie lay next to me winded. I was airlifted to hospital suffering a dislocated collarbone, fractured shoulder, bruised lungs, fractured skull and a bruised brain. This wrote me of for several weeks of competition but I was actually back on a horse only 5 days later, but was only able to do a little bit of schooling and hacking. Luckily Frankie had very few injuries, he just needed to see an Osteopath to straighten him out and he had a small haematoma between his front legs. It was 6 weeks later that we were part of the BRC Open SJ winning team and were actually the best horse in the team. This year we plan to have another go at a CIC** and hopefully a CCI**.”

“Direct Flo (aka Florence) is a 15.1hh chestnut mare by No Complaints. She is at BE100 level and is a homebred and home produced mare out of my first horse. She is quite simply a pleasure to own, although she is only 15.1 she tries so hard. She has been to the British Eventing Breeding Championships as a 4 year old after qualifying in her 2nd ever BE90 by coming 2nd. She has also been to several BRC championships where she has rarely been out of the placings. In 2013 she had several BE placings including a win at BE100 at Draycott House. Another highlight from 2013 was in a BRC riding test, where she won on a 83%, a whole 10% ahead of 2nd place. This season I hope to move her up to BE novice level.”

“Mr Precision (aka Percy) is a 16hh gelding by Bazaars Texas. Percy is half-brother to Florence. He is competing at BE100 and has been very consistent to date and gets placed most times out. A highlight for him in 2013 was winning his first ever two-day event. This season I hope to do more BE100’s and maybe a novice at the end of the year if he is ready.”

“So far in 2014 I’ve been having a very exciting year. I have been invited to a European CIC** Eventing Team training and selection day, I’ve been listed as a finalist in the Equestrian Social Media Awards in the Newcomer and Amateur categories and now I’ve been asked to join the Horslyx Ambassador Team. Lets hope my luck continues!”