After leading the dressage at last year’s championships only to have time penalties (for going too fast!) in the cross country phase, I really want to make every effort to go clear and keep a great place in the 2012 Championships.

This year I have two horses qualified, mine and Paul Graham’s mare ‘Crackenthorpe Nightingale’ who I competed last year, and also an ex- PSG winning dressage stallion, Crackenthorpe Formula One. You may notice they both have the same prefixes – they have the same Grand Sire, Pentagon, and were produced and based at our family’s Crackenthorpe stud near Carlisle (which isn’t exactly down the road from Badminton!).

As one of my various jobs, I work for Ray Atkinson of Appleby and was lucky enough  to be able to borrow an Eddie Stobart lorry from the company in 2011 for the Championships – the lorry is normally used to transport polo ponies so it is absolutely huge! The little mare thought she was pretty special being transported like that.

A typical day in the life looks like this for me..

Once the family’s collection of horses are worked, they are either tucked up in their stables or out in the field rugged up to the eyeballs so all you can see are their noses, ears and legs.

Then I start work.  My first job is as a part time garage attendant; this is two hours an evening, usually starting around 4pm.  This job does have the plus point – if it’s quiet I get to catch up on the latest Horse and Hound!

Once I have finished there I go to my full time job as an artic tipper driver.  I’m very fortunate to have a very good boss, Ray, who makes sure my wagon “Bracken”, a 480 Scania, is loaded and waiting for me.  Bracken is usually waiting at Penrith or Carlisle depending on where she has been loaded.

We are hauling used chicken bedding to a power station near Kinross, Scotland.  After the load has been tipped I set off home, normally making it to a services on the M74 for a compulsory 45 minute break (by law a 45 minute break is required within four and a half hours’ driving time).  If all goes to plan, I can be home by 3am.  Although the past few weeks the weather has not been helping, tackling high winds, rain, snow and even lightning! Then is it time to go home and try and catch up on some sleep before it all starts again.

It is all worth it when I look at the yard and know that I will be returning to Badminton in 2012 with two fantastic horses.