This year after five years of trying we finally qualified and got to compete at HOYS with our ten year old mare, this is a dream which began over ten years ago. We also hope that if anybody just starting out showing with our beautiful breed reads this article, then they will be encouraged to persist and keep trying to achieve their dreams. Never give up.

Seventeen years ago after always admiring the Arabian horse Karen purchased her first ridden Arab Mare, and this is when she began to compete at local riding club level with a bit of  show jumping. As with most horse owners she then went on to buy Magic our Crabbit gelding, he was basically rescued by Karen as he was in a much neglected state.

She backed Magic as a three year old and again he competed at riding club level in cross country. But after a visit to the National Championships her dream began. She wanted to start ridden Arab showing, and after watching the ridden classes wished she could get one of her horses to ride and compete as beautifully as she had seen at Malvern.

Not long after Karen had decided that ridden Arab showing was going to be her discipline tragedy struck. Her beloved mare Sharilla was involved in a horrific car accident. It was touch and go for Sharilla for quite some time but it was obvious that if she did make it, due to the severity of her injuries she would never go on to compete in the Arab Horse World.

After a lot of intensive care Sharilla did pull through but was still considered too lame to compete, at this point Karen thought her dreams had gone and decided it wasn’t to be.

She then saw Rusleem at the Nationals and fell in love with him, and decided that if Sharilla could no longer compete she would try breeding from her. So off she went to Rusleem. Twice she went to him and twice she produced two lovely foals Shareem and Rusila.

With these two wonderful youngsters the dream was ignited once more. Seven years ago we began showing in hand at local village shows and riding club shows and began to win on a regular basis. So on the back of our limited show experience we began to show at some county shows not really knowing exactly what we were doing and learning all the time.

Shareem was backed and Karen began to compete under saddle again locally and at county, and the dream of getting to HOYS began in earnest.

Rusila was then backed as a five year old and in her first season missed qualifying by one place, which was so frustrating. We knew she had it in her and she was the mare who was going to achieve Karen’s lifelong ambition.

Once again in her second season she missed qualifying again by one place after coming second at Cheshire County, but we thought the following year we would do it.

Unfortunately that following year she developed Laminitis which put her out for much of the season. She then recovered enough to begin some inhand showing, but then badly cut her leg which had to be stapled. Once more Karen began to think she would never get to HOYS.

So the following year after working hard with Rusila over the winter months Karen brought her out again ready to attempt fulfilling her ambition. Then once more disaster struck and Rusila injured herself again. She recovered ready for the Nationals and her last chance in the season to qualify, this to ended in disaster as through no fault of our own we missed the class. Karen was totally devastated she was so upset and began to give up on ever getting to HOYS.

So this season our fifth season of trying to qualify began our first Hoys qualifier we came third. Again so near yet so far. We entered the South East Group show to try and qualify, so despite being two hundred miles away we went for it. The weather on the motorway that day was so bad with torrential rain we nearly turned back, but we persevered and arrived the night before the show at Ardingly show ground.

The Mares that day had been split into seniors and juniors, and Rusila won her class. Once again it couldn’t be straight forward for us we had to go through to a ride off with the winner of the junior mares. This was the closest we had been and the nerves at this point had been shot to pieces. If we didn’t qualify now I think we would have given up.

The ride off began and went well, but then Rusila struck off on the wrong leg and I thought that’s it we’ve blown it. But the sheer joy and jubilation can not be described when Karen and Rusila were pointed to; at long last we had got it. All the hard work, stress, arguments and sheer disappointment had finally paid off.

So last Thursday we arrived at the NEC and what an experience, it seemed like a life time away since we were competing at our local village show seven years ago.

The show is just awesome the place is twenty four hours on the go people and horses are back and forth at every hour, and finally to be apart of it was such a proud moment for us.

When Karen and Rusila entered the arena on the Friday I was so proud of them both. We didn’t get placed but just to have finally got there meant everything, the two of them looked so well together and our little mare did us proud. Rusila is now on maternity leave as she is four months in foal and will now be taking time off, she deserves the break.

So the message to anyone who reads this no matter how many obstacles get in the way of your dreams, keep going and you will get there in the end just don’t give up.