Canadian Paralympic dressage rider Bert Sheffield has enjoyed a busy few months after a slower start to the year, when her top ride Fairuza had two molar teeth extracted.
“That unfortunately led to a cascade of problems that meant my competition season with Wonky was late starting. But now it is all healing up, thank goodness,” Bert muses.
The pair headed out to Waregem CPEDI3* in Belgium in April, and then followed that with Mannheim CPEDI3* in Germany, in May. “The Belgium show demonstrated that we were rusty from our time spent recovering from the surgery, however, everything came together for Mannheim; It is my favourite show of the year,” UK-based Bert explains. “If Canada is my “soul” home, and the UK is my “bricks and mortar” home, then Mannheim is my “competition” home! It’s where I cut my teeth as an international rider. And no-one has yet convinced me it’s not the best show in the world. This time, we won the Grand Prix B and the Grand Freestyle there, a repeat of last year’s efforts, with good scores.”
These stunning results have put Bert and Wonky at 4th on the FEI World Rankings, and 3rd in the FEI Paralympic Rankings.“We dashed home from Germany with just enough time for me to drop Wonky off at a friend’s barn before I flew to Canada for the Ottawa CPEDI3* on a borrowed horse,” continues Bert, a Bombers ambassador.
“Riding a borrowed horse is not my ideal situation, but being part of a team means doing things out of your comfort zone if required. The aim of the expedition was to put a team score on the board towards the Paris team qualification.”
Bert won all of her classes with great scores, riding Delilah, a horse that Bert describes as “a really sweet little Royal Canadian Mounted Police-bred, Hanoverian mare.”
“Now, I’m back home and have been cracking on bringing into work both Wonky and Nardando, a beautiful five year old that I am delighted to have the ride on,” Bert explains. “I am riding them both in Bombers Eggbutt McHardy snaffles (pictured right); Nardando in the titanium and Wonky in the sweet iron.”
“Because bitting horses is always an ongoing journey, and especially so with youngsters, I know that we have some work to do, to find just the right bit for Nardando, as he develops, grows in confidence, and goes through the final stages of eruption of his third incisor and canine teeth,” Bert adds. “He’s definitely an exciting prospect, so I want to really establish good bitting protocol now, to ensure he progresses confidently with me,” she concludes.
Visit Bert’s Facebook page: facebook.com/BertSheffieldParaEquestrianRider
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