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I'm Mags and the grey mare is Peggy. Peggy and I have been together since 2005. It's not always been the easiest of friendships, she can be a very stroppy mare. But then can't we all. 

I'm not a brave rider. I used to be as a child, but I'm not anymore. I haven't jumped a fence in decades and I can get very nervous even about hacking out. I had a bad fall almost 5 years ago and fractured my spine, so I have an excuse for my nerves. Happily, over the past year confidence has been seeping back into all areas of my life little by little. I don't want to rest on my laurels though; I feel a need to keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone.  So when I saw the Wobbleberry advert for "middle aged, wimpy riders" to start eventing it seemed written for me! So here I am, signed up to the Wobbleberry Challenge and committed to completing a BE80 event by autumn 2017.

For non-horsey friends, a BE80 is a British Eventing affiliated class that will see Peg and I tested across the 3 disciplines of Dressage, Showjumping and Cross Country in a day of competition. The 80 indicates the fence height; 80cms. Though they can apparently be as much as a metre wide on the Cross Country. 

The charity is Willberry Wonder Pony, supporting research in bone cancer and granting equine wishes for seriously ill people.  It was established by the truly inspirational Hannah Francis who died from a form of bone cancer on 1 August this year at just 18 years of age. Hannah loved her horses and eventing, she took part in her final competition just days before her death. Hannah raised in excess of £100,000 in the last months of her life, through her blog and her passion for life.  The best person to tell you more is Hannah herself, at www.willberrywonderpony.com 

So. There we have it. Have I finally flipped? Possibly. Is it going to be fun? Certainly. Will I manage to get myself and Peg physically fit enough to complete the challenge? I don't see why not. Will my nerve hold out? Hmmm, that's the biggest challenge for me, I think. Jury's out. 

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