Press

Scottish Horse (May 2006)

TO COMPETE at Badminton horse trials five years after taking up eventing sounds like a dream, but for 21-year-old Sarra Mayberry, from Thornhill, Stirling, that is exactly what happened.

However, despite a fall early on in the cross country course, and then retirement after two refusals at the water, it has not put her off and she plans to be back next year. “I rode at Gleneagles, but didn’t get a pony until I was 13, so I was quite a late starter. She was quite quirky and I learnt an awful lot from her and I tried to do one-day eventing. “I outgrew her after 1 1/2 years so I got my first horse — George the First. He was quite difficult to keep sound and I think I was only able to do about four competitions in three years. It was quite frustrating, but I learnt an awful lot about veterinary matters through him,” explains Sarra.

“When I left school, I went to work with Gill Watson. I was at a competition and had got eliminated with George and through Gill, and John and William Micklem, they knew of a horse who might suit me. “I came home and went over to Ireland to look at Tell Taragon with Dad. He arrived in March 2002 and that year I did the Burgie two-day novice and Blair one-star — it was a novelty to have a horse that stayed sound... (click for full article)

Eventing "Young Rider feeling in the pink" ( November 2005)

Scotland’s Sarra Mayberry and Tommy Pink won team gold at the recent Young Rider Europeans. Sarra tells JULIE HARDING about the experience, as well as the difficulties of living so far from the ‘hub’ of eventing.

SARRA Mayberry found out that she was on the British Young Rider team bound for the Europeans in Sweden the day after winning the final trial at Aston-le-Walls. Slightly surprised, Sarra had plenty of time for the news to sink in, for the journey home to Dunblane in Scotland took at least eight hours.

“I realised I was quite pleased and spent most of the journey phoning and texting people,” says the 20-year-old student of psychology who, not surprisingly, describes herself as “laid back”.

Part of the quartet of Phoebe Buckley, Gemma Tattersall and Olivia Haddow who scooped gold against all expectations in Segersjo in August, Sarra had quested for a place on the Young Rider squad with Tommy Pink in 2004. Her exclusion caused controversy in some quarters and prompted a complaint from her father.

“After Burgie [where the pair finished sixth] I was told that my dressage wasn’t championship standard and that I had gone too slow across country. I was also told that there was no point listing me for training as I lived too far north.”

Sarra’s philosophical nature helped her to get over the disappointment, though, plus 12 months later the selection policy changed and she found herself en route to Sweden... (click for full article)