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Interviewer Chris Green meets up with a nervous mother and her teenaged daughter at a local showjumping competition…

Judy Preston has always loved horses. She owned her first pony when she was 12 years old and horses have been a part of her life ever since. Now Judy is married and the mother of two. While her husband Paul and son Andrew, 17, don’t really see the appeal, her daughter Louise, 15, shares her enthusiasm for things equine is a keen showjumper.

Chris Green met the duo while Louise was competing in a local competition with her pony Kind Of Groovy (also known as Gordon). Louise was fairly relaxed about the competition because, regardless of the outcome, she would not be able to attend the next round because she was due to attend another show elsewhere. Judy, on the other hand, was a bit more tense. "I always find it very difficult watching her. I get very uptight. When she was jumping the unaffiliated tracks, I’ve been told that I used to raise my leg every time she went over a jump as if I was jumping it myself."

Louise’s apparent lack of concern about the day's competition caused tension between the mother and daughter as the day went on. Despite the friction that sometimes occurs, Louise appreciates the costs involved, "Yes, there is pressure to do well because I know that they have invested a lot of money into not just the ponies, but all the money it costs to compete everywhere. So I have to do well to make the ponies more valuable so that, when we sell them, we have made a profit rather than a loss at the end of the day."

When Judy is asked about the cost involved, she turns cagey. "I could put a rough figure on it but I would rather not. It’s rather more than my husband would care to think." There are other costs besides the monetary one however. "There’s a lot of time and a lot of effort that goes into this. We don’t go on holidays. I don’t very often buy new clothes…but we don’t go out an awful lot so I suppose there’s no need for any. We are a divided family at the moment because of the different interests of everybody, which I find quite sad. But, I’m sure we can’t be the only family like that."

When asked how her mother would react if she decided to give it all up tomorrow, Louise responds, "I think she would be very disappointed because of how much effort we have both put into what we’ve been doing. But I think she would support my decision." Judy agrees and says that, while she would be disappointed, "You cannot make a child do it if she doesn’t want to. I suppose we all have slightly different ambitions. I’m sure everybody has an ambition. I’m not sure everybody can fulfil them. I think that’s a sad thing, but we have been able to do a bit—not as much as Louise would like, but I’ve done my best."

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