My Journey!

Owen Davies-Brown — My Eventing Journey

I’m Owen Davies-Brown, an 18-year-old event rider based in the Cotswolds, horses and eventing have become a huge part of my life. I’ve always loved the challenge of working with horses and developing a partnership where you have to trust each other completely. For me, eventing is the perfect sport because it combines three very different disciplines — dressage, show jumping and cross-country — and each one brings its own challenges.

My journey in eventing has been built around gaining experience, learning from every competition and developing my horses alongside myself. I enjoy the process just as much as the competition itself: the training at home, preparing for an event, walking the cross-country course and then putting everything together when it matters.

One of the horses who has played an important part in my eventing journey is Balu Gidran 40. I competed Balu in 90cm eventing, including at the Cotswold Cup Final at Cirencester Park in 2024. Competing Balu gave me valuable experience and helped me continue developing my confidence and skills as an event rider.

More recently, I have been competing Belline Ames to Please, another important horse in my progression. We have been competing together toward Novice level, gaining valuable experience and continuing to work towards bigger goals. Every competition was another opportunity to learn, improve and strengthen the partnership between horse and rider.

I particularly love the cross-country phase. There is something unique about leaving the start box, building a rhythm and having to make decisions together with your horse. At the same time, I know that successful eventing isn’t just about going fast or jumping big fences. It is about producing a consistent dressage test, jumping accurately in the show jumping and then having the confidence, fitness and preparation to tackle the cross-country course.

Being an event rider has taught me a lot about patience and responsibility. Horses don’t always have the same day-to-day form, and there are always setbacks as well as successes. I try to take something from every experience, whether it is a good result, a difficult round or simply something that I can improve at home.

At 18, I feel that I am still at the beginning of my eventing career. I have a huge amount to learn, but that is one of the things I enjoy most about the sport. Every horse teaches me something different, every competition gives me another experience and every season gives me new goals to work towards.

My ultimate long-term goal is to compete at 5 level by the time I am 25*. I know that is a huge ambition and that there is a lot of work between where I am now and reaching that level. My plan is to take each stage as it comes, developing myself as a rider, producing my horses carefully and gaining the experience required to compete successfully at the highest level.

I don’t want to rush the journey simply for the sake of moving up the levels. I want to build the right foundations and make sure that both my horses and I are ready for each challenge. Reaching 5* would be an incredible achievement, but the journey towards it — the training, the setbacks, the successes and the partnerships I build with my horses — is just as important to me.

For me, eventing is about much more than results. It is about the partnership with my horses, the people who support me, the lessons I learn along the way and the constant challenge of becoming a better rider. I’m determined to keep working, keep learning and see just how far I can take my eventing career.

The goal is to go 5* by the time I’m 25 — and I’m ready to work for it.*