HANNAH ‘Sparkles’ Watson is busy listing what she will put in her equipment trunks for the Tokyo Olympic Games when I interrupt her to hear how the preparations are going this week.

Aptly named Sparkles due to her exceptional turnout skills, she looks after and is the official groom for her husband Sam’s top horses, and the couple are quite the dynamic duo on the international circuit.

Sam was selected on the Irish eventing team for Tokyo with Vahe Bogossian’s 12-year-old gelding Tullabeg Flamenco who will have his final run this weekend before leaving for quarantine in Aachen, Germany, next Friday.

“There are lists all over the house,” Sparkles told The Irish Field. Her superstitious nature meant she would not start thinking about the packing process until the pair were selected for the Games and word only came through less than two weeks ago. “It’s been very busy since being picked and it is quite a short period of time.

“The main things that I did have to get organised before getting picked was checking his FEI passport is in date, that his vaccinations are in order, have his shoeing worked out, those are the main things you have to think about in time.”

Now, she is getting ready to submit her list of belongings that will be packed into three trunks, with approx. 200kg allowance per horse. “We have to list every single item and there is a weight limit so you have to be really selective about exactly what you want. We are also just sorting out getting his feed out there and there is a weight limit on that too.

“If I could I would take all the tack!” she added with a laugh. “Most of the time we travel with Sarah Ennis and I can see her face when I arrive thinking ‘oh God, Sparkles, what are you bringing?’”

Is there anything special that must come to the show? “We have a really old flag that is from Sam’s dad. It is ancient, it has been to all the championships with Sam, it is always put into the truck wherever we are going.

"Sam is so not superstitious, he is so data-driven and analytical, whereas I am the one who salutes magpies!”

Getting there

Tullabeg Flamenco will travel with the other Irish horses via the UK landbridge to Aachen with a transporter, and Sam and Sparkles will meet him there. After quarantine, he flies from Liege to Tokyo.

“Tullabeg Flamenco has never flown but I’ve had two horses fly: Bushman to Kentucky and Ardagh Highlight to Tryon. They are so well looked after on the flight and all get through it fine,” Sparkles said.

In terms of getting the gelding acclimatised to the severe heat that Tokyo will present, Sparkles said that Sam has been riding him at the hottest part of the day, which isn’t always very hot in Ireland, and rides him with an exercise rug on.

“I have been keeping him as warm as possible too so he is getting used to it. I know the stables will have air conditioning, but I have a couple of lightweight sheets on him at home, so he is used to taking as much heat as he can take.”

Olympic experience

While it is Sam’s first Olympic selection, Sparkles was groom for Pippa Funnell at Athens in 2004 when she won team silver and individual bronze with Primmore’s Pride. But she admits having her husband out there on cross-country is extra nerve racking.

“I am just absolutely fine as long as I have something to do; when he is out there on cross-country and there is nothing I can do, that is the only time I am a bit like ‘oh God…’ apart from that, I am fine. Sam is so easy to work with, he is so laidback and lets me get on with it.”

The pair, who leave for Aachen on July 10th, will be away from their two boys – Toby and Archie – for over three weeks. “It is really tough, and their birthdays are on while we are away. But my mum is looking after them and Sam’s mum, and they don’t mind a bit. Once I am gone and doing my job with the horse it will be fine, but it is tough. I am just so proud of Sam, it is a huge achievement, I have to be there for him.

“Sam is so analytical about everything. He is a great thinker and very focused, there is no flapping about! Sarah, Cathal and Sam were part of the team that won the silver medal together in Tryon, they are great competitors. It is just really going to be incredible to go to an Olympics with those guys,” she said.

On a sombre note, Sam and Sparkles will be taking the late Tiggy Hancock’s ‘Rab Rab’ teddy to Tokyo, given to them to mind by the Hancock family, while Tullabeg Flamenco’s dun coat is Tiggy’s favourite colour. “Tiggy had this Rab Rab from when she was tiny. We have him with us and hopefully I will be able to attach him to Sam’s number as he goes around cross-county.

“I just can’t believe we are taking a big yellow pony to Tokyo, it is just so fitting for Tiggy and we will be thinking of her and her family.”