Horse Week: Love is in the air at Balmoral Show as Sarah says ‘yes’

On Thursday afternoon, Sarah received the shock of her life when her partner of 12 years, Graeme Kirkpatrick, got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

It was all the more surprising as Graeme works away and wasn’t due home for another week.

Sarah, who lives in Carrowdore, Co Down, had just jumped in the Clifden High Performance class on her Connemara pony Lankill Lord Bui when she exited the ring to discover Graeme waiting for her.

“It was a huge shock to see him waiting for me as I came out of the ring on Thursday,” Sarah told HorseWeek.

Nobody knew of Graeme’s plans but he had managed to arrange for Sarah to have her nails done by a friend earlier in the week (ready for those all important ring pictures!).

“Everybody was very shocked as they had no idea what he had planned,” Sarah added.

“My mum and Graeme’s dad were there, and they had no idea about it.”

Sarah, who had four horses at this year’s show, has been competing at Balmoral since she was 12 years old.

She competed on the Wednesday and Thursday, riding in the four-year-old heavy hunter class and ridden Connemara class as well as the Clifden High Performance competition.

Lankill Lord Bui jumped “amazingly” on Thursday with the pair finishing in an impressive third place position.

Graeme had booked a romantic evening away on Thursday night to a log cabin so the pair could mark their engagement, with the celebrations continuing at Balmoral on Friday with their friends.

With Lankill Lord Bui playing such a big part in the engagement, Sarah said it’s only right that he has a starring role in the upcoming wedding too.