At Roosendaal CDI3*, 24 – 26 May, Senior International rider Lesley Peyton-Gilbert and her ride Woodcroft Garuda K (pictured) came away with eighth place in the Prix St Georges (68.132%) and fourth in the Inter I Freestyle (69.975%).
Lesley, who rides the 12 year old stallion ‘G’ for owners Tim and Bernadette Harris, said “It was such a lovely relaxed venue and we had a great show. I was very lucky that Paul Hayler was there and he helped me to work in, really focusing on keeping ‘G's' shoulders up and getting him active off the inside leg. Sometimes he can get a bit in on himself and slow in the hindleg so Paul’s advice just before we went in really made a huge difference to our test.”
Roosendaal was an opportunity for ‘G’, who lives with Lesley, to gain more experience having had a relatively short career so far – Lesley has been riding him since 2011 and their first test together was at Medium level. They train together with David Trott and Suzanne Meisner.
Lesley wasn’t just pleased with their placings, after receiving some great comments from one of the judges “I was so pleased with our scores, but even more special than that was a comment I received from the Argentinian judge who said that ‘G’ and I had such an elegant and harmonious partnership and complimented my style of riding. I’m so happy to go away with that from an international, it means a lot to me as a representative of our country abroad.”
If proof was ever needed that dressage isn’t the stuffy sport of elitist’s then you need look no further than Roosendaal CDI3*.
Contesting alongside professional rider Lesley Peyton Gilbert in the Prix St Georges and Inter I Freestyle classes was unassuming mother of eight from Yorkshire, Mary Pritchard with her twelve year old grey stallion ‘Unison R’ (pictured).
Mary, who has been riding dressage for around six years and works a ‘normal’ job, found ‘Uni’ by accident when she went on holiday to Holland with her best friend who was looking for a horse. She said “It was a complete accident but I remember it like it was yesterday, I saw him walking around on the horse walker, whinnying away. I just fell in love with him.”
This was Mary and Uni’s first international competition, having qualified through the Premier League fixtures in 2012.
In the Prix St Georges the pair scored 66.816 for 13th place in a class of 26, followed by 65.750% for 12th in the Inter I Freestyle.
When asked who she trains with, Mary, who comes from an eventing background but gave it up 20 years ago when she started her family, said “Well, I have maybe one lesson a month with Ian Woodhead and I’ve had a couple of lessons with Jo Graham, but mostly I just train myself. I do a lot of watching, watching the top combinations all the time.” And when asked who helped her to arrange her music for the freestyle? “Oh, I did that myself.”
For Mary and 12 year old Uni, Roosendaal was a great first international experience “It was such a lovely, relaxed show – not as tense as some of the UK shows can feel. I travelled there with my husband and we both found it really friendly, and easy to mix with everyone. I was able to just settle in and enjoy the show – I didn’t feel nervous or doubtful.”
When asked about ‘Uni’s’ performance at the show, Mary said “I was so pleased with how he went – our training at home is clearly sending us in the right direction – we were only 3% off the winner.”
“He’s such a reliable horse, never naughty, always tries his best and at worst he just gets a bit tense. But I think it’s all down to experience, he’s got very low competition mileage because of my time commitments, so in a lot of ways he’s more like riding a ten year old. I was so chuffed because Paul Hayler even commented on how easy he looks.”
Mary and her family live on a small holding of three acres with four stables. Uni ( a Licensed stallion) resides there, alongside his mare ‘Princess’ and their two progeny. “He’s really very good, and not stallion like at all” she said when asked about keeping a stallion at home. “He’s got an amazing temperament, and he’s the same when we go to shows – nobody can actually believe that he’s a stallion!”
So what does the future hold for this unassuming, but clearly capable combination from the North?
“Well we’ll take it slowly – I’m definitely not a pro, not hammering away with a big string of horses. Uni’s developing really nicely at home with some of the grand prix movements but for this year we might try for Hartpury or Hickstead. Tonight though he’s going to cover Princess” she says laughing - so who knows what might be written in the stars?