Charles Owen Advanced Medium Restricted
Hertfordshire-based rider, Daisy Coakley (22) dominated the advanced medium restricted in convincing style. With her string of high-class horses, she filled four places on the start list. The talented competitor rode to victory with 69.56% on Judy Firmston-Williams’ KWPN nine-year-old Cleopatra II (pictured), was runner-up with Felicity Norrie’s Affinity Bay, and achieved seventh with Urbanus, a 3* event horse also owned by Felicity. Her other consistent partner Bing finished just out of the top ten after some uncharacteristic errors – ‘it just wasn’t his day’.
The scopey Dayana daughter, Cleopatra, made a big impression in the Hartpury Arena, with her naturally powerful and elastic gaits. “She [Cleopatra] came out a prizefighter today, but quickly became more subdued,” smiled Daisy, before the prize-giving. “She felt good. The extended canter to flying change was great, and the walk was amazing - as hers always is.”
Describing Cleopatra’s qualities, Daisy said: “She has a lot of attitude but always tries for me – she has a good attitude, and is very consistent with a soft and supple way of going.” This quality of work has now earned the pair an impressive CV of seven national titles and an opportunity to vie for another in Sunday’s Nupafeed Advanced Medium Music Freestyle.
Petplan Equine Area Festival Intermediate I Championship 
2015 is the first year to have a Petplan Equine Area Festival Championship at intermediate I level, and the winner of this popular first was Gemma Maddocks who hails from the Isle of Wight riding her own Heartbreaker-sired gelding, El Paso Van Overis. Gemma and the handsome Belgian-bred nine-year-old achieved a promising 68.55%, showing their class to head the competitive 20-strong class of national finalists.
“I was simply aiming for a mistake-free, clean test so I had a lovely surprise when I went to the scoreboard,” said Gemma, clearly delighted. “He’s been going brilliantly training up to this and although I was really pleased with his pirouettes and changes, it was still such a lovely surprise to win.”
Gemma, who trains with Nicola Buchanan and Daryl Smith, bought the good-looking bay two years ago. ‘Mars’ as he’s known at home, used to be ridden by Nicola who took him to advanced medium. “When I tried him, I didn’t want to get off. He has so much power and fire that other horses I looked at seemed quite ordinary by comparison.”
Petplan Equine Area Festival Elementary Open 
Suffolk-based 18-year-old Alice Wotton tasted victory today in the Petplan Equine Area Festival Elementary Open Championship. Partnering her mother Sara’s attractive KWPN gelding Belcanto Des Anges, Alice posted a great score of 72.01%, more than two percent ahead of her nearest rival.
The petite, athletic chestnut by Florencio, belied his low competition mileage to answer all the questions asked of him. “He’s been really good,” smiled Alice. “We’ve only had him a year, and he’s competed at just four affiliated shows – I really didn’t expect to do so well. He’s never seen anything like this [a championship] before.”
Alice has previously enjoyed a lot of success in the show ring, and it was a working hunter pony that got her hooked on dressage. A quest for a dressage partner ensued – a search which ended when she found ‘Billy’, as he’s known, for sale through the BD classifieds. They ‘fitted’ straight away, and with the help of trainer Ruth Hurst, Alice is forming an effective partnership with the talented horse.
Alice, who has completed her A-levels and is in her foundation year in Art and Design, has a place at Southampton University to study make-up for fashion. “Before then, I’m taking a year out to focus on him [Billy]."
PDS Saddles Elementary Open Music Freestyle 
Herefordshire rider Lucy Pincus (18) continued her impressive championship record with victory in the PDS Saddles Elementary Open Music Freestyle. Lucy rode David Pincus’s homebred seven-year-old Sheepcote Suncrest, an elegant bay gelding by San Schufro to score 73.65%.
“I’m so pleased with him,” said a delighted Lucy. “I didn’t know how he’d cope as he has little competition experience but he was brilliant. He gave me a great ride and a lot of people said the leg yielding looked really good. We competed at the Sheepgate U25s where we won the novice and elementary, but he’s done little else. I’m so happy with him especially as it was a little unexpected.”
Lucy rode her floorplan to a Jungle Book compilation, compiled by Kim Warren and her husband Fred. “They always do a fantastic job, and are so generous with their time,” said Lucy’s mother, Serena.
“It’s always very thrilling when it’s a homebred horse. It’s a really nice thing,” said Lucy’s proud father, David.
Baileys Horse Feeds Novice Restricted Music Freestyle 
It was BYRDS rider, Grace Johnston who raised the roof and topped the tables in the Baileys Horse Feeds Novice Restricted Freestyle to Music Championship. Riding her mum’s eight-year-old British-bred gelding by Caesar MI, Bathleyhills Sea Wurzel, she scored a personal best of 73.80% to take home the coveted title and highest score of the day.
13-year-old Grace and her partner, Albert – as he’s known by his friends – gained a wildcard to the championships when coming fourth in their regional final at Bishop Burton, after a spooky test.
“It’s just him, sometimes he can be scared of things,” explained Grace. “So, my plan for today was to focus straight ahead and pretend that nothing was happening around us – and that seemed to work! He was sharp during the test but we could use that to our advantage – especially in the medium canter down the centre line, we could really go for it!”
Grace and Albert danced their way to the top using several songs from The Little Mermaid: “I wanted people to feel happy when they watched the test, because it’s a performance! But it also had to be memorable, and I thought my music would be perfect as they’d remember ‘this grey pony who danced to The Little Mermaid’.”
Petplan Equine Area Festival Advanced Medium Open 
Another BYRDS rider, 21-year-old Hannah Jannaway stormed the Petplan Equine Area Festival Advanced Medium Open championship with her own 12-year-old British-bred gelding, Coady Bays Gold Dust.
Scoring a whopping 73.14%, four per cent above second placed Maggie Copus and Capriccio, the pair gained a personal best, the second of the day for the championships.
“Although he was a bit fruity at first, he warmed up well,” explained Hannah. “When I finished, I thought it was a good test but was unsure if I’d get the marks – so I’m really pleased! I really enjoyed his medium trot, we’ve been working hard to keep him soft in the neck and he felt supple throughout, which was great.”
Both horse and rider were young and inexperienced when they first became a combination eight years ago. The time spent growing up together is evident in their partnership and have taught each other everything they know – although Hannah insisted it is very much a team effort, particularly with trainer Yvonne Nailor.
“As a four year old, he went through a little bit of a troubled stage – I spent a lot of time getting chucked off onto the floor but now he’s an absolute dream horse and so positive in his training. We hardly ever have any bad days; he’s literally perfect in every way. It may have taken us a bit longer to get to advanced medium but that’s just because we both hadn’t done it before.”
The win marks a trio of successes and a perfect month for Hannah, as she has just completed her university degree and gained her first graduate job in Business Management, so celebrations all round this weekend!
Spillers Medium Restricted 
Herefordshire-based dressage rider, Ellie Targett was crowned the Spillers Medium Restricted champion after scoring an impressive 73.67% in a class filled with quality combinations. Riding her own striking 11-year-old German-bred gelding, Ranazotti.
“The test went well, except that I went wrong at the end!” Exclaimed Ellie, “I suddenly realised I turned the wrong way, so I had done the canter half pass to the right twice but luckily I had enough music to change it – which is the beauty of a freestyle test, they don’t have to know that you’ve made a mistake.”
“I found out yesterday that my son is expecting twins,” she continued. “It’s such an exciting piece of news; I think my head is elsewhere at the moment!”
It’s a step up in level for Ellie and Ranazotti – or Rossi, as he’s known at home – as last year, they took the PDS Elementary Restricted Freestyle title, but they don’t plan on stopping at medium:
“He’s done a couple of advanced mediums, and his music [created by Kim Warren and husband, Fred] suits him so well, so we’re now going to work on setting it to the advanced medium movements. He does the changes, they’re a bit rough, but he enjoys them and it’s coming.”
“The big plan?” responded Ellie. “Crash hat and tails – isn’t that everyone’s dream?”