Once again there was a great vibe at Hartpury going into the third day of the prestigious NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships. On offer in the lead-up to the highly anticipated gala performance was a crowd-pulling music freestyle, two straight classes, and two Petplan Equine finals. Once again, the LeMieux Live Stream in conjunction with Show Direct and Goldeneye Video and Photography proved a hit with around 14,000 viewers from across the UK, and the world.
Blue Chip Novice Restricted
Nineteen-year-old Jade Whitelaw’s journey back home to Aberdeenshire will seem an awful lot shorter than her journey here after the stole the show in the Blue Chip Novice Restricted title. First to go in the 21-strong class, Jade rode her own eight-year-old son of Donnersohn, Dauphin III, to score 72.01%, more than one percent ahead of her closest rival.
Delighted Jade, who had qualified on a wild card said: “It’s just amazing to do this! I was quite chilled and thought ‘that was a nice test’ but that was it. I enjoyed it - it was all good, solid and consistent, but I didn’t expect to maintain the lead. My mum though couldn’t contain herself as each score was posted! “
“My Facebook was going wild! There were so many people watching from Scotland on the live stream, but for me it really hasn’t sunk in yet – I really can’t believe it!
Jade bought Dauphin two years ago when she was on a gap year. He was at my trainer, Jennifer Johnston’s yard to be sold on behalf of Morgan Equine. I loved him and my mum said ‘we might as well occupy you with another horse’!
Petplan Equine Area Festival Medium Restricted Championship
Wiltshire-based rider Abbie Newbury, who turned sixteen last week, topped the table of 27 national finalists in the Petplan Equine Area Festival Medium Restricted Championship. Abbie, riding Amanda Royle’s Comet II, a charismatic 13-year-old KWPN gelding by Come Back II, scored an impressive 69.09% to edge ahead of second-placed Laura Jenkyn and Bakkegardens Alonso.
Abbie told British Dressage: “It feels amazing to do so well, and it’s a very nice surprise as I wasn’t expecting it at all!”
Trained by Sam Rahmatalla, the combination came together two years ago. “His owner, Amanda, had ridden him then he had a year off before I took on the ride so we started afresh,” explained Abbie. “He’s very nice to train and generally tries hard. I aim to take him to the Junior Viewing days at the end of this year.”
Abbie is taking her GCSEs this year, so has a slick routine in place to allow her time to train. “I’m going to do A levels, then focus on riding. Dressage is what I want to do long-term.”
Blue Chip Novice Open Championship
On form young star, Sadie Smith and the outstanding River Rise Escarla (Lord Leatherdale x Ferro), added a second victory to their tally this week, with a resounding victory in the Blue Chip Novice Open Championship.
The powerful performance by Sadie and the Lord Leatherdale daughter showed super balance and harmony - the six-year-old mare’s huge presence filled the Hartpury arena and they scored 74.66%. “I am really chuffed. She’s a dream horse and gives the most amazing feel,” said Sadie, clearly delighted. “She’s so reliable, just goes in and does her job plus she’s gaining much more power and has found another gear. I adore her. When she’s really ‘through’, I can just sit there and cruise round.”
Bred and owned by Sarah Tyler-Evans, ‘Maisie’, as she’s known, had a highly successful 2014 in young horse classes, and will contend the six-year-old divisions this year.
Trained by Isobel Wessels and Carl Hester, Sadie (25) has earned the support of a great team and is shrewdly planning her future within the sport. I did the BD Young Professionals Award last year and it’s been such a support. It’s helped me to learn a lot about business, and I used the money won for coming third to set up a new website.
PDS Saddles Elementary Restricted
Para rider, Charlotte Cundall dominated the competition in the PDS Saddles Elementary Restricted Music Freestyle, scoring an impressive 75.53% - almost four per cent above second placed David Drake with Cillbarra My Big Boy (71.60%).
Partnered by her own 14-year-old Irish-bred gelding, The Chenko Artist, the wins marks the second championship title Charlotte has gained this year, the duo also claimed the Grade IV Novice Restricted title at the Nirvana Spa Para Winter Championships in March.
“I’m really pleased with the test, especially as it was all a bit nerve wracking!” exclaimed Charlotte. “I had chance to watch the first half of the class, which didn’t help with my nerves as there were some fantastic horses out there.”
“The timings of my movements to the music all happened where it should, which is always great as sometimes you don’t know if an arena is going to ride fast or slow,” she continued. “I changed my floor plan last week and had to measure an arena out in a field as I don’t have a 20x60 arena, so I had my fingers crossed that my measuring was accurate – because it could have all gone wrong!”
Charlotte enjoyed a successful eventing and racing career until she broke her back in a riding accident over four and a half years ago. She eventually sat back in the saddle just over a year ago and took up dressage as a para rider.
“It’s given me a whole new lease of life with something to really focus on,” Charlotte stated. “I was an event rider and now I’m trying to retrain myself to be a dressage rider, it’s tough as it’s so different but I’m absolutely loving the challenge!”
Ian Woodhead trained both Charlotte and Chenko before they became a partnership and she describes him as being ‘fundamental’ in their improvement since gaining the ride in November. As for the future, they embarked on their first mediums last week and qualified for the summer regional championships in just one outing; the future is certainly looking bright for this pair.
Petplan Equine Area Festival Novice Open
Hertfordshire-based Kate Rowland and Erasmus I shot to the top in the Petplan Equine Area Festival Novice Open championship with a personal best of 76.08%. Together, the pair devoured the competition to claim first place by almost five per cent in a class filled with quality combinations – the top six all broke the 70% barrier.
It was just the sixth competition for the six-year-old German-bred gelding, owned by both Kate Rowland and Roland Tong, with all scores, impressively, above 75%.
‘To win feels fab, really good!” exclaimed Kate. “I knew it was a good test as soon as I came out of the arena. We just wanted him to have a very nice time with no pressure. This morning he was a little too sharp, whereas in the second test I could ride him a little more – having two tests in one day was brilliant experience for him.”
Kate has ridden Erasmus, under the guidance of trainer and co-owner Roland Tong, since he was broken two years ago.
"We're very excited about his future," exclaimed Roland. "He's still very green and, with his state of training and mind, taking him indoors would have been the wrong thing to do. The Petplan Area Festivals are the perfect opportunity to help build the confidence of a horse like him when in the arena."
For full results, click here.