Nupafeed Advanced Medium Music Freestyle
Superstar duo, Alice Oppenheimer and Tantoni Sir Soccrates continued their fantastic run of form with a win in the Nupafeed Advanced Medium Music Freestyle, their second title of the championship.
25-year-old Alice and Georgina Pole-Carew’s eight-year-old Sir Donnerhall-sired gelding scored a whopping 76.28% to top the table and win the class, with almost a four per cent gap above second placed Olivia Oakeley and Anne Keen’s Don Carissimo (72.50%). Alice and Socs – as he’s known at home – rode to music from the Lion King, which was initially put together by her dad for another horse but brought it out of retirement as she felt it suited him so much.
“He was a little bit hotter than yesterday; I think the music gave him a bit of a lift” stated Alice. “But I had a better feel from him today, he’s just fab. You can make it difficult or more complex and he just takes it all in his stride, his changes are quite solid so I thought I’d try a counter canter serpentine which, when it pulls off, looks amazing but if it goes wrong, it can kill your mark – but I’m a competitive person and I really wanted to go for it today.”
The pair has been on fire recently, scoring no less than 70% in every competition – national and international – over the last seven months, a fantastic achievement for the combination.
“Every competition I want to go for broke, I want to come out of the arena and – even if it has all gone wrong – I want to feel like I gave it my best shot and didn’t hold back. But I think that’s the best thing for him too because, where it’s a little bit harder, he concentrates more on me and the work he has to do, forgetting about things like the arena or atmosphere”
This is the last advanced medium competition for Alice and who will be spending the rest of the year focusing on small tour, trying to continue their fab form and working towards grand prix.
“He’s showing all the talent for the half steps, is starting to get the passage and we’re starting to get a few one-time changes, so it’s looking good – he’ll definitely go all the way.
Petplan Equine Area Festival Preliminary
The final Area Festival title of the NAF Five Star Winter Championships (15-19 April 2015) went to 17-year-old Anna Tomlinson. Riding her own beautiful ten-year-old palomino Arab gelding, Moreorless, Anna clocked up a score of 72.73% to head the leaderboard in the Petplan Equine Area Festival Preliminary final, topping her score of 69.39% in the first round earlier in the day.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, to be honest, but it’s amazing!” exclaimed Anna. “I’d like to say that I didn’t have any expectations – but I was secretly hoping for a top ten position, so I was really pleased with my result.”
“The first test in the morning was alright, it could have definitely gone better but I learnt a lot from it and applied that to the second test, which went much, much better” she added. “He was more uphill, which is something he can sometimes struggle with and I was really pleased with how he coped with the surroundings and atmosphere.”
Primarily an eventer competing pre-novice, Anna uses dressage and her training with Jane Critchley to improve all aspects, not just those in between the white boards, “I think it’s really important to work on your dressage – I couldn’t event without it” claimed Anna. As for the future, the winning duo is beginning work on elementary movements with the hopes of competing at the level later in the year.
Equitop Myoplast Elementary Restricted Championship
Up-and-coming young rider, 17-year-old Lewis Carrier took the Equitop Myoplast Elementary Restricted Championship scoring 70.83% on his own Diego V, a seven-year-old Dutch gelding by Spielberg who he has brought on himself.
“I bought Diego as a four-year-old sourced through my trainer at the time, Diana Fisher, who found him at Dan Greenwood’s yard. He was bit of a loose cannon but with lots of potential!” said Lewis, “He learns very quickly and has taken on moving up the levels easily. He loves learning new things”.
Now based in Redditch, Worcestershire, Lewis has been a working pupil with the Eilbergs for a year, “They’re hard working, but really nice people; working and training there has brought me on as a person and really matured Diego”.
The win has excited an ambitious Lewis for the future, “I hope to get as far as I can with Diego, the next thing is to progress to Medium level. I hope to aim for Young Riders, maybe in a year or two, which is definitely possible now I’m based at the Eilbergs' yard.”
Petplan Equine Advanced Medium Restricted
Young Cheshire rider Ottilie Bardsley won the coveted Petplan Equine Advanced Medium Restricted. The 15-year-old from Somerford Booths rode a mature test with her mother Sharon’s Dublin, a 14-year-old Dutch-bred pony by De Vito II. The pair was awarded with a score of 70.98%.
“I’m so pleased! I haven’t won anything before so it was a bit of a shock,” beamed Ottilie, whose dressage career started when Dublin came into her life two years ago said: “I did Pony Club and eventing before we bought ‘Dubs’ so he has taught me everything.”
The smart liver chestnut has a wealth of experience under his belt, being a former ride of international pony riders Erin Williams and Alex Hellings. This background has proven invaluable to Ottilie, who has enjoyed success in FEI Pony tests and an international call-up for Addington CDIPJY last month.
Albion Medium Open
The five day show came to a great end, with the red-hot Albion Medium Open Championship. The class was packed with class combinations but none could match the performance of Sophie Wells and C Fatal Attraction. The Paralympic, World and European gold-medallist rode a test showing great expression aboard Charlotte Hogg’s gelding, an eight-year-old son of Fidertanz to score 70.41%.
Sophie was at Hartpury fresh from a trip to Deauville CPEDI3* where she dominated the Grade IV with Valerius and achieved top-four placings with C Fatal Attraction. She credited the performance of her younger ride at Hartpury to this experience. “We were in Deauville last week and it has done him [C Fatal Attraction] the world of good. Until now, he’s not been able to show what he’s capable of, but now he’s more relaxed, he can. Deauville has done him a lot of favours.”
Sophie’s a rare talent, as not only is she one of the world’s leading para riders, she also competes in international grand prix.
For full results, click here.