The Equestrian team has had a busy summer competing all over the country and attending multiple camps to develop their riding skills.
Youth Eventing Championships
Martha, and Kilconly Richie (Woody), represented the Southeast of England at the British Youth Eventing Championships. There was a trot up on day one, team dressage over the next two days, cross-country on the fourth day, and a second trot up before the show jumping phase commenced. Woody had a fantastic dressage test scoring 29.8, and Martha went into the cross-country phase in sixth place, jumping a clear round with just a few time faults for going too fast. In the show jumping phase, Martha jumped a clear round to finish 13th individually, and helping her team to fifth place. An incredible experience, setting her up in a strong position to compete at the Pony Club Championships when she won her class in the Novice Eventing division, placing fifth in the intermediate dressage.
Pony Showjumping
Harry, and Robe Ruadh (Rudi), qualified for the Pony Showjumper of the Year at the Horse of the Year Show, which takes place in October. He has worked incredibly hard over the past 18 months and his partnership with Rudi has gone from strength-to-strength, jumping the biggest tracks on the 148cm circuit. As part of the 148cm England team at the Welsh Pony in July, Harry finished sixth individually at the NSEA Hickstead Elite Championship. He also had two ponies competing at the BS National Championships.
Ryan was also part of the 148cm England Team competing at Welsh Home Pony. He picked up five wins and qualified for HOYs on Midnight D’Euro. He also competed at the Scottish Home Pony in July, and picked up a win in the 1.15m Members Cup at the National Championships, Stoneleigh.
Lauren, who started at Hurst this September, is an exciting new addition to the Equestrian team. She completed some lovely clear rounds at both 1m and 1.05m divisions at Scope with ponies, Storm and Squiggles. To top off her summer, she was also part of the Dorset House team who became NSEA National Champions in the 80-85cm class.
Competitions and training camps
Scarlett S-H took part in her first competition for Hurst in June and has continued to progress well. She had a great time at some training camps, competing in the 80cm competition. Tilda S has been getting to know her new horse Bob. They placed third at the Chid and Lec Hunter Trials and qualified for the 80cm pairs at Eland Lodge. Chloe passed both parts of her B test – a well-regarded qualification within the Pony Club – a brilliant achievement. Matilda P and Murphy focussed on their show jumping, competing in the 1.10m division at the Pony Club Open qualifiers. There were three rounds over technical courses, as Matilda placed seventh individually, and her team took second which qualified them for the championships.
Dressage
The team has also had success in the dressage discipline. Katie, who qualified earlier in the year, competed at the Pony Club Team Grassroots Dressage Competition. Harriet N continued to gain experience, attending Pony Camp whilst competing in the dressage and show jumping competitions.
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