After a year of hard work in qualifying classes, Hurst pupils proudly represented the college at the NSEA Championships at Addington Manor, Buckinghamshire. Seven teams and twenty individual combinations competed across four disciplines: showjumping, dressage, combined training, and jumping with style. With championship qualifications available at every height from 70cm to 1.20m, the four-day event was packed with action and proved to be a resounding success thanks to the commitment and teamwork of everyone involved.
In showjumping, Hurst Equestrian achieved excellent results at every level. Both 70cm teams delivered faultless rounds, finishing on scores of zero, but were unfortunately not fast enough to qualify for the final. Congratulations to Darcey G, Hettie MC, Annabel J, Rossanna A, Rosie YJ, Florence MC, and Scarlet C for qualifying and producing such lovely rounds. In the 80cm class, Hurst Blue finished on a score of zero with a fast combined time, placing in the top eight out of 38 teams and qualifying for the final, where they remained faultless and secured a podium finish in 3rd place. Well done to Louise MS, Darcey G, Scarlet Z, and Olivia S. Louise also achieved second place in the 80cm warm-up class the previous day. On Friday evening, Lars D, Louise MS, and Scarlet Z competed in the 90cm New Windsor Challenge, finishing 6th. The same team then contested the 90cm Championship, finishing the first round in pole position as one of only three teams on zero faults. Despite pulling out all the stops in the final, a couple of poles left them in 6th place overall. Lars D also received the Best of the Rest Award for the fastest round by a rider not qualified as an individual. The 1m team became champions after two challenging rounds—congratulations to Lars D, Morten D, Olivia S, and Ralf B. Brothers Morten and Lars excelled in the 1.10m finals, with Morten finishing 3rd in the horse final and Lars 4th in the pony final. Ralf B rounded off the showjumping success with a 3rd place podium finish in the 1.20m horse final, the highest height of the championships.
In dressage, Olivia S competed in the Novice Individual Championships, riding a strong test to score 66.5% and finish 10th out of 25 riders, narrowly missing a rosette. Ralf B also shone in other disciplines, taking 2nd place in the 1.10m Jumping with Style Championship and winning the 1m Combined Training Individual final with his mare Skyline after scoring an impressive 75.65% in dressage and jumping clear. His other horse, CBH Clover Lining, also jumped clear and scored 67.83%, earning him another podium finish in 3rd place. Across the championships, Ralf achieved five top three finishes—an outstanding achievement.
By the end of the competition, Hurst riders secured 10 championship results, including seven podium finishes. Every pupil represented the college brilliantly both in and out of the ring, and we look forward to returning in 2026.
