Well this was a special ‘Gala’ competition celebrating the fact that, thanks to some very generous grants, we have a new roof on our indoor arena. We were delighted to have three trustees from the Ibstock Cory Foundation with us since their grant of £50,000 was absolutely central to the success of this project. They all very much enjoyed watching the riders achieving such excellent results in their individual Classes.
These twice yearly Dressage Days have now become so popular that the available places were filled in less than two days! The lucky forty competitors were from our Centre, Lyncombe Lodge, Saxon and Wellow Groups and everyone was delighted that the weather remained dry after such heavy rain on Thursday!
Here are the riders placed first to third in each Class:
Class 1
1st Zoe Henderson riding Frankie
2nd Megan Newman riding Dolly (Wellow)
3rd Alistair Kennedy riding Caellyn (Saxon)
Class 2 Juniors
1st Joe Cordey riding Daymo
2nd Luca Cookson riding Fettle (Lyncombe Lodge)
3rd Alisha Craigie riding Bunty
Class 2 Seniors
1st = Diane Green riding Whitty
1st = Jo Hall riding Leaf
2nd Bobby Chaloner riding Barney
Class 3
1st Emily Rodman riding Jim
2nd Alistair Kennedy riding Caellyn (Saxon)
3rd Laura Barefoot riding Whitty
Class 4
1st Paige Alford riding Marge
2nd James Bunker riding Bella
3rd Laura Smith riding Dolly
Class 5
1st Sarah Jane Haringford riding her own Moondust (Saxon)
2nd Claire Mill riding Leaf
3rd Stella Jelly riding Roddy
It was a lovely day with lots of friendly encouragement shown to all competitors regardless of their final placing and we look forward to seeing many of the riders at the RDA Mid West Regional Qualifiers on May 18th that will be held at Avon Riding Centre.
I would like to thank all the members of staff and volunteers for their hard work, the judges Sally Hall, Claire Hacker and Rosemary Burton who all said that they were impressed by the standard of riding and empathy shown for the horses. Finally thanks to all the competitors and their families for making this day special for all concerned.
