Albrighton Hunt Pony Club was brilliantly represented across all three days at the Pony Club Regional Finals at Kelsall, with riders competing in dressage, showjumping and eventing. Qualifying for the Regional Finals is a fantastic achievement in itself, and every rider should be very proud of their hard work, commitment and performances over the weekend.

Dressage

The PC Regional Finals at Kelsall kicked off with the PC80 dressage. The girls rode great tests in pretty grim conditions, with Freya riding her new pony, who is still very new to dressage, and achieving a very respectable 61%.

Elodie scored an impressive 67.8% and finished in 6th place. The standard was high, so these were brilliant achievements by both riders.

Next was the turn of our PC70 dressage team, who finished a very respectable 9th out of 17 teams. There were super tests from Alex and Macy, both scoring in the high 60s, and a fabulous 73.60% from Erin, who came 4th in a very competitive section.

Showjumping

Next came the showjumping, with some brilliant riding across both days. Seb represented Albrighton as an individual in the 70cm, taking on a huge class of nearly 300 competitors.

Seb rode two fantastic clear rounds to secure his place in the jump-off. He then produced another clear in the jump-off — an amazing achievement, especially as we believe this was the first jump-off he had ever ridden and the biggest course he had tackled so far.

Three clears across the competition saw Seb finish an incredible 15th out of nearly 100 competitors — a brilliant result and something he should be extremely proud of.

Our 80cm team also got off to a strong start, with Macy and Emily both jumping clear in the first round. Unfortunately, Elodie had an error of course, but otherwise jumped well.

The second round was full up to height, with some tricky lines that gave the riders plenty to think about.

Elodie came back determined and produced a lovely clear round. Emily was also on track for another clear and rode brilliantly around the course, only to have the heartbreak of rolling the very last pole. Macy also put in a good round, unfortunately picking up faults at the second-to-last fence.

It was a great weekend of showjumping, with all four riders gaining valuable championship experience and producing some excellent rounds.

Eventing

Our eventing team was made up of Emily, Emilia and Elodie in the PC80, Macy in the PC70, and Scarlett and Freya in the PC70 Plus. After a very dry summer, with the ground too hard for much cross-country practice, we went to the other extreme and woke up to torrential rain, making the dressage arenas and cross-country course rather slippery.

Despite the challenging conditions, our riders delivered excellent tests. Scarlett and Macy led their sections, Elodie was in 2nd, and Emily was in 3rd, with Freya also producing a much-improved test on her novice horse.

The showjumping proved tricky for some, but Emily, Scarlett and Macy flew round with no points to add. The cross-country was challenging, with combinations, a big water complex and rolling hills.

Emilia stormed round with confidence, as did Emily, who finished 3rd in her section with no points to add to her dressage score of 29 — a fantastic achievement for this new partnership.

Scarlett and Rebel took everything in their stride, going double clear for an overall win in the PC70 Plus — a fabulous result to complete their first season eventing. Well done to the whole AHPC eventing team for their hard work and determination!