Enjoy our little snapshots of fabulous children, ponies and helpers. We will forever treasure the memories:

 

Detailed report by our amazing team manager Jo Baker below:

 

Last weekend, the Beaufort Pony Club hosted the Area 9 Dressage Competition at the prestigious Badminton Estate and saw over 200 riders go down the centre line representing their clubs with a chance to qualify for the National Championships. BHPC were able to field 7 teams this year from grassroots level, right up to open along with some individual riders as well.

 

First to ride were the Beaufort Opals, our intermediate team with 3 of our riders stepping up to this level for the very first time. It is a new test this year and rather harder than previous years but all had worked extremely hard in preparation for this event and it paid off in spades – they won over all, with a section win for Poppy C, a 2nd for both Georgina B and Belle E and an 11th for George S (who had a super score, just a very tough, closely fought arena). Time to get their Nationals entries in!

Our open team, the Beaufort Diamonds were next and Tash B, Iona S and Zara BT were joined by Poppy C who until very recently had never ridden this very difficult open test. The bar had been set high by the intermediates but with busy work, school and A level commitments leading up to the event, we went with the mind set to enjoy the day out and put no pressure on ourselves. Maybe it was the relaxed mindset which worked it’s magic – the girls won convincingly with a section win for Zara, 2nds for Tash and Poppy and a super 8th for Iona.

They are now off to the Nationals and we are delighted that they will be joined by Bea M who finished a fab 6th so is also qualified.

 

Whilst the opens were riding the Open Novice began. This is a class especially for older/more experienced riders who have young/inexperienced horses. We were delighted to be joined by Jemima K and Bluebell who finished joint 4th with a super score for Bluebell who is a young pony new to competition white boards.

We had started the week with 3 full novice teams but due to various horsey issues, we fielded 1 full team, a team of 3 and now, 2 individuals on the day. Could the lucky charm which worked it’s magic on the opens and intermediates do it a third time? Well, yes actually, it did! The Beaufort Sapphires came away with sections 1sts for Florence W and Cesca B, a 4th for Amelie L and an 8th for Lily L who like George earlier in the day, had a super score, but a very tough arena.

There was no team placing this time for the Beaufort Rubies now down to 3 riders however there were top 10 placings for Florence W (5th) on her second ride and a 9th for Ella C also on her second ride having stepped in on her sister’s pony to make up the team numbers.

 

Last to ride were our youngest members in the Grassroots test. Would it be too much to hope for another championship qualification – apparently not! The Beaufort Garnets – 2 of whom had never ridden at such a big competition before were an amazing 2nd qualifying for the Regional Championships. We had a section 1st from Anastasia T, a 3rd from Olivia W, a 6th from Felicity H with a 13th for Isobel C. Isobel P had a whopping 70+% score and also qualified as an individual.

What an absolutely fabulous day for the Beaufort with winners at all levels!

 

However, whilst it is always fantastic to have winners, I would also like to say how very proud we are of our members who either, never having ridden in any kind of dressage competition before, let alone a competition as big as the areas or stepped up to a new higher level, put themselves forward to represent our club. Erin E, Ellie G, Lucy C, Emily AJ and Meg L (showjumping queen) trained hard and all rode brilliantly, but just missed the ribbons this time. A few more miles on the clock and they will be there – but what an amazing experience – you can now say you have competed at Badminton!

 

A special mention should also go to Holly R and Evie B who both had to withdraw from the competition the night before. Both girls were extremely disappointed not to be riding, however both still came on the day and were still able to be part of the team and help with some very important roles – Holly was in charge of team mascot Wilf leaving Vic free to warm everyone up and Evie enabled the scorers to ping out the results in super quick time by running score sheets all afternoon – huge thanks girls, a lovely thing to do when you were unable to ride yourselves.

 

Finally, last but absolutely not least, a HUGE thank you to Vic for coming and spending around 5 hours warming up so many riders whilst at the same time keeping both parents and riders cool calm and collected – keep up your magic, it’s clearly working!

Over and out all until after the champs – we’ll keep you posted.