News | 20 June 2024
Interbranch and Regional SJ qualifiers report
What a fantastic day we all had at the Interbranch Show Jumping and Regional SJ qualifiers. The British weather threw everything it had at us, from torrential rain, to wind and (brief) sunshine at the end of the day. Despite the weather we didn’t hear a single child complain, and the Flamstead PC gazebo offered a welcome shelter and focal point between classes.
The big ticket classes for the day were the two-round 70 and 80cm sections, which were qualifiers for the Regional championships in August. These were huge classes and very hotly contested.
In the 80 class, we had 13 Flamstead riders, making up 3 x 4 man Flamstead teams with Charlie Rainbow and Chino in a Mixed Middlegrove team.
The Finches (Rory, Tamar, Amy and Guy) flew round the first round which enabled them to submit 3 beautiful clears and leave them in a strong position to start the second round.
Chloe Issott and Freckles and Jemima Martin on Meena also flew round clear for the Flamingoes with fellow team mates Anne and Jemima suffering from four faultitus. Jemima Martin and Meena rode into individual 4th place and were the highest scoring Flamstead rider of the competition. Massive Welldone to Jemima!
Nicole Issott and Dandy rode the only clear for the Fantails with Lyra and Marmite having an unlucky pole and federica and Jemima M on Honey having tough rounds in the torrential rain.
The second round saw the Finches through to Champs coming second overall. The Flamingoes rocked into 5th place and also qualified for Champs at Aston Le Walls in August. We had individual placings for Jemima Martin at 4th, Amy Vale at 8th and Amy was one of the few to ride clear in both rounds.
Great class, hugely competitive and were chuffed to bits to have 2 teams qualify.
In the 70 class both of our teams pulled it out of the bag with clears in the first round for Valentina, Sienna, Zoe, Chloe and Frank and unlucky 4 faults for Leila and Harvey.
A course change and some sticky ground really mixed up the field in round 2, but Valentina and Sienna jumped super fast clears to finish an exceptional 2nd and 7th individually and give their team with Zoe and Chloe (each with an unlucky 4 faults) the win! Leila jumped the fastest clear second round of the day to qualify as an individual. We wish them all the best at Regionals in August!
The 60 riders did so well to be the last Flamstead team to jump at the end of a very long day. A twisty course suited the nimble smaller ponies but all of our riders rode exceptionally well, Violet and Flo jumping lovely clears and Zoe and Hugo each with 4 faults put the team a very respectable 5th out of 13.
The 50 was the biggest class of the day with 89 entries and Flamstead put forward 2 very competitive teams. The planks proved to be the ‘bogey’ fence, catching out some very experienced combinations. Very well done to the team of Hugo, Ciara, Mia and Euan who finished 4th with Hugo scooping an impressive individual 4th with a lightning fast round on Lilli. In the other team of Cecily, Flo, Hugo and Lilly May, Cecily finished an impressive individual 10th, with Flo in hot pursuit. Jess put in a lovely clear round as an individual, and Molly had an unlucky 4 faults.
The 40 class started the day and what a start it was for Flamstead! We have so many good riders at this level, with fast clears from Mia, Cecily, Euan and Jess, putting them in 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th, with just a few seconds splitting them. The team of Mia, Cecily, Euan and Lilly May successfully defended Flamstead’s title. The rest of our riders also acquitted themselves admirably with a lovely clear from Sienna for 15th and Molly and Maddie each having an unlucky 4 faults. There was a wonderful display of courage and perseverance from Lilly May, whose pony Bluebell struggled a bit with the atmosphere of the busy show!
It was so lovely to spend the day out with so many Flamstead members, whose positive attitude and team spirit made a rather cold and soggy day memorable for all the right reasons. A huge thank you to Georgie who managed to course walk every single class and was there to warm up all of our Regional qualifiers, even at the expense of seeing her own girls jump.
