Arena Eventing
It was great to see lots of our members out on Sunday riding for Flamstead in the Spring Festival Qualifiers at Bury Farm. Our 70 riders kicked off the class which was a distinct disadvantage as we didn’t know how the course would ride, and how the optimum time pace would fall. It turned out to be a course with hardly any clears without time penalties too, so was a definite challenge! The Spring Festival also only allows a team of 3, so with no drop score it really was a harsh competition! Our Flamstead riders Frank, Zoe, Hugo, Samuel and Zoe all gave it a really great go. Hugo and his lovely young mare Molly finished individually in 9th place, with 4 faults XC but hardly any time faults. Sammy and Dusty rode a super clear but not quite fast enough so gained a few time penalties there. Our 70 team of Zoe, Hugo and Frank finished in 2nd place, unfortunately just missing out on the team qualification, but amazing result none the less.
We had 3 teams competing in the 80cm. By now these riders knew the course was a challenge and with Georgie’s guidance tackled the course with determination. There was a mixed bag of poles, the odd stop, or time faults, across the board in the class generally, and we were incredibly proud of how our riders supported each other throughout. Representing Flamstead were Sammy, Emily, Nicole, Chloe, Hugo, Frank, Florence, Sienna and Violet. We had very strong performances from our team consisting of Florence, Sienna and Violet, who came 2nd overall, narrowly missing the qualification which was disappointing for them as they were in the lead for a lot of the class! Florence did an amazing job of keeping her very keen pony in check to only get 4 faults finishing in 11th, Violet rode a lovely round which looked like she was going to be clear until the last pole went down as she went over the finish line, this was still good enough for 10th place individually. Sienna and lovely Smurf rode a steady, foot perfect round on the time, to take the well deserved win, and qualification for the final in the spring!
Florence, Penny and Jess R then took on the 90, which proved challenging, but having calmed down a bit after their first ride, Florence rode a great round to finish 11th. Jess also took on the 1m course.
Thank you to all of our riders for coming out and taking on the arena eventing challenge, we are proud of you all, and how you kept composed even when things didn’t always go to plan! Thank you to Georgie for her support and advice on the day and well done to Sienna for her fantastic result and we will look forward to cheering her on in the final!
Dressage
Intermediate
We are proud to report that the Intermediate dressage team of Sienna, Penny and Zoe has qualified for the Spring Festival Finals with a team 1st place. All three rode excellent tests, with Sienna (69.83%) in 2nd, and Zoe and Penny on identical scores (66.83%) in joint 5th. It has been a joy to watch these three riders progress through the levels, and their qualification for the finals is well deserved.
Novice
We had some excellent tests ridden, and we are pleased to welcome new team members Chloe and Nicole. In a very strong class of 25 riders, Sienna excelled with an individual qualification and 1st place (70.60%), while Zoe finished 4th (69.80%), just missing qualification due to an error of course. The team secured 4th place.
PC80
We had a great turnout with six riders from our team in this class. They all rode excellent tests, and the progress of the partnerships is great to see.
- Violet on Hugo, 4th (68.5%)
- Flora, 5th (67.9%)
- Frank, 8th (66.7%)
- Zoe on Molly, 9th (66.5%)
- Ellie, 13th (64.2%)
- Sophia, 17th (59.2%)
The teams secured 4th place (Frank, Violet, Ellie) and 6th place (Flora, Sophia, Zoe).