It’s that time of year again! The team manager’s report will be added as each competition happens below.
EVENTING
Area 7 Eventing 2nd July 2023 Offchurch Bury
This year we went out with 19 competitors.
1 team and individual at 70
1 team at 80
2 teams at 90
2 riders at 100.
Grab a chair it’s going to be a long one!
The day started very early 7 am course walk for the 90 teams the Ludlow Pelhams and Ludlow Kimblewicks. This year the times were done differently so unfortunately our team members were spread out.
Pelhams Rebecca Parsonage, Ella Perkins, Abi Bradley, and Poppy Pritchard all produced super tests with both Ella and Becky leading their sections.
Kimblewicks Livvy Hathaway, Emily Walsh, and Millie May also produced super tests, coming back with smiles sitting comfortably in their sections.
Both teams Showjumped in sporadic times,
Becky, Ella, and Poppy came away with super clears With Ella and Becky maintaining their leads, Abi had an unfortunate 2 poles ( not big enough for Penny)
Kimblewicks had a couple of poles between them but everyone was cheering Livvy Hathaway on who Rode a super sj round for just one pole.
On to the XC, Becky was first out …. Billy was going well just an unfortunate 20 penalties at the corner but he continued full of running…
Followed by the rest of the Ludlows, going brilliantly with Abi, Poppy, and Emily going clear. Livvy Hathaway was storming around but picked up 20 penalties at a fence with a tricky line but represented and off they flew.
Unfortunately, Millie May’s Monty may have had PTSD from the water last year and decided he didn’t like it again, Millie got him over a second time but it seemed to have knocked his stuffing so they retired.
Finally, Ella went out, after a minor mishap in the warmup 🥴they flew until a miscommunication on striding at fence six saw Ella fired out the side game over. Lots of tears as she felt she had let Harley down but they live to fight another day.
No team or individual qualification as just out the rosettes for the 90s this year, however, they all rode fantastically.
100 competitors Megan Caine and Oliver Smith both produced tests that they wish were lower ( Megan’s was in the end after Caroline realised they had added it up incorrectly, always pays to check)
Both poles in the SJ but pleasing rounds, then lovely Clears XC giving them both a qualification to the Championships 😍
80 team. Oliver Digwood, Oscar Morgan, and Hannah Lawry.
What a team these members proved to be.
Both Hannah and Oliver Produced super tests, Hannah 29.9 and Oliver 30 best scores to date. Oscar worked very hard on both of his ponies despite an absolutely dreadful dressage judge to come away with pleasing tests, bearing in mind this is his first time.
Sj all members Rode brilliantly, Oliver had a super clear. A couple of poles between Hannah and Oscar, but very pleasing rounds.
Well, all 3 stormed the XC in fine style, the team qualified and Oliver came 4th in his individual section what a partnership they have become. All 3 Rode with such maturity and certainly deserved that qualification.
70… Our first ever 70 team and what a delightful group they were, true team morale at its best. The parents were rather lovely too.
We had Anya Smith, Daisy Ennis, Abyssinia Morgan, Nancy Potter, and Olive Godwin as an individual.
These girls did us proud being our youngest members, all produced a super Dressage test with Daisy scoring a fantastic 31.4
Sj we had a couple of poles here and there, a few frustrating ones but they took it in their stride and went to the XC excited. I can’t say the parents were 🥴.
Off they all went one by one with parents looking a tad white, both Anya and Nancy had fantastic clear rounds the beaming smiles were fantastic as they came through that finish.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the finish for Daisy, Olive, and Abyssinia. Those 3 though should be very proud of themselves, it’s a huge achievement to get to Areas which is a big atmosphere, you all coped remarkably well.
Told you it would be a long one!
Anyway, I’m very proud to be involved with all these members and their parents. You all represented us brilliantly, I can’t thank you all enough for the time and effort you put in I really do hope you all enjoyed it and will come back again next year.
Good luck with the rest of your season.
Happy Eventing.
Natalie xx
DRESSAGE
Area 7 Dressage 17th June 2023 Onley Equestrian Centre, Warwickshire
Well done to all of our thirteen members who made the long journey to Onley Equestrian yesterday. All were immaculately turned out and rode some super tests.
Millie who had just returned from her successful outing in the first ridden class at Three Counties Show the previous day, was back on the road again to represent us in the PC70 class. She kept her focus and qualified for the Grassroots Championships.
Bea, Nancy, and Olive in the Grassroots Team showed some great work, with the team finishing 8th and Olive and Nancy qualifying for the Grassroots Championships. Bea narrowly missed out, but rode a fantastic first area dressage test and showed huge promise – definitely, one to watch with her beautiful pony Sky.
The Novice team rode some great tests, wi
th Millie 5th, Livvy 7th, and Orla 9th in their section; the team came 9th overall.
Tally had a fantastic day in the Open Novice which began with her taking first place in the warm-up test. She then rode a fabulous test in the Qualifier, scoring 71.82% to win the class and gain her qualification for the Championships!
Our Intermediate Team finished in 4th position with some brilliant tests ridden by Abi, Ella, Matilda, and Tash. Ella made a fantastic start in her warm-up, taking both 2nd (Derrylackey Angel) and 3rd (Harlequin XV11) places, she then went on to win her section in the Qualifier with 73.79% and take 4th position too, which meant that she has qualified for the Championships with both ponies!
Our individual entry in the Open was Becky,
who stormed away with a fantastic test to take 1st place with an incredible 80.77% (and a score sheet that had four 9’s on it!!). Needless to say that she has qualified for the Championships!
Thank you to everyone for all of their hard work, both members and parents, as I know how much work goes into competing, even before you go down the centre line!
A special thank you also to Nancy Rollings for coming to help members warm up for their tests and Louise for all of her support and role as the photographer.
Karen Parry – Dressage Team Manager
