Our show jumping teams have had a busy start to the year and have put in some very creditable performances.
Bitterly cold, snow, ice – yes it had to be our own 2 day jumping show at Ardingly on 16th & 17th January! Saturday saw the mini mini and mini team and scurry classes, with a very popular mini/major relay for a bit of fun giving the mini mini people a chance to compete with the mini's.
Ethan Collins riding Harry produced a fine round to finish 3rd in the mini mini scurry and give SDHE their first placing of the weekend.
Our mini mini team finished 2nd out of 11 teams – Arabella Goodwin riding Jack, Ethan Collins riding Harry, Jack Pincus riding Panda and Sadie Jackson riding Jessie.
There were some very speedy ponies in the mini scurry, but only one was fast enough to beat the delightful Parsley beautifully ridden by Anna Currie into 2nd place. Hot on her heels, finishing in 6th place was Rumer Crawford and Smithlan April Rose.
With these two partnerships warmed up, it was time for the mini team class and they were joined by Ben Burgess riding Eaglehurst Batman and Charlotte Subedar riding Skittles to produce a fabulous team effort and win the class!!
Not content with that, our team of Amalie Convoy riding Prince, Rhianna Hawkins riding Blossom, Millie Easton riding Jimmy and Anna Currie riding Pixie finished in 5th place and finishing in 6th position were the team of Ellie Taylor riding Paddy, Charlotte Subedar riding Blarney, Ella Currie riding Prince and Emily Allardyce-Bassett riding Ellie.
That concluded day one, the course was rebuilt and we all headed home for a few hours to recharge our batteries.
Sunday! Snow, frozen outdoor arena and competitors struggling to reach Ardingly, but that wasn't enough to stop us from running.
The small novice team class had 14 teams entered and was very competitive.
Our "Charlies Angels" team led by Charlie Pincus riding Ollie finished in 3rd position – the "angels", although I am sure their parents may dispute this title were, Jess Fry riding Big Dan, Frankie Walker riding Cookie and Ellie Mileham riding Tilly.
Our "Butterflies" team finished 5th and consisted of Abigail Johnson riding Monty, Ellen Collyer riding Cyfarddol Daisy May, Francesca Birt riding Woodhaven Joey and Francesca Fairhead riding Branco Espoir. This was a brilliant result as there were some who were competing at this height for the first time.
The Novice team class had 13 teams and competition was hot with Mid Surrey fielding 3 teams, Crawley & Horsham 2 teams and Old Surrey & Burstow 2 teams.
Well, SDHE like hot competition and we won the class!! Our team of "Three Greys and a Bay" were Emma Robbins riding Charlie Chalk, Maddie Aloof riding Paddy Panache, Chloe Macdonald riding Arthur and Tara Keoshgerian riding Pegasus IV. Jolly well done girls for winning this team class 2 years running.
The Dengie had 47 starters and one of the biggest fields of the winter qualifier. An up to height course produced only 5 clear rounds, with Tara Keoshgerian riding Pegasus finishing in 6th place and qualifying for the next round of the competition at Merriest Wood.
We did not have an Intermediate team, but Francesca Turner riding Indian Summer came 6th as an individual.
The Puissance had 11 starters and went to 5 rounds with Katie Vaughan riding her Mothers' horse, The Golden Years sharing 1st place with Freddie Driscoll of SDHW, both clearing the wall at 1.35mt
Despite the inclement weather, the weekend was a huge success for the branch both from a competitive point of view and also as a fund raiser for the branch. Many thanks to all those who came and helped over the weekend and made it all possible – you are all truly appreciated.
So, 2 weeks off and then we headed to Golden Cross for the interbranch competition being hosted by East Sussex. Yes, it was still cold but not nearly as bad as Ardingly! It was also much quieter.
The mini mini class had 2 teams but also incorporated the individuals.
Our team came 2nd and consisted of Ella Currie riding Prince, Rhianna Hawkins riding Blossom, Emily Allardyce Bassett riding Ellie and Ethan Collins riding Harry. Emily was placed 3rd as an individual and Ella 4th – well done girls.
The mini's were rather short on numbers and 2 teams had to be put together to form one! However our little darlings came out on top to take 1st place. Well done Anna Currie riding Parsley, Rumer Crawford riding Smithlan April Rose and Jessica May Taylor riding Inca. Anna also came 3rd as an individual and Rumer 8th.
There was not a small novice class which was a shame as that height is very popular, but we had 3 entered for the novice class and they joined together so we could produce a team and came 4th. These were Emma Robbins riding Charlie Chalk, Charlotte Subedar riding Skittles and Francesca Birt riding Woodhaven Joey. Charlotte came 5th as an individual in a class that saw few clear rounds.
Francesca Turner riding Indian Summer triumphed in the Dengie, winning the class and now on her way to the next round at Merriest Wood.
2 weeks off and out we ventured again, this time to a very chaotic show held at Felbridge by Crawley and Horsham. Entries were huge, parking non existent but we all kept smiling – well done to our parents and Sarah Muggeridge for putting on their traffic control hats and keeping the traffic on the A264 moving!
Again, no small novice class and an age limit in the mini class ruled out a number of our members.
However, our mini mini team finished in 3rd place; Ethan Collins riding Harry, Arabella Goodwin riding Jack, Annabelle Orgill riding Peachfield Firefox and Sadie Jackson riding Jessie. It is wonderful to see our mini mini people doing so well.
Sadly we had nobody placed in the mini team or individual, but there were in excess of 80 competitors and everyone put in a good performance and should be very pleased with themselves.
Eventually the Novice class got underway, with 100 competitors and 20 teams!
One of our members, Chloe Macdonald took a nasty fall in the warm up and was unable to continue – however Chloe kept warm watching from the ambulance while Tara Keoshgerian quickly got ready and rode Chloe's horse to keep the team afloat. The girls all jumped beautifully and the team came 2nd! Huge congratulations to Emma Robbins riding Charlie Chalk, Maddie Aloof riding Paddy Panache, Jessica Copsey riding Atlanta Riva and Tara Keoshgerian riding Arthur.
Our other team, although not placed, did not disgrace themselves and were: Charlotte Subedar riding Skittles, Francesca Birt riding Woodhaven Joey, Harriet Sallis riding Rooney and Francesca Turner riding Kitty.
Emma Robbins and Charlie Chalk went on to win this class – a superb result out of 100 competitors!
By now the sun was going down and so was the temperature. In the Intermediate we came 5th as a team; Emma Robbins riding Drummer, Francesca Turner riding Summer and Tara Keoshgerian riding Pegasus IV.
It was a long, tiring day but very successful for SDHE.
Many thanks to the parents who give up their time to drive our members to these competitions and for supporting our branch – these days are usually very long and sometimes we don't get the results we had hoped for, but I think as a branch we all pull together and support one another and are very lucky to have such lovely members.
Candy Robbins
