Keysoe CDI: Youth riders flourish at home CDI

The youth riders did themselves proud and the results were close at the top. As well as concentrating on their own performances, they were able to watch a number of Olympians and British team members produce some beautiful tests which were sheer inspiration.

Under 25s
In the Under25 classes, Lewis Carrier was totally victorious. Diego V (pictured above) danced his way to victory in the Grand Prix, inter II and GP Freestyle, Lewis scored three personal bests and his first plus-70% at GP.

Lewis has produced Diego himself from a four-year-old. Diego V is now 12 and is proving to have a talent for the higher level work. The handsome bay gelding demonstrated how much his passage is improving and showed some lovely rhythmic piaffe.

Lewis took Diego to the Youth Europeans in Hungary earlier in the year and found it very good experience. “It was good to see the standard of the Dutch and German U25s,” he said. “He really stepped up to the next level at Keysoe and showed his potential. I felt I could ride him with more confidence.”

“In the freestyle I try to do as much as I can and will make it more difficult as we progress. He finds piaffe very natural to do so I include some piaffe pirouette.”

Alexander Harrison and Diamond Hill were very close behind in the freestyle, less than 1% separated them from Lewis. ‘Damo’ is still only nine years old and is already showing enormous flair for the GP work.

Damo had a tricky first test when he saw the fluffy microphone uncomfortably close to the place where the first piaffe and passage transitions take place. However he grew in confidence over the two days and Alex commented on social media that they had been able to learn from their mistakes.

Both Lewis and Alex will be heading to Vale View High Profile show next for another showdown.

Juniors
In the junior classes, Annabella Pidgley and Belafonte (pictured above) improved on their placings at their first international in Belgium in July to win the team and freestyle tests and placing third in the individual. With a mark of 74.37% in the freestyle, this was one of the show’s high scores.

Belli is a 13-year-old stallion by Bellissimo and was competed at Grand Prix by Ellie McCarthy. This was only the pair’s fourth show together and Annabella rode fluent and polished tests.

Nipping at her and ‘Belli’s’ heels were Gemma Owen and Sirius Black III (pictured above) and Soraya Rogers and Evita. Gemma and Soraya nudged in front of Annabella to take first and second places in the individual test.

Sirius Black came to Gemma in 2019 and the pair has completed three international shows together. They improved their scores in both the team and individual tests over their performance at the March Keysoe international show.

Young Riders
Danish rider Laura Jarlkvist Rasmussen came to Keysoe on the back of two top 10 placings in the Young Rider European Championships and won all three classes on scores over 71%. Chasing her hard was Caitlin Burgess on Chocotof. The pair made their international debut at the same show in 2019 and 2020 saw an improvement on their scores in all three classes. Chocotof is a 13-year-old Dutch gelding by Lord Leatherdale. Caitlin works for and trains with international Grand Prix rider, Henriette Andersen.

“I didn’t do clean tests and made some expensive mistakes,” said Caitlin. “A bit of pressure and nerves crept in but it wasn’t his fault at all. The team test was the best we’ve done together. He’s going so much better since the show here in March and I’m thrilled that we’ve been selected to compete in Aachen in November.”

Ponies
Northumberland-based Martha Jobling-Purser was flying the Irish flag when she won the team and individual tests on Valido’s Starlight (pictured above). She was also wearing an Irish flag badge which had been worn by her Great Aunt Juliet when she was a member of the Irish eventing team at the Mexico Olympics. It was a bittersweet moment as it was the last outing for the pair as Martha is now out of ponies and Starlight was being picked up from the show to go to his new lease home.

“It was a lovely way to round off my time with him,” commented Martha.

Starlight was originally competed internationally by Megan Barratt and Rebecca Bell and was Martha’s partner at the Pony Europeans in 2019 and 2020.

Competition was hot in the pony classes with Mette Dahl (George Clooney BS), Myles Graham (Dresscode Cocktail) and Sofia Games (Mister Snowman) all in close contention.

Mette stopped Martha’s hat-trick by winning the freestyle with a super score of 73.78. “It’s been tough through lockdown and he’s only done a couple of local shows,” said Fiona, Mette’s mum. “He was very fresh and full of energy. By the third day Mette was feeling more confident and she said he was really listening and she could show off his paces.”

Results:
Ponies
Team Test
1. Martha Jobling-Purser and Valido’s Starlight, 70.42% (IRE)
2. Mette Dahl and George Clooney BS, 69.20% (GBR)
3. Myles Graham and Dresscode Cocktail, 68.62% (GBR)

Individual Test
1. Martha Jobling-Purser and Valido’s Starlight, 72.21% (IRE)
2. Sofia Games and Mister Snowman, 70.86% (GBR)
3.Mette Dahl and George Clooney BS, 69.62% (GBR)

Freestyle
1. Mette Dahl and George Clooney BS, 73.78% (GBR)
2. Martha Jobling-Purser and Valido’s Starlight, 72.61% (IRE)
3. Sofia Games and Mister Snowman, 72.55% (GBR)

Juniors
Team Test
1. Annabella Pidgley and Belafonte, 70.72% (GBR)
2. Gemma Owen and Sirius Black III, 69.03% (GBR)
3. Soraya Rogers and Evita, 68.87% (GBR)

Individual Test
1. Gemma Owen and Sirius Black III, 70.20% (GBR)
2. Soraya Rogers and Evita, 69.41% (GBR)
3. Annabella Pidgley and Belafonte, 69.35% (GBR)

Freestyle
1. Annabella Pidgley and Belafonte, 74.37% (GBR)
2. Isobel Lickley and Gracia, 70.66% (GBR)
3. Soraya Rogers and Evita, 70.41% (GBR)

Young Riders
Team Test
1. Laura Jarllkvist Rasmussen and Aatoftens Dornier, 71.02% (DEN)
2. Caitlin Burgess and Chocotof, 70.17% (GBR)
3. Juliette Lindsay and Highcliffe Apollo, 68.11% (GBR)

Individual Test
1. Laura Jarllkvist Rasmussen and Aatoftens Dornier, 71.73% (DEN)
2. Caitlin Burgess and Chocotof, 69.97% (GBR)
3. Juliette Lindsay and Highcliffe Apollo, 67.41% (GBR)

Freestyle
1. Laura Jarllkvist Rasmussen and Aatoftens Dornier, 75.04% (DEN)
2. Caitlin Burgess and Chocotof, 70.33% (GBR)
3. Charlotte Lutener and Full Fusion BS, 69.50% (GBR)

U25s
Intermediate II
1. Lewis Carrier and Diego V, 68.97% (GBR)
2. Alix Bravard and Santiago, 67.14% (FRA)
3. Lucy Amy and Extra Time, 65.52% (GBR)

Grand Prix
1. Lewis Carrier and Diego V, 69.46% (GBR)
2. Lucy Pincus and Sheepcote Fiesta, 67.46% (GBR)
3, Alix Bravard and Santiago, 67.14% (FRA)

Grand Prix Freestyle
1. Lewis Carrier and Diego V, 72.69% (GBR)
2. Alexander Harrison and Diamond Hill 72.49% (GBR)
3. Lucy Amy and Extra Time, 68.33% (GBR)

Full results

Photo © Kevin Sparrow