Nettex GB PRE Associated Championships

It was the turn of the PRE, pure and part-bred Spanish horses to take the stage as the 2018 Nettex Associated Championships series arrived at Keysoe EC in Bedfordshire on 29 September. It is always exciting to watch these beautifully presented horses and the competition at Keysoe didn’t disappoint.

Tasha Wakely and 10-year-old gelding, Elegido CXLVII, were on tip top form to win both Novice and Elementary titles with scores over 70%, both personal bests. Tasha, who runs a competition and sales livery, has had Elegido (pictured) for only three months. The 10-year-old is very green and had not competed before she bought him.

“My mum fell in love with him and I loved his movement and temperament,” said Tasha who got hooked on PREs when she was 15 and got her first Spanish horse. “I was thrilled with him as it was his first time in an indoor arena and only his fourth ever competition.”

“We had a wrong strike off in one of the simple changes but I only taught him them a couple of weeks ago! I was chuffed to bits that we got over 70% despite that. I’m beyond proud of him.” ‘Gido’ has lovely paces so they have an exciting future together.

Stephen Allen was another double champion on the flamboyant grey stallion, Comico XVIII, owned by Neil and Sarah Brener. They won the Medium and were unopposed in the Advanced Medium. 

Stephen began riding the eight-year-old when Neil him imported a year ago from Spain. He has brought him on from Novice to Advanced Medium and has also qualified him as part of the British team at the MCI European Dressage Masters finals.

“He was a bit of a handful in the warm-up but as soon as he was between the boards he shut up!” said Stephen. “It was the first time he’d been in the indoor school here and he was a bit fresh but he tried his heart out.” 

Comico’s scores of 69.26% in the Medium and 65% in the Advanced Medium were both personal bests for him “He’s still very green at Advanced Medium – everything has to be perfect for the changes to come off. A year ago he was very tense and had no stretch or reach but now he is much more chilled.” 

Comico has a very impressive medium trot now and Stephen says the horse considers it his ‘safe’ place. “He knows he’s good at it and gets praised for it, so if he gets worried about something, we go back to it.”

Liza Donnelly has had her Prelim champion Entendido LXIV on loan for three months so were thrilled with their performance and made her last minute rush to qualify for the Championships worthwhile.

“Nicola Crowther, his owner, offered him to me when I was short of horsepower. I hadn’t competed for over three years and just gelled with him straight away. It gave me the confidence to quickly try and qualify him for the GBPRE champs. I literally did it with two days to spare,” said Liza. “I knew nothing about the breed and quickly fell in love with his willing to work attitude and athleticism. I had no idea I had won my class, although I knew I had done a smooth test, so we undid his plaits to load him. Big mistake - I had to redo his plaits at the rate of knots for the presentation! “

The eight-year-old bay gelding has only ever done six BD competitions so is still green at shows.” I was delighted with his attitude at the championship. He felt super going into the arena and he really tried his hardest for me.”

Congratulations to all the riders who took part. British Dressage thanks the team at Keysoe for a successful Championship event as well as title sponsor Nettex for their generous support of the Associated Championship series.

The winners:
Preliminary
Liza Donnelly with Entendido LXIV, 67.08%

Novice
Tasha Wakely with Elegido CXLVII, 72.98%

Elementary
Tasha Wakely with Elegido CXLVII, 70.94%

Medium
Stephen Allen with Comico XXXIII, 69.26%

Advanced Medium
Stephen Allen with Comico XXXIII, 65.00%