Scotland Macbeth takes BD Youth Hl title

Scottish team, Scotland Macbeth, won a thriller of a competition at the BD Youth Home International, held last week at Arena UK in Lincolnshire (26 – 28 July 2019).

The quartet of Rose Foley, Carmen Gammie, Matilda Haley and Eilidh Roberts took an early lead on day one, with two riders impressively breaking through the 70% benchmark - Eilidh Roberts from Berwickshire with her black Irish gelding Flashy Rocko competing in the Novice, and Elementary combination Matilda Haley from Aberdeenshire and her KWPN gelding Go.

In pole position overnight, hopes were high on Sunday morning for the Macbeth four, however last year’s winners, and winners of the 2019 BD Youth Inter Regional - South West Donald Ducks - were not going to release their grip of the trophy easily. Just two percent off the leaders overnight, the South West challengers made up ground on day two, but it wasn’t enough to dislodge the Scottish challengers from the podium.

Maintaining their focus, Aberdeenshire’s Carmen Gammie and her Welsh pony Champagne Bubbles (17) posted a super 72.06% in the Medium, Matilda and Go. 70.49% in the Elementary, whilst Dumfries and Galloway’s Rose Foley with Shona Leckie’s Cordici K earned 68.14% in the Elementary, and Eilidh and Flashy Rocko scored 69.95% at Novice to bolster the team total.

“It was a fantastic competition!” said Scotland RDO Emma Stewart, reflecting on the success of her young riders. “Ending day one in the lead by a narrow margin meant a nail biting day two but all the team were outstanding to hold their nerve and put in excellent individual performances. I’m so proud of the whole squad for supporting each other throughout the competition and making the weekend a great experience for everyone.”

Individual honours

Riders from north of the border featured highly on the winners’ roster of the individual championship titles. Matilda Haley and Go, an eight year old son of Carosso VDL, took the Elementary with a score average of 71.42%, and Carmen Gammie with the evergreen Champagne Bubbles (17) made the Medium honours theirs with 70.22%.

The Novice belonged to North West’s Sophia Marston with her British bred mare Solitaire II (San Amour x Hotline). The combination which is trained by Michael Eilberg won on a percentage average of 71.19 over the two days of competition. Sophia who’s from Meriden, a stone’s throw from BDHQ, also claimed Saturday’s Children on Horses class.

Jessica Whitehead did the Southern region proud with a win in the FEI Junior Championship partnered by her 12 year old German son of Samarant, The Amazing Spiderman, and the FEI Pony Championship went the Northern Region, thanks to two solid performances by Meghan Anderson. Meghan, from County Durham, and 16 year old Berlioz (by Benetton S) who is owned by Sean Anderson, achieved an average of 63.34% over the two days.

British Dressage thanks the team at Arena UK for putting on a fantastic event. Congratulations to all the prize-winning teams and individuals and to everyone who took part.

BD Youth is open to every young person under the age of 25 who would like to be involved in regional training, competitions and camps. It's also a great way to meet new friends and learn more about the sport.

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Team results

1st - Scotland Macbeth – 425.16
Rose Foley with Cordici K (Elem)
Carmen Gammie with Champagne Bubbles (Med)
Matilda Haley with Go. (Elem)
Eilidh Roberts with Flashy Rocko (Nov)

2nd - South West Donald Ducks – 421.35
Chloe Dawes with Femme Lijbra (Med)
Florence Human with Flugencio (Med)
Tom O’Bryan with DHI de Rouet (Elem)
Alexa Palmer with Global Super Nova (Nov)

3rd – North West Guinevere – 413.77
Amy Charlton with Vanabyt van het Kleuterhof (Nov)
Danielle Marshall with Galant IV (Elem)
Sophia Marston with Solitaire II (Nov)
Full results

Overall individual winners
Novice – Sophia Marston with Solitaire II (North West), 71.19%

Elementary – Matilda Haley with Go. (Scotland), 71.42%

Medium – Carmen Gammie with Champagne Bubbles (Scotland), 70.22%

FEI Test winners
Pony - Meghan Anderson with Berlioz (Northern), 63.34%

Junior – Jessica Whitehead with The Amazing Spiderman (Southern), 66.53%

Young Riders - Rose McMillan with Daiquiri IV (Central), 59.19%

Children on Horses – Sophia Marston with Solitaire II (North West), 68.63%

Photo left to right: Carmen Gammie, Matilda Haley, Rose Foley, Eilidh Roberts