Welsh team wins Equissage Para Home International – Bishop Burton College 6-8 May 2022

The Equissage Para Home International which took place at Bishop Burton last weekend was a sparkling celebration of para dressage which also included the new Freestyle to music bronze and silver tests.

Dragon power was certainly in evidence as the Welsh team took the title with ages ranging from 12 to 75, all levels of experience were showcased by the team.  12-year-old Elan Williams has been achieving some brilliant scores in her career to date and now has her sights set on the Para Bronze and Silver Championships which take place at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire in August 2022.  Elan made her Para Home International debut on Trinny her riding partner, a very talented Riding for the Disabled pony.  She was over the moon to be in the winning team and managed third place in the Individual Grade 1 class with a top three where just over two percentage point split the top three riders.

Veronica Bower a very experienced campaigner on Game Over won the Individual Grade 1 title as well as being part of the winning Welsh team.  Veronica, aged 75, is trained by her daughter Tracy Ormrod who is the BD Para Dressage Director, having previously been the BD Welsh Para Rep. 

Tracy commented on the results, “"I was delighted that the Para Home international could go ahead again this year after a two-year gap due to the pandemic. I have attended many Para Home Internationals in the past as BD Para rep for Wales and it was lovely to see a considerable number of new faces at this event. The increasing numbers wanting to take part in para dressage bodes well for the future of our sport.

“I could not have been prouder to present the team title and trophies to Wales, I may be a little biased, but I know how hard the four athletes involved have worked over the last year to achieve good scores and improve themselves.

I was also, as always so impressed with the supporters and helpers the competitors had with them – it takes a dedicated team to get many para riders to a competition and this one was no exception.  So, a big thank you from BD to them all! "

Lorna Lee, Grade 2 individual winner, was delighted with her title after completing her first ever Para Home International competition. Mark Griffin another first timer did brilliantly to win the individual Grade 3 position.

In the Grade 4 class Laura Scott and Koko Pop, a well-established combination came out on top in the Individual and the Freestyle to music class. Laura was quick to compliment Koko Pop who at the age of 15 can still turn out a great performance. “It was my first time competing at a Para Home International and riding as part of the South & West team. The comradeship and atmosphere were fantastic, well worth the long journey to get there! Koko Pop excelled himself all weekend and I was delighted to win both the freestyle and the Grade 4 Individual,” she commented.

In the Grade 5 class Joanne Dagley Cleworth on her ride Uptomistic represented one of the South & East region teams and achieved third place but trumped that with the number one placing in her Individual Grade 5 class.

The new Freestyle classes were very popular with riders and audience alike. New to Para dressage, the bronze and silver Freestyle tests were introduced last year as a bridge to the technically demanding FEI Freestyle test which up to now was the only Freestyle available to gold para riders. Developed by the BD Para Technical Committee the bronze and silver Freestyle tests will give many more para riders an opportunity to ‘dance’ with their horses and ponies and will no doubt have its own championship at some time in the future.

British Dressage thanks the team at Bishop Burton for putting on a fantastic three days of competition. Congratulations to all the winning teams and individuals plus of course everyone who took part.

Results

Team Competition:

1st Wales, Team Wales, 413.59               

2nd North & East, Team Lyon, 403.33                

3rd South & East, Team Poseidon, 402.45               

4th North & East, Team Madrid, 395.12                 

Individual

Grade 1

Wales - Veronica Bower with Game Over, 141.09 

South & West - Tegan Vincent-Cooke with Stolen Kiss, 139.00 

Wales - Elan Williams with WSH Something Borrowed, 138.96       

Grade 2

Wales -Lorna Lee with Stepping Spartacus, 133.54 

Grade 3

North & East - Mark Griffin with First Class IX, 139.17 

North & East - Vicky Earnshaw with Aldo MW, 138.40 

Grade 4

South & West - Laura Scott with Koko Pop, 136.84

South & West - Sara Bates with Tango VII, 135.92 

South & East -  Rachel Collins with Fine-Time, 134.07 

Grade 5

South & East -  Joanne Dagley Cleworth with Uptimistic, 135.68 

North & East - Gillian Brown with Gorouchel Peter Pan, 133.85 

North & East - Jan Cummings with Solomon I, 133.81   

PYO Freestyle

Laura Scott with Koko Pop, 70.69%

Rachel Collins with Fine-Time, 68.71%

Elan Williams with WSH Something Borrowed, 68.66%