Festival Focus - Speedgate Equestrian 22
British Dressage marked the half way stage of the Petplan Equine Winter Area Festivals with a trip to Kent for Speedgate Events show on 11 – 13 February. It was a great weekend of dressage action which saw riders gain qualification to the Petplan Equine Winter Area Festival Championships in April.
Petplan’s picks!
From the show ring to the dressage boards, Sam Roberts competed Lledrith Nemesis in the Novice Silver, winning the class with 69.65%. The Welsh section A Stallion, who normally competes in showing at a top level having qualified for RIHS, HOYS & Olympia only recently started dressage, “We thought we’d have a play at dressage, despite his size at 11.3hh, he has exceeded our expectations. We only recently started dressage with the aim for the BD Native Pony finals, where he was 3rd in Novice Silver.”
After gaining enough points for the Area festivals the pair gave it a good go, “He’s not long been back in work after his winter holidays, but he gave me a lovely ride and did a super accurate test so regardless of a score or result we were really pleased with him.” When the winning score was announced Sam was very proud, “I can’t believe that we won, and we are so excited to qualify for Hartpury! I imagine he’ll be the smallest there, but he’ll stand out from the rest!” They didn’t stop there, as the following day they were back in the showing ring where they qualified for RIHS at Hickstead.
Sam returned on day two with her second ride, Longhalves Renior, a Welsh Section B stallion owned and bred by Jo Filmer. Taking the win in the Elementary Silver on 68.04% Sam said, “He’s a new ride for me and we only did our first dressage show together in December! He has been used at stud and done a lot of in hand showing.” At 13.2hh he might be small but he has a lot of power behind his stride, “He has an exciting future as we aim to combine the dressage alongside showing. I’ve only done a handful of elementary tests on him, so we were really pleased with how the test went.”
“I’m super proud of my native ponies showing they can do as well as the fancy big horses! I don’t have dressage tack on Nemesis or an arena that is the right size, just lots of enthusiasm and ponies who tried really hard for me" Sam concuded.
Tracy Collins and SD Cookies and Cream, a regular Area Festival team, were back for another go at a Championship qualification. After almost not making their Area Festival they placed second in the Elementary Bronze, “we weren’t sure we were going to make it after cookie suffered a bruised sole, however a week before she came right, “Tracy told us about their journey to Speedgate.
Tracy commented, “we love Speedgate as they are so welcoming, we always love competing there,” before talking about their test, “Cookie and I had a great warm up, which gave me the confidence to really ride the test, it felt secure and consistent, one of our best Elementary tests to date especially the leg yield.” After starting at Prelim four years ago, the pair have made their way up the levels with the aim of hopefully competing at Medium at the end of the year.
It was a full day for Celina Singh, who took care of 22 liveries before making their way to Speedgate. “This stops me from having too much time to get nervous. We arrived with enough time to tack up and have a quick warm up as the traffic had been bad on the way there. Thank goodness my husband Tim was on hand to help me,” said Celina.
It was worth the trip as Celina and Zadelisk took the win in the Prix St George Silver with (score %), “he felt great in the warmup and entered the test positively. I feel like we are a real partnership as he tries so hard for me, our tempi changes were our highlight. I was over the moon that we won the class on our first attempt to qualify for the championships.”
Celina started her riding career in the showing ring, “I started at eleven years old showing at County level on a little grey Arab mare. Dressage was always something I dreamed of doing and it was only up until two years ago that I started to realise my dream, after only competing in a handful of Prelim and Novice tests before then.”
After meeting Emile Faurie a few years ago, she thanks him for his support, “It is because of him I'm able to be competing at this level. I will be forever grateful to Emile Faurie and Tom Goode for this amazing opportunity and for the endless support and encouragement. To be competing at this level on such a special horse is an absolute dream come true."
Sheepgate Equestrian Winners
Petplan Equine Winter Preliminary Bronze
Lewis Simmons and Classic Jester, 72.71 %
Petplan Equine Winter Preliminary Silver
Bailey Careford and Shadowcroft Silver Moor, 70.14 %
Petplan Equine Winter Novice Bronze
Chloe Burrell and Epos, 68.47 %
Petplan Equine Winter Novice Silver
Samantha Roberts and Lledrith Nemesis, 69.65 %
Petplan Equine Winter Elementary Bronze
Rebecca Pembroke and Dinky Dexter, 69.51 %
Petplan Equine Winter Elementary Silver
Samantha Roberts and Longhalves Renoir, 68.04 %
Petplan Equine Winter Medium Bronze
Lisa Kimm and Showmakers Gemini, 68.24 %
Petplan Equine Winter Medium Silver
Sarah Carmichael and Hoemathika M, 67.65 %
Petplan Equine Winter Advanced Medium Bronze
Louise Mcdonald and Zander, 68.08 %
Petplan Equine Winter Advanced Medium Silver
Georgina Valerie Guest and Donaustern, 66.15 %
Petplan Equine Winter Prix St Georges Bronze
Louise Mcdonald and Zander, 61.96 %
Petplan Equine Winter Prix St Georges Silver
Celina Singh and Zadelisk, 65.88 %
Petplan Equine Winter Intermediate I Bronze
Zoe Golding and Enzo SR, 63.63 %
Petplan Equine Winter Intermediate I Silver
Georgina Jane Howard and Howards Mystery, 65.93 %