(kindly supported by Baileys Horse Feeds, Advance Group Photocopiers, Andrew Gilham Photography & Equine Elite)

Eighty combinations qualified for the Championships of the Dressage at Hickstead Unaffiliated season. The crème de la crème donned their competition gear and the horses looked resplendent in their whites!

Claire Randall and her five year old gelding Viquino by Negro out of a Rhodiamant mare were crowned Preliminary Champions and were Reserve Champions in the Novice class! Having lost a horse to diabetes in January, Claire found this super gelding in Holland in March. As a “quite sharp” five year old, Claire said Hickstead was a perfect venue to bring him, with the super arenas, warm up and excellent Judges. Claire is trained by Amanda Brewer, who helped her find Viquino, and she is so grateful to Amanda for her training and support. Claire says “I couldn’t cope with such a talented horse without Amanda!” We look forward to seeing the combination again soon and wish them every success for the future.

The Novice Champion is Sarah-Jane Cox and I Should Coco II. This eight year old Trakehner by Adamello has been owned by Sarah-Jane for a year. Sarah says her success is down to a huge team effort. She trains with Diane Grinyer and Robbie Carpenter. She said that earlier in the year she would not have been in the top six. However, her determination to improve as a rider meant Sarah-Jane has spent many hours on the lunge and the pain has certainly paid off! Having been the fifth competitor to go, she had to wait for seventeen other competitors to go to see if her score of 67.26% was enough to be champion! Sarah commented how helpful the organisers are at Dressage at Hickstead and would like to thank the sponsors for the super prizes. Sarah is going to consolidate on her training over the winter and hopes to compete at Elementary in the spring. We wish her lots of luck.

Jennie Watson and Spirella were Elementary Champions. This super 13 year old mare is owned and ridden by Anu Rantanen. Spirella has not competed for two years and so trainer Jennie took her to Hickstead and in two outings qualified her for the Championships! Jennie says she is a lovely mare and a real pleasure to train. Anu has a super five year old at home and her daughter also rides the horses. Jennie told me that the competitions are a real team effort with the whole family helping and enjoying the day. The team work obviously has paid off and the delight was clear to see at the prize giving.

I must mention also, that my mare Tia was Reserve Elementary Champion with Dane Rawlins’ rider, Ricardo Prado Novaes. This super state premium mare by Laurentianer is going from strength to strength with Dane’s training. So a big thank you to Dane and Ricardo from me!

The former American bred racehorse, Phoenix USA and Amanda Francis became the new Medium Champions. When I spoke to Amanda, she said she was still on Cloud 9! This lovely 15 year old Thoroughbred has qualified for the PetPlan show in April at Elementary and has qualified for the Regionals in February in the Elementary and Medium Music! Having raced till he was six, he then went to a hacking home and is now showing his talent for dressage in a wonderful partnership with Amanda. Prizegivings can be a bit hairy though – if he is stood in a line up, he thinks he’s ready for the off! Well done both and good luck for the up coming shows!