last updated on July 28, 2010 12:41

Young para-equestrian dressage riders took part in the first ever inter regional competition which was held at Millfield School, Somerset over the weekend (23-24 July) alongside the British under 25’s CPEDI CH / J /UR 1*.

Organised by Amanda Heath from British Dressage (BD) in conjunction with the British Equestrian Federation’s (BEF) Regional Foundation Squads, riders from across six regions (South East, Northern, East Midlands, South West and West Midlands and Scotland) took part in this inaugural event which offered young para-equestrian dressage riders the chance to train in a competition environment and develop the skills required to be part of a team.

Top level coaches Tanya Larrigan, Nina Venables, Erik Mackechnie and Maria Eilberg supported their teams by providing coaching support and advice during the competition.

After a closely fought contest, the winning team was the South East, followed closely by the Northern team in second place. The winning team comprised riders Daniel Manning, Nicky Thompson, Alex Sutton and Ben Rodin who were supported by their coach Tanya Larrigan. She has been working with this group of riders since the programme was launched last autumn.

The individual winning rider was Fiona Maynard from the Northern regional squad, with Nicky Thompson from the South East second and Vicky Barrick from the East Midlands third.

Scotland proved worthy winners of the open section of the Inter Regional with grade III rider Alison Wilkinson from Edinburgh taking individual honours with her own 11 year old Irish bred gelding Loftus Imp on a score of 71.13%. Team mate Emma Douglas slotted in for second with Cartoon Topcat while Clare Molyneux rounded out the winning trio as well as finishing fifth in the individual competition.

“The aim of the Regional Foundation Squads is to identify, support and develop riders and horses demonstrating talent and potential in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. This competition provided an excellent opportunity for these up and coming young para-equestrian dressage riders to develop their riding skills in a competition environment,” said David Hamer BEF Regional Squad Coordinator. “The riders had the opportunity to ride in front of international judges - gaining advice and education from them via the competition will be an invaluable part of their development”.

Each team received excellent prizes and support for this event from the Windrush Group, Garrett’s Saddlery, Woof Wear, Fly-Away, New Forest Equestrian Services, Adidas, White’s Horses, Blenheim Horse Trials, the British Dressage National Championships and the Para Dressage Training Trust.

After this first successful competition, the aim is to replicate the inter regional structure of competitions which already exists for able-bodied dressage riders.

Team results from the Regional Foundation Squad Inter Regional:

South East Team 1st (pictured)
Daniel Manning
Ben Rodin
Alex Sutton
Nicky Thompson

Northern Team 2nd
Fiona Maynard
Amy Franks
Georgia Wilson
Lauren Rathbone

West Midlands Team 3rd
Ashleigh Jones
Ruth MacCarthy
Kirsty Buckwell
Natasha Adkinson

East Midlands Team 4th
Kathryn Gallagher
Mari Durward-Akhurst
Victoria Barrick
Matthew Dalley

South West Team 5th
Kristina Keefe
Britta Francis
Justine Bowers
Melissa Nicholls

Team results from the Open Inter Regional:

Scotland 1st
Alison C Wilkinson
Emma Douglas
Clare Molyneux

South West Open Para-Dressage Squad 2nd
Martin Mathews
Belinda Cullen
Deborah Hounsome