After attending a vigorous process of test riding and team selection days the Southern riders were chosen to represent our region at the Home International in Rowallen Equestrian Centre in Ayreshire, Scotland.
Four teams with four riders in each team and three individual riders packed up their Lorries loaded their horses and began the 500 mile grueling journey. To say the drive was provided even the most resourceful person with challenges would be an understatement however the Southern team does not know the meaning of quitting and with this in mind endured breakdowns, recoveries and ramps being cut down! So after a nail biting journey our 19 riders and horses along with parent’s, husbands, friend’s grooms and supporters arrived tired but boosted by the thought of the competition to come!
But before that - Oh dear what can the matter be… two of the Southern Team locked in the …. Showers! There is a viscous rumour that two of our members misunderstood the rule that said The Ladies Showers and Lavatories will be locked at promptly at 10pm but as I said to Debbie and Louise I won’t tell a soul that it was you two!
As we all know the team event s are scored over two days and it was an incredibly proud moment to hear that one of our teams was in the lead at the end of day one – we had some incredibly strong rides on the Saturday with more to come on Sunday.
We knew we had some strong performances to give and all too soon we had completed the tests for the day and all that was left was the stress of waiting for the final scores
The first results were for our prelim riders and imagine our absolute delight when Alison Nye Warden with the stunning Revelation managed a 3rd place podium finish and two other strong finishes from Liz Brennan Jesson and the fearless Harry Hotspot with Jenny Moxham – who I must say was in fine bucking form (harry not jenny)
And then we proved that the Southern Region were no novices with Justeen Lane taking the volatile but adorable Rhodeen to a well deserved 7th and her second ride the irrepressible Donatella II to finish 12th overall after two days
From there it was Elementary my dear Southern we proceeded with great excitement as we believed this was again a strong class for us and we were not disappointed Victoria Strutton gave us our second podium with a terrific 3rd place on Sound Barrier, she was closely chased by Fiona Gair on Chrissies Lad and Karen Simpson on Riva Dance who finished 7th and 8th respectively after first places for Karen and Victoria on the Saturday we were all thrilled! Finally Joanne Brockman on the Beautiful Felicity Brown had a wonderful rally on the second day to finish a very well deserved 18th (4th on single day placings)!
We were now over half way through the competition and holding our own as we started the Medium class Kirsty Buckwell and the careful Bojar came a very respectable 10th closely followed by Hannah Gunton and the impressive Country Star, Debbie Roberts on the expressive and irrepressible Ace of Base Cheryl Hammerson with the very handsome (and he knew it) CEC Sampson and Sonia Mayne on the Gentleman Rivaldi
As we came to the penultimate class, the Advanced Medium we knew we had a good chance of a strong result and were not disappointed when Kate Butling stormed home in first place on the star of the show Tango V. For the second day they romped home as undisputed AM champions! Camilla James on the elegant Sandro Star and Sarah Elliott on handsome chap Caligula rounded off a superb performance.
The final class of the competition started and our lone PSG rider Sarah Ridd riding the show stopping Weymarsh Puccini and Stunning Weymarsh Maximums hearts were firmly in mouths while Puccini decided whether or not he was keen on being with other horses in the warm up and then the bell rang and he performed like a professional and beautifully executed his first ever PSG to finish 4th.!!
Exhausted a little damp from the rain but bursting with high spirits we all went into the team prize giving where the Southern Region had the best results we have ever had at a home international competition!
Thirty two teams entered from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and the Southern team managed to get a stunning 4th with Southern Goodwood, a fabulous 7th with Southern Hampton and a very respectable 20th and 23rd with Southern Firle and Southern Chartwell.
Our message to the other regions is simple – we are improving with every competition so watch out for Team Southern in 2010!!
If you are interested in riding for your region please contact sharonwalker@britishdressage.co.uk