Festival Focus: Debuts and double wins

From Area Festival debuts, podium finishes and impressive double wins, this summer’s Petplan Area Festivals are providing plenty of reasons to celebrate. Across Bicton Arena, Port Royal Equestrian and Little Mill Equestrian, riders and their horses showcased the hard work, dedication and partnership behind their success.  

Charlotte Rowe & Dirty Ari © ESP Photographic

Bicton Arena 

Charlotte Rowe and Dirty Ari finished in an amazing third place on their Petplan Area Festival debut! Receiving an impressive 70.95% from the judges in the Preliminary Bronze at Bicton Arena (31 July – 02 August). Charlotte described the podium finish as "amazing!" 

The duo have been a partnership for five years now and have successfully evented with many wins at 90 and 100cm. Charlotte shared, "about three years ago he started stopping and although we investigated every avenue as to why, we just couldn't find any physical reason, so we listened to him and decided his jumping days were over".  

The 15-year-old gelding has always had a good dressage record, Charlotte explained, "half the reason we did so well eventing was because of the dressage scores we used to get, so we decided to give BD a go". Charlotte and Ari have been supported on their journey by Verity Perry, "we are very lucky to have a fellow dressage guru on speed dial to help us, she really has guided us on what we can enter, the difference between the bronze, silver and gold sections and how we qualify".  

Charlotte continued, "we have really enjoyed everything the dressage world has to offer including all the bling and everyone has been so nice and friendly". Some of the highlights of their day were, "experiencing the walk around in the morning, having never done that before and watching all the other competitors. It was all lovely, very organised and enjoyable".  

Reflecting on their test, Charlotte shared, "Ari really did try his best in his test, but the flies were driving him crackers and prevented him from performing like he normally does. I was very pleased with my first centre line. His canter transitions were good, and I was pleased with his circles as circles are very different in a 60x20. I do wish I had halted better; I forgot to salute to all the judges".  

Charlotte runs her own livery yard which she recently opened after three years of being a freelance groom. Looking ahead to the future she shared, "we are off to Chard this weekend to try qualify for the Championships, we have a lesson with Clare Deithrick to prepare, Clare has been great prepping us for our competitions and getting the best out of Ari and I".  

Cat Dalton & Derrentigue Bruce © Greenwood Photography

Port Royal Equestrian 

At Port Royal Equestrian's Petplan Area Festival (30 July – 02 August), Cat Dalton and Derrentigue Bruce won the Advanced Medium Silver with 67.85% and the Advanced Medium Silver with 68.72%. They also fifth in their first Prix St Georges test at an Area Festival with 61.86%.  

Reflecting on these great results Cat said, "I am over the moon, he has been going well recently particularly after we challenged ourselves and stepped up to PSG this season, I have felt it has really helped us feel more confident and competitive going into the Area Festivals at Advanced Medium".  

Cat was 'thrilled' with both tests, "I felt he really stayed with me, and we were able to showcase what we can do at home. So, two sashes in the Advanced Medium were the icing on the cake!" Cat and Bruce have been a partnership for seven years and started out eventing before realising they both preferred dressage she explained, "he has been the first horse I have produced up the levels so we have learnt together as we have gone, and it's been it's been an incredible journey! To be at the Area Festivals this time in our tailcoat for the first time was quite surreal". 

Bruce is known for being a bit quirky Cat shared, "he isn't necessarily bred for the job but loves it and tries so hard. He loves the atmosphere and walks off the box with sparkly eyes which always fills me with confidence!" The Area Festivals provide an encouraging atmosphere, "our local venue Port Royal always put on such a lovely show, likewise with Area UK, I am really looking forward to the championships".  

Jessica Allen and Hendrewen Desserts Lady © Rhian Mai Photography

Little Mill Equestrian 

Jessica Allen and Hendrewen Desserts Lady had a string of incredible results during their time at Little Mill Equestrian (31 July – 02 August), with two wins in the Novice Silver and Novice Freestyle Silver, scoring 69.11% and 70.37% respectively and a second place in the Elementary Bronze with another great score of 68.37%.  

The duo has already had a fabulous year after being crowned the Preliminary Silver Champions and the Petplan Winter Area Festival Championships in April, when talking about her Summer Area Festival experience Jessica shared, "it was a genuinely unexpected and slightly surreal day!"   

Jessica and Maddie (as she is known at home) only stepped up to Elementary in June and their score on the day was a personal best at that level, "I wanted to ride the tests as well as we could and more importantly, get feedback from three high-level judges that we could take home and influence our training over the winter. I certainly didn't think we'd be competitive!" 

Novice has been more difficult for Jessica and Maddie, she explained, "it has been a bit of an Achilles heel for us, and finishing at the bottom of the leaderboard at the Associated Championships last autumn was a difficult moment. We regrouped afterwards and trained with much more purpose over the winter, so to come back and win the class by 3% felt like a lovely validation of that work". 

The highlight of the day was not actually winning for Jessica, "the comments on the Elementary sheets were probably the standout moment for me. They talked about the quality of the training and how they could see progression coming through, which is exactly what I had hoped the Area Festival would give us". The duo also got 8s for their simple changes which was a special moment.  

Jessica has owned the 12-year-old Welsh mare since late 2020. She was a recently backed six-year-old when she brought her, and they have taken their journey fairly slowly, Jessica explained, "we only really started training religiously from 2024, so it's been a gradual progression rather than a rush through the levels". Describing the lovely 15hh bay as having contrast in personalities, "when we're out, she's incredibly placid and sensible, more than what people expect her to be compared to the sassy mare I know at home! She also loves hacking, particularly with her canine friends, which gives us a really important balance to all the training. I think keeping things varied and not asking her to do the same thing constantly has been a big part of our journey".  

Competing in the Area Festival series has been a great experience so far Jessica shared, "Area Festivals have given us a place to be ourselves and compete without the heightened pressure of taking on professionals. The Area Festivals protect a space for grassroots amateurs like me to test our training and compare ourselves to others who are in a similar position".  

Their next challenge is particularly exciting, "we've been selected for the Welsh Team at the Home Nations at Pickering Grange, where we'll compete at Novice level. That's our immediate focus, and then we'll turn our attention back to Elementary and prepare for the Summer Championships in October" Jessica concluded.