Petplan Summer Championships 26: Day four

It was a full house of first-time winners on day four of the Petplan Summer Area Festival Championships, with the sun shining down on Arena UK as we crowned four new Champions.

Petplan Novice Bronze Freestyle

Winner: Bridget Bramhill and Spirit in the Breeze, 71.389%

The first class of day four of the Petplan Summer Area Festival Championships got off to a musical start in the Novice Bronze Freestyle, where Bridget Bramhill and Spirit in the Breeze took the top spot with a score of 71.389%.

It was a first-time Petplan Area Festival Championship win for the Lincolnshire based duo, who qualified for the Championships at the Port Royal Summer Area Festival in August. Talking of her win, Bridget said “I’m quite emotional really! I just wanted to come and enjoy it, I love my music, I thoroughly enjoy my floorplan, it really is a special place to be. It’s super!”

Bridget felt that her highlights were the medium trots, which she said the 15-year-old “shows off quite nicely” with, and the judges ( Catherine Ellie (E), Linda Waller (C) and Martyne Galland (M)) agreed; rewarding the pair with 7.5s and a 7.0.

Bridget’s music is a medley that she describes as “it makes me feel happy and lifts me up. We start off with the Can-Can for the trot work and then we go into Revels Balero for canter and then into Trumpet Voluntary for the walk and then into the Can-Can again to finish. It suits her rhythm and way of going.”

Although this is a first-time win for Bridget in the Petplan Area Festival series, she has been competing with British Dressage for a while, having started off in Quest; “I enjoyed it [Quest], it gave me confidence to move on and to try something a bit harder. Quest gives everybody a chance to try dressage without the pressure, it sets you up to want to improve or go further. The transition was right for me and I think everybody who hasn’t done Quest should give it a go!”

The duo have been together for ten years, with Bridget describing the mare as “a bit of a diva”, she went on to talk of their journey together “I bought her when she was five, she’s now 15, we tried a bit of everything – we did Riding Clubs, did some jumping, eventing, but dressage is her forte and I enjoyed that more than the others.”

And although Bridget has aspirations to now move up the levels, for her it is enjoying her dressage which is most important; “We’re going to try and move up the levels a bit more now and I think it will suit her to go up an extra level and I would like to improve and step up again. I just want to enjoy myself, so even if we don’t have success at the next level it’s nice to have somewhere to go to.”

In second place was Esme Lang and her own Brouwershaven Silvia who scored 69.908%, followed by Lucy Russell and her own Travelling Lite with 69.352% to finish in third.

Petplan Novice Freestyle Silver

Winner: Samantha Wood and WFS Prince of Hearts, 75.648%

The Petplan Novice Freestyle Silver Summer Area Festival Championship kicked off under blue skies and bright sunshine at Arena UK, as Samantha Wood and ‘Glamourdale of the Cob world’ WFS Prince of Hearts, scored an incredible 75.648% to be crowned champions.

In front of judges Cherry Elvin (E), Jennie Loriston Clark (C) and Sandra Smith (M), the duo danced to a Tina Turner medley, scoring no lower than a 7.0 across the entire test, with plenty of 8.0s and even a couple of 8.5s for their canter and the music and interpretation.

Speaking of her test, Samatha said “This is going to be our last test at Novice so I said to him ‘come on Prince, this is going to be our last one let’s give it everything’. And he just answered every question, he threw his heart and soul into it. I would say some of the best parts of any test he’s ever ridden.”

Their Tina Turner music was produced by Julie Geraghty from Equivisions, Samantha commented “I’ve been using it for years but it’s not sorted any horse like it suits him. And the lap of honour music we’ve just had is his canter music so it felt really special today!”

The duo have been together for two years, with 2026 being an incredibly successful year for them, “We bought him as a very nervous, very green five-year-old. He’d just hacked and done basic walk, trot, canter school work. In fact when I tried him I didn’t dare canter him. I rang my Mum and said ‘he’s either going to be the best thing I ever bought or the worst!’ And within six weeks we realised he was going to be my forever horse. He just has every button – we think he’s been here before!

“We call him the Glamourdale of the Cob world because he just gives you everything. This year he’s won the Home Nations, he was North and East Novice Champion, and won three Area Festivals to get here. So we’ve had a mega year and I’m never going to find one like him again”

The Derbyshire-based 37-year-old talked of what Prince is like at home, “My six-year-old son leads him in and out of the field and leads him around the field. He lights up at a show and he’s full of energy, he’s such a showman. But at home he’s just a sweet child’s pony. He’s the nicest person, and he nannies the babies as well! He’s a wonderful boy.”

Next year the pair are planning on stepping up to Medium; “We have a dream – the dream for me is Small Tour and the dream is FEI with my son. He’s only 14.2hh and my son’s only seven so I’ll enjoy him and then when it’s time to become a schoolmaster my son will then take over the reins.”

In second place was Sophie Yelloly and Bianca Jenning’s Grundleinshofs Exclusive with 73.796%, followed by Heidi Wickington and Lankill Rebel who scored 71.945% to finish in third place.

Petplan Novice Bronze

Winner: Millicent Dethick and Rioja, 72.111%

Our Novice 5 Bronze champions were Millicent Dethick with Jade Deter’s Rioja, who scored 72.111% in front of judges Nick Bigland (E), Suzi Douglas-Osborn (C) and Caroline Paterson (M). Aboard the six-year-old chestnut mare, this brilliant duo produced a fantastic scoresheet filled with 7.5’s and 8.0’s, putting them into a brilliant position on the leadboard, having been one of the midway tests in the huge class of 36 competitiors. Talking to Millie after her test, she told us “Rioja was amazing, she was so relaxed and happy. I can’t quite believe it really – it was great! My highlights was definitely her canter, I was super pleased with her walk as well, it was really relaxed as we’ve been working on that so it was really great. Other than that, it was the whole test really with her!”

Reflecting on their journey together, Millie’s has been one of major comebacks: “My journey is quite something… last year I had quite a bad fall off a horse, fractured my skull and was in a coma for a week, but I never lost the love.” She then went on to explain that as soon as she was cleared to ride, she “got straight back on, she [Rioja] was the first one I got back on when I came back after about three months off and yeah, she’s just a really special mare.” Thie duo have been together since the mare was backed as a three year old, and have been training together for the last two years.

Looking forward to the future, Millie now hopes to crack on and progress on to competing in Elementaries, as well as having a go at some freestyle competitions, explaining that “She’s a very special mare”, and “you never know what could happen in the future!”

Charlotte Blair finished in third place with Equador on a final score of 71.389%, and Charlotte Jones finished in third with Draw the Line on a final score of 69.722%.

Petplan Novice Silver

Winner: Grace Boulton and Hillgrounds Ferrero, 71.333%

It was another first-time Petplan Area Festival Championship win, this time in the Novice Silver where Grace Boulton and Hillgrounds Ferrero scored 71.33% to be crowned champions.

Grace only took over the reins on the eight-year-old gelding in February this year, however the pair have quickly cemented their relationship together, impressing judges Heidi Hutchinson (E), Alison Duck (C) and Sandra Edwards (M) to finish top of a 37-strong class

“It fees incredible and totally unexpected, I’m so thrilled with him” said Grace. “We were just hoping for us to do the best we could do and I’m just so thrilled that it was competitive. He’s just such a lovely horse to do everything with so it’s amazing.”

Talking of their test highlights, Grace commented “He’s got a really good canter so his canter work is always lovely to ride. But I just really enjoyed riding everything and he just stayed with me the whole time. And he really tried and that’s all I could ask for.”

The Cornwall-based rider has had a busy week, with three horses in three different classes, she describes her experience of competing at the Championships as “Amazing! It’s been really good, the weather has been fantastic, the arenas are great and it’s just been a really lovely experience.”

Owned by Clare Deithrick, who has had him since he was six months old, ‘Herbie’ has spent the last two years show jumping, before now focusing on dressage. Grace describes him at home as “he’s just a really lovely horse to have around. We do a lot of hacking and we still jump him. He’s such a pleasure, he’s like a dog to have around! He’s such a nice horse.”

On what’s next for the pair, Grace said “He’s going to have a couple of weeks break now, he’s had a really good summer, he’s done a lot and worked really hard so he’s going to have a couple of weeks break then we’ll start to think about winter plans, I think we’re going to step up to Elementary and just keep having fun and keep him happy that’s the main thing. And some beach rides will be good!”  

Ella Green and her own Majestic Artist came a very close second on 71.222%, with Louise Danton and Fursten Lili scoring 70.833% to finish in third.