Riders on the way to National Championships 2011

Following their show jumping success at the recent Surrey County Championships, the riding team competed in their first National Qualifier of the new equestrian year last weekend, taking on opposition from around the South Central Region in an Arena Eventing competition at Berkshire College that was hosted by Cranleigh.

They successfully managed to secure team qualifications in all four height classes along with an individual qualification for Briony Pearson (LVth West) in the Intermediate class.  The mini team of Harry and Phoebe Wates, Zoe Jackson and Poppy Bathurst, riding in her first competitive event, finished a close second behind Copthorne Prep, with Harry Wates making the individual line-up in sixth place.  The novice team of Fred Philips (on his sister’s pony!), Chloë Allison, Alex Adams and Amelia Shotter matched this second place, whilst the Intermediate team of Briony Pearson, Chloë and Hattie Allison and Ailsa Wates went one better to take first place in their class, closely followed by two further Cranleigh teams in third (Tom Lane, Fred Philips, Indi Thompson & Erin McCombe) and fourth (Katie Bowser, Zoe Jackson and Caileigh Faure).

The Open class typically presented a big and technical course but the Cranleigh riders tackled it with their usual style and good sense to ensure both first and second spots in the this final competition of the day: just two marks separated the teams of Lise Taunton-Fenton, Indi Thompson, Briony Pearson & Erin McCombe and Hattie Allison, Fred Philips, Ailsa Wates & Tom Lane.

Director of Riding Sophie Spear was delighted with the results: “To qualify teams at every height so early in the season is not only a real benefit but also a real testimony to the hard work all our riders have put in over the long winter months.”

MCA