Hartpury Festival of Dressage celebrates all

Not only did Hartpury’s Festival of Dressage (8 – 12 July 2015) play host to a CDI3* and CPEDI3*, the Gloucestershire-based college also ensured their event was jam-packed full of dressage goodness with the BYRDS A-squad finals, the renowned Shearwater Young Horse Championships and final Premier League fixture of the 2015 season.

27-year-old, Lucy Cartwright set the standard in the first class of the Premier League. Split into two sections due to high entrant numbers (45 combinations!), both of the Fairfax Saddles PSG classes were taken by Lucy and her two rides. Riding Carole Fenton’s 11-year-old Fidermark mare, Fergana, she scored 69.69% to take the top spot, and it was her own athletic 12-year-old Negro-sired gelding, Waterloo V who topped section B with a solid 70.74%, securing two direct qualification passes through to the LeMieux National Dressage Championships, held at Stoneleigh Park, Warks (17 – 20 September 2015).

With just 0.6% separating the top four in the Baileys Horse Feeds inter II, it came down to collectives to decide the final places. Gareth Hughes and Kate Byrom’s 12-year-old Sandro Hit stallion, Samba Hit III came out of the fierce battle on top, as their score of 68.81% and collectives of 127.5 proved enough to reign supreme but just 3.5 collective marks behind was second placed Maria Eilberg with her own, Hermione Black and Penny Pollard’s striking 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Royal Concert (68.81%). Third place went to Alice Oppenheimer and her mother’s 11-year-old Belissimo M-sired mare, Headmore Boadicia with 68.15% (125.0), three collective marks above fourth’s Dan Watson and Nicola Naylor’s 10-year-old Dutch-bred gelding, Amadeus VI (68.15%).

Having almost tasted victory in their first ever inter II, Maria and Royal Concert – or Rico, as he’s fondly known as at home – returned to dominate the Zamar inter I with an impressive 73.94%, a personal best for the combination and topping the class by over three percent.

The start list for the LeMieux grand prix read like a who’s who of dressage; with stars such as Dan Watson, Alice Oppenheimer, Amy Woodhead, Steph Croxford and Isobel Wessels to name a few, it was always going to be stiff competition for the top spot. However, it was Charlotte Dujardin who was number one riding Anne Seifert-Cohn’s nine-year-old German-bred gelding, Barolo. The pair scored an impressive 73.12% in the chestnut gelding’s second ever grand prix, showing great scope for the future.

A first for the Festival of Dressage, Elite Stallions provided a new class for developing PSG horses. Consisting of two PSG rounds, combinations earned their place in the competition by scoring 65% or over in a PSG in 2015. The top eight from the qualifying round went through to the final, which took place during the gala evening over the weekend. Topping both the qualifying round and final was Michael Eilberg with his father and Alison Walton’s Woodlander Farouche (pictured). Achieving almost identical marks in the two rounds, Michael and the talented Furst Heinrich mare scored 77.85% and 77.80%, continuing their fantastic two-year run of good form and highlighting the mare’s exciting potential for big tour. You can catch Farouche’s 77.85% test via the Hartpury YouTube channel.

Michael also claimed first place in the inter II with his second ride of the competition, Julie Deverill’s 11-year-old Dimaggio mare, Half Moon Dynasty. In their first competition of 2015 and her first ever inter II, the pair scored a huge 71.62%, four percent above second placed Olivia Oakeley and Donna Summer (67.50%).

BYRDS A-Squad finals

Hartpury College also played host to the annual BYRDS A-squad finals. The nine highest placed A-squad riders (below) from this year’s BYRDS inter-regional competition at The College, Keysoe gathered at the Festival of Dressage to contest in the championship ride off on the Saturday (11 July 2015).

Emma Barnes with her own Korenbloem Uptimes

Emma Wood with Suzanne Wood’s Achilles

Emily Watts with her own Rascalini

Samantha Gualtieri with her own Sandro’s Dancer

Emily Blount with Amy Blount’s Gkar

Alice Beauchamp with her own Rayid Heart Breaker

Samantha Bloor with her own Elason

Holly Lucas with her own Abby

The morning saw the riders split into three groups with each rider starting out on their own horse. After ten minutes, the riders swapped horses for another ten minutes per horse to decide the top three riders who would go through to the final – one from each group – which took place during the evening performance.

Emily Watts, Samantha Gualtieri and Emily Blount were the three riders selected for the final, where they rode each other’s horse through a unique test, written specifically for the competition. Dan Watson judged the class, looking for the rider who showed the most effectiveness, tact, feel and empathy on all horses – and it was 24-year-old, Samantha Gualtieri who reigned supreme.

Shearwater Young Dressage Horse Championships

Saturday witnessed a showcase of Britain’s finest young horses in the finals of the Shearwater Young Dressage Horse Championships. Already winners from their qualifying rounds, the finalists rode the relevant test for their horse’s age category; four, five and six year olds.

29-year-old, Nicholas Lawson rode Hannah Dovey’s Dutch-bred stallion, Gladstone to victory in the four-year-old class. Scoring an impressive 8.56, the duo topped the 29-strong class after improving on their previous score when they qualified at Myerscough College with 7.62.

The five-year-old section of the prestigious championships went to Isobel Wessels’ Oldenburg gelding, San Marco. Ridden by Lucy Cartwright, the son of Status Quo scored a massive 9.10 to win their section, beating talented up-and-comers, Florentina VI ridden by Charlotte Dujardin (8.50) and Classic Flamboyant with Rebecca Hughes (8.34).

Emma Blundell’s Fidermark-sired mare, Mount St John Freestyle claimed the six-year-old Shearwater Young Dressage Horse Championship with 8.86. Currently being ridden successfully at medium by Charlotte Dujardin, the pair are enjoying an unbeaten run, spanning almost two years!

For full results, please click here.

Results

Class 1: Fairfax Saddles PSG

Section A

1^st – Lucy Cartwright with Fergana, 69.69%

Section B

1^st Lucy Cartwright with Waterloo V, 70.74%

Class 2: Baileys Horse Feeds inter II

1^st – Gareth Hughes with Samba Hit III, 68.81%

Class 3: Tagg Equestrian advanced medium 92

Open

1^st – Lisa Hopkins with Cortez, 71.35%

Restricted

1^st – Nadine Gregory with Candover Dramatico, 69.45%

Class 4: NAF Five Star Optimum advanced medium 98

Open

1^st – Sonnar Murray-Brown with Erlentanz, 75.52%

Restricted

1^st – Nadine Gregory with Candover Dramatico, 68.68%

Class 5: Zamar inter I

1^st – Maria Eilberg with Royal Concert, 73.94%

Class 6: LeMieux grand prix

1^st – Charlotte Dujardin with Barolo, 73.12%

Class 7: Lovington Ice advanced 100

1^st – Kate Cowell with Dahling, 71.32%

Class 8: Elite Stallions Young Horse PSG

1^st – Michael Eilberg with Woodlander Farouche, 77.85%

Class 9: Shearwater Young Dressage Horse Championship – 4YO

1^st – Nicholas Lawson with Gladstone, 85.6

Class 10: Shearwater Young Dressage Horse Championship – 5YO

1^st – Lucy Cartwright with San Marco, 91.0

Class 11: Shearwater Young Dressage Horse Championship – 6YO

1^st – Charlotte Dujardin with Mount St John Freestyle, 88.6

Class 12: Elite Stallions British Young Horse PSG Championship

1^st – Michael Eilberg with Woodlander Farouche, 77.80%

Class 13: Corse Lawn Hotel PSG

1^st – Maya Goldburg with Torino, 70.17%

Class 14: Dawson Memorial FEI pony/junior/young rider team test

Pony

1^st – Thalia Turner with Kastanienhgts Vitus, 68.72%

Junior

1^st – Phoebe Peters with Denford Surprise, 74.32%

Young rider

1^st – Immogen Chant with World Dancer, 66.51%

Class 15: Monarch Equestrian inter II

1^st – Michael Eilberg with Half Moon Dynasty, 71.62%

Class 16: Speedskip medium 75

Open

1^st – Olivia Towers with Mercian Calisso, 70.95%

Restricted

1^st – Bridget Tate with Dyffryncothi Bridget, 63.51%

Class 17: Shearwater Potential International Dressage Horse – 4YO

1^st – Bryony Goodwin with Hawtins Fiorella, 83.0

Class 18: Shearwater Potential International Dressage Horse – 5YO

1^st – Becky Moody with Full Fusion, 86.6