Stuart and Wanda on their way to a win
If anyone out there has ever got lost on cross country, take heart. If one of the most experienced eventing riders in the world and a dual Olympic medallist can do it (‘lots of times’), there is hope for us all
Stuart Tinney rode three horses at the Randwick Equine Sydney Summer Classic and took home a rug from the EvA105B on the New Zealand bred mare Wanda. Stuart and Wanda were third after the dressage on a score of 42.60 but added just 3.2 time penalties on cross country to take the win when the dressage leader, Queensland’s Portia Wilson and iCloud picked up penalties in the show jumping and dropped down the leader board. Shane Rose riding Outside the Line took second place and Jessica Rae third on Fifth Avenue
This was just Wanda’s third cross country start and Stuart says she is getting the hang of eventing now while his other two ‘newbies’ recently imported from Germany, Leporis and Celebration, were having their first hit outs on cross country.
Leporis was up there in fourth place after the dressage and added just a couple of time penalties in the show jumping but a couple of ‘whoopsies’ at each water complex on the EvA105 course put him out of contention for a ribbon. Stuart was still very happy with him and also with Celebration, owned by Elizabeth Brinton, who finished third in the EvA95C on her dressage score
“I knew when I was building the track that there were a couple of fences he (Leporis) would struggle with” said Stuart, who was not only riding but was also the cross country course designer for the courses from EvA105 up
“I much prefer to ride courses that I haven’t built!” he admits and lets us in on the fact that “the hardest thing is remembering where to go”
Stuart Tinney
The lovely Leporis in the show jumping
