Christine Bates and Corambo on their way to seventh place in the CNC2*
It’s been quite a few years since I came to live here in Australia but I still find myself saying ‘that’s a real Australian sky’ – certainly not the type of sky you see too often in the UK, and Camden produced that sort of sky today ...
On to the event itself, which saw around 550 riders enjoy a great weekend of eventing. “The event just keeps getting bigger,” said a smiling Shane Rose, president of the Equestriad committee, “we have such a great team of people helping us that it also seems to keep getting easier.” Shane had every reason to smile as he took out both the CNC2* and CNC* classes. In the 2* he rode Virgil to victory adding nothing to his third-placed dressage score of 48.6 and finished just 0.5 ahead of second-placed Emma Mason and Poker Face. “It was all really close,” said Emma. “I thought I might have picked up a time penalty but I finished right on the optimum time so I have to be happy with that.” Like Shane, Emma finished on her dressage score of 49.10.
Shane keeps a fan happy with an autograph
Stuart Tinney led the dressage in the CNC3* riding Pluto Mio but slipped down to second with a few time penalites in both cross country and showjumping. This allowed Belinda Isbister, who was lying second after dressage on a score of 52.2, to move into the lead when she added just 2.4 from cross country and one time penalty from John Vallance’s showjumping course. Craig Barrett filled third place with Sandhills Brillaire while Stuart picked up his second ribbon of the class riding Sydney into fourth place.
He might not be that good at changing nappies (or so I hear) but it is amazing to watch Shane at Equestriad. He jumped in the bobcat (photo above) when some sand/woodchip had to be added, he helped in the showjumping when some jumps needed to be altered and then he jumps on a horse and wins the class! It is such a good example to set and he really inspires others to get involved and help. In the CNC* class, Shane led from start to finish riding CP Qualified. The pair were the only combination to score over 70% (scoring 42.4) and they finished the class on that score. Indeed the top five riders finished on their dressage scores with Augusta Clarke shooting up the leader board from 20th after dressage to finish fifth. Cassie Lowe riding Fair View Temalica got the closest to Shane’s score – although they were still nearly ten marks behind. New mum Nicola Turner made a triumphant return to competition finishing on the same score as Cassie but as she was a little faster cross country and therefore further away from the optimum time she finished third.
Natalie Blundell and the cute, talented Girl with a Curl finish sixth in the CNC2*
We’ll bring you more articles on Equestriad in the next few days but to finish with, click on the icon below to listen to our interview with Newcomer winner Charlie Trinder who rode Ultimate Risk to victory.
A happy Charlie with her winners rug
