Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around
There was a tense moment for Izzy Taylor when she was asked to trot twice with Monkeying Around at the second horse inspection but from there on, it was all plain sailing with a clear show jumping sealing the deal to win the of the CCI1* YH6YO Championship at Le Lion
Izzy and Monkeying Around led from the start and finished on their dressage score of 37.6, putting in a great performance in all three phases. Paul Tapner was slightly frustrated to have had an error of course in the dressage which cost him two marks and possibly the win on board Bob Chaplin, also finishing on his dressage score of 38.1, just 0.5 penalties behind Izzy.
Paul Tapner and Bob Chaplin
In third place was Tom Carlile on the Selle Française mare Birmane, the French National Champion at this level
Tom explains in the video below that the young mare was slightly distracted in the dressage phase due to her home base (Tom is based at the Haras National at l‘Isle de Briand where the event is held) being inundated with horses and people but he was delighted with her performances and is hoping that she will be representing France at the Paris Olympics in 2024
Fifteen horses of the 39 to complete the competition jumped clear in the final phase, including New Zealanders Jesse Campbell on I Spye and Andrew Nicholson on As Is, moving from eighth into fourth and 11th into seventh respectively while Esib Power and Sarah Bullimore, who had been jockeying for position all week each had one rail down to move into fifth and sixth
And for Izzy, it wasn't all over as she had to go out and jump in the 7YO class .......
