Back to their winning ways - Andrew Nicholson and Avebury win at Great Witchingham
Andrew Nicholson is proving that he’s very comfortably back into competition, taking first and second in the Advanced Intermediate Section C at Great Witchingham in Norfolk on Thursday. Andrew and Avebury led the dressage on a score of 27.9 then added just 9.6 time penalties on cross country for a win while Nereo was close behind in second place with a score of 37.8 (and producing the fastest cross country ride of the class). Simon Grieve, who is having a good start to the season was third riding Traveller Royale (39.9)
Francis Whittington and Cavalier Venture win thanks to a clear show jumping round
Francis Whittington had a good day with a win and fourth place in the Open Intermediate Section B. Cavalier Venture was Francis’ winning mount for his first competition of the season while Hasty Imp finished in fourth place after rolling a couple of rails in the show jumping. His CIC3* Blenheim winning horse Easy Target was equal first with Hasty Imp after the dressage with scores of 23.6 each but Catherine Witt’s lovely grey picked up 20 penalties on cross country to finish out of the running. David Britnell riding Continuity finished second and Matthew Wright was third on DHI Paparazzi
Jesse Campbell also rode Kaapachino and Cleveland in the Open Intermediate Section B
Matthew had three in the top 10 of the Intermediate Section A, with a third, fifth and ninth place but the class was won by New Zealand’s young Jesse Campbell riding Amsterdam II. Felicity Collins riding Rainstown Frost was third
Susie Berry of Ireland completed the trend of multiple placings for the day with a win and third place in the CIC1* Section D riding Morswood, a horse previously competed by Piggy French, and Majestic Meg. Hong Kong’s Annie Ho took second place on Baxo, missing out on a win due to one rail in the show jumping
It was a cold day with rain at times at Blackwater Farm; next weekend the Norfolk eventing action continues at Burnham Market International where William Fox-Pitt will be making his first competition appearance of the season and our video cameras will be rolling! See you there .........
Annie Ho and Baxo
Andrew Nicholson and Nereo
Francis Whittington and Easy Target
Francis Whittington and Matthew Wright
Matthew Wright and MHS Twenty Twenty - 9th in the Intermediate Section A
Rebecca Gibbs and Woodlands Springtime - 13th in the Open Intermediate Section B
Serena McGregor and Traitor's Ford - 6th in the Advanced Intermediate Section C
Tina Cook and Quarrycrest Echo - 14th in the Open Intermediate Section B
Andrew's ride on Qwanza wasn't quite as smooth as the others, being eliminated in the cross country (ah, well, no-one's perfect!)
All photos courtesy Nicola Todd
