An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on cross country at
NAF 5 Star BE80 Championships at Bramham 2023 - order or view videos here
Emily Tamblyn came all the way from Cornwall on a wild card entry to the NAF Five Star BE80 Championship at Bramham in Yorkshire and is going home a delighted winner.
“It means the world to me” says Emily, a lorry driver who claimed the coveted grassroots championship with the 18.1h Knockenpower Rory, a horse that not surprisingly attracts a lot of attention, having led throughout the competition.
Vanessa Thurston caught up with the top three at the end of the prizegiving celebrations
Emily and the Irish-bred Knockenpower Rory, or ‘Pinks’, produced the first sub-30 score on Wednesday to take the dressage lead on 29.3 with mum-of-three Amy Bevans in second place (31.8) on her own Annas Delight and Pony Club rider Carys Waligora riding Fisherhill Pearl slotting into third with a score of 32.1 (watch our Wednesday interviews here)
On Thursday, the BE80 Championship combinations completed their showjumping phase followed by a quick turnaround before cross-country. The three top-placed competitors proved up to the test, adding nothing to their overnight dressage scores in the showjumping.
But it all came down to the wire as they tackled Ian Stark’s cross country in the afternoon with Amy Bevans finishing one second under the five-minute optimum time, guaranteeing at least second place. Amy admitted to crying at the end of her dressage test and, again today, she wiped away tears of joy at the end of cross country.
The pressure was now on Emily and, with just a 2.5 penalty cushion in hand, she and Pinks, who spend their winters hunting on Bodmin Moor with the East Cornwall, elected to take a long route halfway round the course for safety, which took extra precious seconds.
They crossed the finish line at 5.06, six seconds over the optimum time for 2.4 penalties – victory and the title was theirs… by 0.1 of a penalty!
