Pippa Funnell and Sandman 7 (above) and Billy Walk On (below)
Pippa Funnell took two of the top classes at the SsangYong South of England today with Sandman 7 winning the Advanced Intermediate and Billy Walk On just pipping Will Furlong for the win in the Open Intermediate
Sandman 7 started with a very good dressage test scoring 23.4 to be just ahead of his stable mate Billy Beware on 24.8.
Billy Beware had been re-routed after his elimination for three refusals at Belton International and Pippa says she still has some thinking to do about bits for Billy Beware; today he was on much better form in the cross country but two rails in the show jumping dropped him down the leader board
Georgina Wood and Sjapo Le Sursaut
Sandman 7 added only 6.4 cross country time penalties to his dressage score to win on 29.8, nearly 10 penalties ahead of second placed Georgina Wood riding Sjapo Le Sursaut. This little bay horse may be 18 years of age but he motored around the course, the only combination to come in under time in this class and he can point a toe in the dressage too
Tina Cook and Star Witness
The second fastest time of the day came from Tina Cook on Star Witness, another combination to have experienced a little problem at Belton. Tina and Star Witness were eliminated in the dressage there when Star Witness took Tina a little further in the canter work than she was aiming for, leaving the arena in the process
“He was very naughty” says Tina “He just took the bit between his teeth and careered out – almost into the next arena”
Today Star Witness was on much better behaviour although there were a few tense moments in the canter work. Dressage may not be Star Witness’ favourite phase but he looked very happy on the cross country course, finishing with just 2.4 time penalties in third place. Both Tina and Pippa are now considering their options for the next start with Billy Beware and Star Witness aiming for Badminton in May
We talked to Pippa after her two wins and found out a little more about Billy Beware’s ‘blip’ at Belton
Pippa Funnell
Pippa and Billy Beware
