Kitty King and Monbeg Hendricks
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The Novice sections were the focus of Saturday at The Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa Gatcombe International Horse Trials and there was an international feel across the five sections of Novice and Open Novice
Britain’s Kitty King, fresh from success at the FEI European Championships in Luhmuhlen where she finished as the highest placed British rider in seventh place on Vendredi Biats, won the Novice Section K on the refreshingly named Monbeg Hendricks. They finished on their dressage score of 24.5 at just the third Novice start for the five-year-old by Harlequin Du Carel
It would have been a big win for Emma Rarity and Zummertimes, who took out the Novice Section L ahead of big names such as Andrew Nicholson and Tom McEwen. This was the first Novice start for Emma and Zummertimes, who have been winning at BE100 Level this year and qualified for the Mitsubishi Cup at Badminton, and they won on their dressage score of 23.5
Georgie Strang and Darcy De La Rose won the Novice Section M while two riders from South Africa and New Zealand rounded out the classes. Based in Swindon but riding for RSA, Alexander Peternell and his mare Antigone II seems to like this venue – she won a Novice section at this event last year – and they won the Open Novice Section N on Saturday on their dressage score ahead of Ireland’s Aoife Clark riding Tell Em Nothing.
Josh Levett and Rathmoyle King
There was a familiar name in this Section with Joshua Levett, son of Australian rider Bill Levett, enjoying a good run on the evergreen Rathmoyle King (aged 21), an experienced horse that has jumped around 5* tracks with Carolyne Ryan Bell. They finished in seventh place in this class, adding to their four top 10 finishes at this level in recent times
While Josh is gaining experience as he moves up the ranks, New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson is one of the most experienced competitors around. Andrew and Dalton III won the Novice Section O, which is one of our cross country video winning classes so we’re really looking forward to watching that one!
More to come from The Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa Gatcombe International Horse Trials but in the meantime, check out our video updates on Twitter and Instagram
