AUGUST

EVENT NEWS

Saffron Walden & District RC Show Jumping Championships

Firstly we must thank Vicky Rutherford for allowing the club to use her excellent facilities for the show. The going was excellent, our show jumps spot on with new safety cups being used, top notch catering supplied as usual by Daisy and action photos taken by Aurora. We started the day at 12:00pm with clear round jumping and were pleasantly surprised by the amount of entries. We try to make our shows friendly and aim to encourage first timers and very novice competitors to have a go. To that end we allow help in the clear round and course adjustments to ensure that everyone has the chance to get round.

The Novice class started later than scheduled and again we had bumper entries. Although there are restrictions applied to this class, the competition was very hot and the winner (Megan Lindsey and Starling) deserved their spoils – a first rosette, silver plaque, as well as the Champion’s rosette and beautiful sash! It was very difficult to see the horse’s head for the ribbons! Kerry Ashcroft and Remy took the Reserve Champion. Although only six, Remy has improved no end this year, well done Kerry.

The Intermediate also had very good entries and was eventually won by a newcomer to our shows, Casper Payne who rode his very handsome skewbald Pebbly Cufflinks into first place. Two of our long-suffering but dedicated committee members, Suzannah and Claire Engelmann, secured the Champion and Reserve Champion in this class with Blu-Tack and Tiny respectively.

The gloves came off with the track for the Small Open and Open - built to height and introducing a water tray and very tricky, narrow stile. Leah Gypps and Tommy took first place in the Small Open, Tommy finally appearing to have recovered from a major leg operation last year. Our Champion was again Suzannah Engelmann this time riding Mr Chubbs. Suzannah had a very successful show and must also be in contention for our senior show jumping points trophy at our AGM (15 November 2006). Reserve Champion was Emily Edgar and David. Emily has had a very consistent year with this young horse. We are used to seeing Emily galloping around on a variety of ponies but at only 12 years old, the transition she has made to horses this year has been very smooth and we wish her continued success next year.

Finally we completed the show with our Open class at 1m in the first round. Again the entries were very good, especially for this height. The class was won by Eleanor Nicholson and Serena, who were also placed in the Small Open. The Champion and Reserve Champion both went to Emily Edgar on her pony, Stirling and horse, David.

This was the last outside show jumping we will be running this year but into the winter we hope to offer a varied schedule to our members and non-members alike. Please keep up-to-date with our events by visiting our web site www.swdrc.co.uk where full membership details are also available. Our next event will be on Sunday 17 September – Hunter Trials (Q) at Ivytodd, Ashton. We also wish our teams heading for Lincoln in September for the British Riding Club’s National Championships the very best of luck