Thursday 14 July 2011
Horse & Hound Foxhunter Second Round at SouthView Equestrian Centre
SouthView Equestrian Centre in Cheshire held a Horse & Hound Foxhunter Second Round yesterday which saw two more competitors qualify for Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) and five pick up qualification for the Cushionbed British Showjumping Scope Festival.
Sixty combination...s started round Peter Gillespie’s course with twenty jumping clear and going in to the second round. Ten jumped clear again to fight it out for the top two places and gain HOYS qualification. Drawn midway in the jump off was Tony French from Cheshire riding Judith Price’s seven year old bay gelding Zicher. Jumping a quick clear in a time of 33.79 seconds Tony went into the lead but unfortunately this was short lived.
Following Tony into the arena was twenty five year Alex Thompson from Nottingham. Alex partnered Greenacres Stud’s eight year old bay mare Dignity III who has previously qualified for the Cushionbed British Showjumping Scope Festival. This combination went all out to try and gain that important HOYS qualification, jumping clear in a time of 33.75 seconds which put Alex into the lead. Unfortunately this was once again short lived and he ended up in third place just missing out on the HOYS ticket.
It was Nigel Coupe that followed Alex into the arena and was the first rider to push him down a place. Lancashire based Nigel was riding Susan Simmon’s eight year old bay gelding Golvers Hill. This combination came home clear in a quick jump off time of 32.22 seconds which was looking good for the win.
Having watched the previous competitors jump off twenty five year old Scott Brash from Peeblesshire used this to his advantage. Riding Victoria Wight’s seven year old bay stallion Zenith UHS this combination did what was thought impossible and managed to knock a further 0.44 seconds off Nigel’s time taking the win.
Fifth and sixth placed riders who were the remaining two treble clears also qualified for the Cushionbed British Showjumping Scope Festival. Laura Johnson from Cheshire who was riding Lindsey Probin’s eight year old dark bay mare Wandore completed the jump off in 34.35 seconds for fifth. Sixth place went to Phillip Curtis from Humberside riding Louise Abba’s eight year old grey gelding Alsager coming home in 38.14 seconds.
The 2011 Horse of the Year Show is the 4th – 9th October at Birmingham’s NEC.
The 2011 Cushionbed British Showjumping Scope Festival will take place from Sunday 28th August to Saturday 3rd September at Stafford County Showground
