| A rider from Surrey, Melanie Richards,
walked off with both the Plain Clothes and Pas Seul trophies
in the Novice Section this year. Entries were better than last
year in the Plain Clothes sections and evenly balanced between
the Novice and Open.
The standard improves all the time and the Novice Plain Clothes
was hotly contested between Melanie and Wendy Duckham - two riders
in neighbouring clubs with only one point separating them. We
were happy to see Wendy who has made a brave return to competition
after a very serious illness last year. For many of the riders
this was their first year in Dressage to Music and they were
thrilled to be at the Championships which allow six from each
qualifier to compete. There were horses from various previous
careers including ex-eventers and a four year old ex-racehorse.
One horse was 25 with the rider commenting that their combined
ages was “huge”.
Deirdre Robinson always enjoys these Championships and was the
only rider this year to be competing in all three classes, riding
as usual to Scottish musical themes. Her partner’s horse
in the pairs Ceiledh came out of retirement at the age of 22
because he likes going to a party!
As usual there was much variety in the costume sections with
much care being taken to produce authentic outfits for horse
and rider. We moved around the World from Spain to Scotland and
included tributes to films including Singing in the Rain and
TV programmes Strictly Come Dancing and Steptoe and Son.
There is no doubt that these Championships owe much to the professionalism
of Sara Green who organizes the music, provides the commentary
and gives the event a real Championship atmosphere
in the Presentations.
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