REPORT
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Eventers' Challenge |
30th September 2007 |
The first Eventers’ Challenge
organised by Sevenoaks Riding Club proved a great success and a popular addition to the
Club’s calendar. Becci Smith and Vanda Graham planned this competition from scratch,
taking inspiration from the combination of show jumps and cross-country fences facing
riders at Hickstead – but rather smaller! It was run in aid of the Racehorse
Sanctuary, a charity retraining thoroughbreds for life after racing and finding suitable
homes for them. Vanda and Becci later presented Graham Oldfield of the Racehorse Sanctuary
with a cheque for £450.
Riders were faced with twenty-one
fences, several involving multiple elements, to be negotiated against the clock. The
course began with a twisting track of five show jumps in the twenty by sixty metre arena
with an optimum speed of 350 metres per minute. Then it was out on to the cross-country
course, chasing a speed of 425 mpm for the novices and 450mpm for open competitors, before
negotiating the three more show jumps on grass.
Knocking down a show jump added four
seconds. Refusals only wasted time although three refusals at any one fence led to
elimination. Nevertheless everyone was given the chance to finish the course. As predicted
the real bogy fence was the first show jump after the cross-country, with horses just
rolling the top pole. This was especially true for the Open, with a good third of riders
picking up a four second penalty there.
The only rider who had a spotless
round over the Open course was fourth placed Charlotte Neville and Clover Hill Spirit.
First place went to Lizzie McCready, who achieved a time of 2mins 19 secs which included a
four second penalty. She was three seconds inside the optimum time.
Alice Burgess and Ludo, last to go in
the Junior Novice, won on a time of 2mins 5 seconds, three seconds outside the Novice
optimum of 2mins 2 secs.
Sally Maltby, until recently Sally Pugmire, won
the Senior Novice class on My Amigo II. My Amigo was the only winning horse to have a
clean sheet and was only two seconds outside the Novice time.
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