Northside Riding Club made up for the first two Dressage competitions of 2010 being rained out with a week of Dressage on the Princess Anne Arena at the St Ives showground. Last Saturday over 100 competitors attended the Official competition riding nearly 150 tests from Preparatory to Advanced levels. Organiser Jess Canabou headed an efficient team of volunteers and despite a quick reshuffle of judges first thing in the morning the day was completed without a hitch. Jess’s scoring database was efficiently managed by Anne Jeffery whilst Jane Robinson played host to the judges.

A level judge Peter Shaw was impressed with the quality of young horses on display and paid particular attention to HV Harrison ridden by Laura Summerhayes from Hunter Valley Warmblood Stud who won the Preparatory class. Tig Lungershausen had a successful day with her stunning young Oldenburg cross mare Rubicon winning Division A of the Official Prelim 1A class, placing 2nd in the Novice 2B class and 4th in the Official Novice 2C test. The Gwaihir Stud was represented by 5 year old Hail ridden by Jane Robinson who placed 6th in the Official Novice class and the stunning Jinx ridden by Ricky Foxlee featured in the winner’s circle for the Elementary classes. 6 year old HV Damoura by Don Vito (son of De Niro) also featured for the Hunter Valley Stud in the Novice class.   

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Laura Summerhayes from Hunter Valley Warmbloods was thrilled with the performance of her young horses. “We bought Damoura from an auction in Germany. She is 6 years old, a late starter to the dressage thing given she was imported in foal. Her filly foal is rising 2, by Fidertanz.  Very, very cute and super mover.”

Following the Official day, NRC then ran a midweek “Off the Record” competition on the Thursday. A respectable start time of 10am allowed the NRC mothers the chance to deposit their children at school before indulging in a day just for them. Prizes for best dressed encouraged  a number of the combinations to plait up and organizers were thrilled at the effort many competitors put into their appearance. Special mention went to Brenda Downie for her corsage of wattle, adding a vibrant splash of colour in the arena.

Equine Chiropractor Shayan Quinlan sponsored the midweek competition by donating two Chiropractic assessments valued at $100 for the Prelim and Novice champions. Local riding instructor Jill Severn won the Novice Champion on her young Oldenburg x Montego Bay and Elaine Robl won the Prelim Champion on her stunning young eventer Poetic Motion.

NRC is well known for running friendly events that allow riders of every level to gain valuable competition experience and the week of dressage was no different. Thank you to all the volunteers who made these days run so smoothly. Your help was invaluable!

The next Official Dressage Competition is scheduled for 15 August. Entries are now open. For more information visit www.northsideridingclub.org.au

Results 1

Results 2