Caithness riders show their talents at Spring Festival
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Five riders from the Caithness branch of the Pony Club travelled to the Scotland Barrier Animal Health Spring Festival Championship 2024 at Morris Equestrian Centre in Ayrshire.
They were Emily Donn, riding Bobby’s Choice, Cerys King, riding Piggy, Leoni Kennedy, riding Kindalika, Rowan Lee, riding Durran Pedro and Caheradoo Duchess, and Erin Hewitson, riding Whaupshill Touche.
All were a credit to the branch and had excellent results over the weekend.
Day one was dressage.
Prelim PC70cm: Emily started the day with third in her arena (67.2 per cent), taking her through to the ride-off where she was placed sixth overall.
Grassroots: Rowan won her arena (70.63 per cent) on Duchess and was second overall. Cerys was fourth in her arena (69.58 per cent).
Novice: Erin was second in her arena (73.13 per cent) and third overall. Rowan was fourth in her arena (69.17 per cent) on Duchess.
Intermediate: Rowan was placed 18th overall on Pedro (62.6 per cent).
Team Caithness were overall dressage champions – Emily, Rowan and Erin.
Day two was arena eventing. This was a rider testing course with a mix of show jumps and cross-country style jumps, with 20 jumps in total.
PC70cm (55 competitors): Emily started off at a good pace but unfortunately picked up some faults along the way, placing her 32nd.
Cerys had a great try but alas parted company after Piggy overjumped the skinny brush fence.
PC80cm (53 competitors): Rowan stood champion on Pedro, setting a great pace early on in the class with no faults.
Leoni was having a great round until she rolled the last pole, placing her ninth. Emily finished 24th.
PC90cm (39 competitors): Rowan started the class at a good pace on Pedro, finishing eighth. Erin rolled a pole with a good round, finishing 16th.
Rowan had a second ride on Duchess and finished 26th. Leoni had a stop followed by a satnav error, ending up 31st.
PC100cm (18 competitors): Erin had a great round at a good pace, finishing sixth.
Rowan unfortunately missed the finish line after a great round on Duchess, costing them a placing.
Team Caithness came second overall out of 39 teams in the arena eventing. Emily, Leoni, Rowan and Erin made up the team.
The final day was show jumping, this was a test for accuracy and speed combined at 70cm (71 competitors).
Cerys stormed round her course with a double clear, finishing 22nd. Emily had some faults and came 50th.
80cm (81 competitors): Rowan was leading the board for most of the class on Pedro with a fast double clear, but after all the riders had jumped she was pipped and finished eighth.
Leoni gave it a good shot, picking up four faults to end up 50th.
Emily unfortunately had an error on the course, costing her a place 90cm (53 competitors).
Rowan stood on the podium with both her horses, second on Pedro and third on Duchess.
Erin had a pole after a speedy round, placing her 19th.
1m (20 competitors): Both members were on top form, Rowan taking second on Duchess and Erin placing fourth.
Team Caithness were again second in the show jumping out of 42 teams – Emily, Cerys and Rowan.
There was a three-day league where 40 members who had competed in all three disciplines over the three days competed. Rowan had an exceptional score, taking second place on Durran Pedro.
A busy weekend showcased the talent from a small branch in the north of Scotland, and definitely the farthest travelled.
