Hard work pays off for Caithness Pony Club members
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Caithness riders had a successful trip to the Pony Club Area 1 Qualifiers held over three days at Burgie Eventing Centre near Forres.
Debbie Pottinger, district commissioner for the Caithness branch of the Pony Club, said: "It was great to be able to compete with teams from all over Scotland. We had a fantastic weekend – the event proved really friendly and well organised.
"The jumping courses were challenging but our members weren’t daunted. They showed confidence and skill throughout. The hard work they put into their horses week in, week out has paid off."
Winning the 90cm showjumping on the Friday, the first day of the event, was the Caithness Blue team – Danielle Sinclair, Erin Hewtison and Lauren Oag – who have qualified for the JCB Pony Club Championships at Offchurch Bury in Warwickshire from August 13-22.
Danielle, riding Leahs Cruz, came second overall after jumping a double clear and putting in a faultless jump off, while Erin and Cloontuskert Orga Mist also jumped a double clear, coming fifth in the individual rankings, and Lauren, riding Candy Reign, came 13th.
The Caithness White team, comprising Alysha Holmes on Drumroe Rory, Lauren Oag with her other horse Shanvoher Bobby and Emily Campbell riding Mockbeggar Rich Team, came fifth in the same section. Emily also qualified as an individual after coming sixth overall.
In the 100cm showjumping class Frances Sutherland, riding her eventer Casmo Z, came third, and Sophia Ramsøy was first in the open 90cm section with Lambada and second in the 110cm with Hinkelein. Sophia is planning making the trip down to the national qualifiers.
On the Saturday, Frances was the only one from Caithness to take part in the dressage and she did not disappoint by coming third in the open section with 62.69 per cent and qualifying for the championships.
In the eventing classes held on the last day, the Caithness Blue team came third in the 80cm section, qualifying for the Grassroots Championships at Auchlishie on August 8. The team consisted of Alysha, Erin, Lauren and Rowan Lee. Rowan, riding Durran Pedro, was first overall in Section K, finishing on her dressage score of 32.1, while Lauren, with Candy Reign, was first in Section J, finishing on a dressage of 30.2.
Lauren was also first in Section E of 90cm one-day-event with Shanvoher Bobby, having the same dressage score as her other horse but incurring just 1.2 time penalties on the cross-country. Emily came third in Section D with Corclough Randel, with a 35.8 dressage and two time penalties.
Sophia came first in the 90cm open class with Lambada, and also won the 100+ section with Hinkelien finishing on her dressage score of 34.6. Frances came fourth in Section B of the100cm class.
