First day of Rangiora Pony Club eventing competition

Some great grass roots eventing on display in Canterbury today. Our stars of the future were given a good cross-country challenge and most of them took every opportunity to shine in the wintery sun at Rangiora.

Jane Thompson

June 5, 2016

Claudia Wilson on Shapeshifter II won the 105 class

Rangiora Pony Club held the first of their two days of eventing competition with huge entries. It was a long day to get everyone through all the dressage, cross-country and show jumping but the organising team had it sorted. There was an early start, and the water jump still had ice on top, thanks to a heavy frost overnight, but horses coped well with the chill, and the near-perfect weather that followed made it all worthwhile.

Unfortunately there were a few holds on-course due to falls, and the mounted ambulance was kept busy for a while, but there were no serious injuries from what we know. Some competitors in the lower classes struggled to get their green horses over the jump into the water, resulting in a bit of a stack-up at one point, but most sailed through.

On the whole, there were some great exhibitions of jumping, and those hoping for a place on their Springston Trophy team had every opportunity to show their skills.

There were also plenty of adult competitors with young and old horses. The Pony Club events are certainly proving very popular, with clubs reporting they are having to close entries early, after quickly reaching their maximum number of competitors.

The Rangiora event continues tomorrow with the lower-level classes jumping at 75cm, 65cm and 45cm. There are just as many entries tomorrow as there were today.

Check out our gallery at the end of this post.

Today’s Available Results

Class 1, 105 cm