What a beautiful day for show jumping in Canterbury! Are there any North Islanders who wish they had headed South instead of staying home for the rain? Fingers crossed it stays that way for the next two days of the show at the National Equestrian Centre, McLeans Island, Christchurch.
Under the shortened format being used this year, today’s speed classes were a crucial part of the bid to win a National Championship. This meant some hot competition, with people pressing for speed; sometimes it paid off, sometimes it didn’t!
The standard of ponies competing in the speed class for the Fiber Fresh NZ National Championship was very high. It was Noah Coutts from Mosgiel and the lovely stallion Bizzie Canoodling who took the win, pipping the consistent Sophie Scott and Benrose Playtime. Sophie, who hails from Wellington, was also fifth on Benrose Eclipse.
In the McMillan Feeds National 1.30m Horse class, it was a good win to Todd Magner on Awatuna Jonesy. Todd is back down in Canterbury at university, after spending his summer holidays in the Waikato, and was very successful with his horse at various North Island events. In fact, Awatuna Jonesy arrived back from his northern adventures the day before this show. “He hasn’t been ridden for two weeks; he just came down on the transporter yesterday,” says Todd. The trip obviously didn’t bother the horse, as their time was considerably faster than anyone else’s, and they had a clear round, making the most of every possible shortcut. “I might as well take the corners with such good ground,” Todd says. Danielle Maurer was second on Madam Coco, with Sally Spicer on Bella Vi third and Tegan Fitzsimon fourth on Alacazam.
The Dunstan Horsefeeds & Equifibre National Grand Prix Horse Championship, sponsored by Wilcox Perlas Potatoes, had eight starters and was a good win to Lucinda Askin with Portofino. The pair recorded the only clear of the competition, and also the fastest round. Being busy in another ring meant that Lucinda couldn’t walk the whole course, but she thought it might have paid off. “It did make me far more determined, and I didn’t have time to watch the other riders so I had to focus on what I had to do!” Lucinda was very complimentary about John Vallance’s course. “It was perfect for a speed class, as there were lots of opportunities to do tight turns.”
Nicole White and LC Samson were second, with Harry Feast third on Double J Bouncer. Kate and Kimberleigh McCabe put in a good round for fourth with Chris Harris and Glenbrooke Archie Bunker finishing in fifth place.
Tomorrow starts bright and early at 8.30 am with the Purepine Shavings Seven-year old series (in association with Platinum Performance) followed by the other series classes. The next phase of the National Championship classes is on Sunday.
We were unable to bring you full results of all the other classes; unfortunately, they are not available on line yet.
Show hunter classes for ponies and horses also continue tomorrow and on Sunday as well.
We hope you enjoy our gallery of images from today’s action. These (and other images from today) can be purchased at Pegasus Commmunication’s website.
RESULTS
First Competition Dunstan Horsefeeds & Equifibre NZ National Grand Prix Horse Championship in association with Wilcox Perlas Potatoes: Lucinda Askin (Ashburton) Portofino 1, Nicole White (Invercargill) LC Samson 2, Harry Feast (West Melton) Double J Bouncer 3, Kimberleigh McCabe (Invercargill) Kace 4, Chris Harris (West Melton) Glenbrooke Archie Bunker 5, Steffi Whittaker (Springston) Eros K 6.
First Competition Fiber Fresh NZ National Pony Championship: Noah Coutts (Dunedin) Bizzie Canoodling 1, Sophie Scott (Wellington) Benrose Playtime 2, Olivia Adams (West Melton) Mr Black Magic 3, Grace Manera (West Melton) Rednalhgih Cowan 4, Sophie Scott (Wellington) Benrose Eclipse 5, Rosa Buist-Brown (Burnham) Junior Disco 6.
First Competition McMillan Equine Feeds NZ National 1.30m Horse Championship: Todd Magner (West Coast) Awatuna Jonesy 1, Dani Maurer (Auckland) Madam Coco 2, Sally Spicer (West Melton) Bella Vi 3, Tegan Fitzsimon (West Melton) Alacazam MH 4, Angus Taylor (Ohoka) Oak As 5, Dani Maurer (Auckland) Banderas C 6.
First Competition Mainland Coachwork Ltd NZ National 1.20m Horse Championship: Nicole White (Invercargill) Lil LeRoux 1, Lauren Buckley (Queenstown) Icey Storm 2, Grace O’Sullivan (Sefton) Cosmopolitan 3, Kate Beattie (Dunedin) Smartymarty 4, Grace Percy (Glenorchy) Kiwi Spirit 5, Florence Tapley (Pigeon Bay) Ngahiwi Call Girl 6.
