Back with a win
FIVE years ago, Dinah Smith would have happily settled for a quiet life doing dressage, but when she took on the 14.2hh Connemara, Culmore JJ, in 2012, she found herself dusting off her eventing boots.
“I used to event — back in the days when novice was the smallest class — but I’ve never been the bravest rider,” admitted the 60-year-old, who topped a BE90 section at Tweseldown (3). “JJ was bought to do dressage, but when I found out how much he loved to jump, I couldn’t keep my feet on the ground. My poor husband couldn’t believe it when I said I was coming out of retirement.”
The housewife and motherof-two is an active member of the Rother Valley Riding Club and she and JJ are mainstays of teams.
“This year he’s qualified for all the championships except, ironically, eventing,” said Dinah. “He’s a real all-rounder — I even show him as a mountain and moorland.”
While Dinah admitted her result had been a “total surprise”, trainee chartered surveyor Adam Harvey and Don Diego II’s BE100 win was more predictable. The duo completed an unusual hattrick of victories at Tweseldown, having won at BE100 level at the March, May — and now
July — fixtures.
Their latest win propelled
Don Diego to equal first place at the top of the British Eventing Foundation Points horse league (Eventing Life, p46).