SOUTH-EAST
Joanna Philpot scored plus-68% prelim and novice wins on the new horse she calls her ‘mid-life crisis’.
“I spent far more money buying Micro Man than I intended and he’s much more horse than I’ve ever had before, but I thought, ‘You only live once’,” said Joanna.
The Irish-bred eight-yearold, who stands just 15.1hh, was fourth at the 2017 national championships at prelim, under former rider and producer
Kathy Staples.
Joanna explained: “I went to see warmbloods with my trainer Nathalie Kayal because I wanted a proper dressage horse, but the ones we saw were too young and too green.
“Micro Man’s paces are exceptional, he’s been beautifully trained and, at 15.1hh, he suits a small adult. I want to take him to the nationals one day, but already he’s surpassing my expectations. We only started competing last month and now I just need one more qualifying score to do an Area Festival this year.”
The overall prelim winner at Merrist Wood was Maeve Morris, who scored 72.29% riding her stepmother Nicky Morris’ homebred Florencio x Dimaggio fiveyear-old Headmore Footloose.
At Oldencraig, Olivia Kelly won the silver elementary nonqualifier, competing Islero CXIX for the first time at the level.
Olivia, who has had the seven-year-old Spanish gelding since he was two, said: “When he was younger, it was a fine line between blowing his brain and me not asking enough. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to produce the work he can do at home at a show, but we had mostly sevens and enjoyed it.”
The bronze winner in the same class was 17-year-old Molly Baseley on the Lanprinz nineyear-old La Toya 58.
“I’ve had her three years. She’s 16.3hh and my first horse after a 13.2hh pony, so I’ve had to learn to ride her,” said Molly.