Rio dressage gold medallist to host master class
Taranaki is in for a big weekend in equestrian with triple Olympic Games gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin coming to town for the Taranaki Championships.
The 31-year-old from England has signed on to assess five New Zealand master class riders on Saturday night.
The master class event was added to the programme for the event, which led to an extra day being scheduled.
Dujardin rode her horse Valegro to gold in the individual dressage at the 2012 games, and picked up two more on the same horse last year, with wins in both individual and team dressage.
Following the event in Rio de Janeiro last year, Valegro was retired at a special ceremony at London’s Olympia, while Dujardin was recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.
Since 19 March 2011, Dujardin and Valegro had 67 results recorded on the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) database. The duo won 54 of their 67 starts in FEI competition.
The New Zealand riders who were selected for the master class, Oakura’s Renee Etherington, Sophie de Clifford of Waikato, and Chelsea Callaghan, Liz Hutson and Jacqui Thompson all from Wellington, would ride for 45 minutes each under the watchful eye of Dujardin who would assess and guide them on their horses.
The Taranaki Championships get under way at the Egmont A&P Showgrounds in Hawera on Friday at 1pm. The Master class starts at 5pm on Saturday, with tickets needing to be purchased online prior to the event as there would only be limited door sales.
Riders from as far north as Auckland have entered knowing the great facilities offered at the showgrounds and were looking to use the event as a warm up for the national championships and the Pacific League World Cup Final to be held early February.
There was set to be eight grand prix combinations lining up, including Oakura riders Vanessa Way and Abbie Deken.
However a strong challenge was expected from New Zealand Rio representatives Julie Brougham and Vom Feinsten who were having their first start since Rio, following an enforced lay off during a lengthy quarantine period in the United Kingdom before returning to home.