Bury Farm and Hartpury
Tahley Reeve-Smith’s Special wins three, including an inter I freestyle created at the very last minute
AFTER qualifying Special for the inter I at the nationals, Tahley realised late in the day that she’d need an inter I freestyle programme. She and her trainer, Roland Tong, quickly put together a floorplan, which she videoed and sent to him to create a music programme. The soundtrack was ready the day before her
Bury Farm test and involved lots of emails, plus her friend Nicky Foy helping by burning the CD at the show. Tahley then realised she didn’t know where the programme started in the arena so had to phone Roland (who was teaching in Switzerland) from the warm-up to check.
All the drama did not show in the pair’s polished, assured performance, with “Spesh” dancing to show tunes including Tonight from West Side Story.
Special and Tahley also secured wins in the prix st georges (PSG) and straight inter I. The Sandro Hit gelding’s highlights were his lovely rhythm, the security of his outline and the harmonious partnership with his rider. He gained in confidence throughout
the show, eradicating the tiny errors which had appeared his first test, Friday’s PSG, after which Tahley had left the arena looking disappointed despite having won the class by almost 3%.
“I’m my own worst critic,” she said afterwards. “When I watched the video back I realised it was quite a good test!”
This was Special’s fourth show in 18 months after he was off work for almost a year with what turned out to be a foot imbalance. In fact, although he is 14, Tahley reckons the injury-prone gelding is more like a seven-year-old in competition years.
Special’s 70% win in the inter I proved to be a good run-through for the nationals, and they finished 2% ahead of Finland’s Anu Sironen on her Sir Donnerhall mare, Santoya.
Anu moved to the UK in December and is based with her trainers, Richard White and Kyra Kyrkland, in Horsham.
Santoya is a home-bred 10-year-old who started PSG in Finland last year and was successful in young horse classes as a six-year-old.
“She is really sensitive and my main goal is to keep her relaxed so she can cope with the higher competitions,” said Anu.
Emma Hindle was disappointed despite winning Saturday’s grand prix on the 11-year-old Romy Del Sol (by
Blue Hors Romanov), as tension meant this talented mare could not show off her true potential. Her athleticism works against her when she is tense as she finds it tricky to stay in balance and control her exuberant leg action. But she improved through the test with a very nice line of two-time changes which were light, forward
and with lots of airtime.
“I feel she took a bit of a step back today. She got too hot and tense in the warm-up so wasn’t on her A game. I’m more excited about my five-year-old, Grandeur, as this is his first show,” said Emma, who scored over 72% at elementary with him.
RISING STAR
THIRD in the grand prix was Sara Gallop, who had won the inter II the previous day, both on her 13-year-old Summerhouse Zelham (Sir Sinclair x Belisar). This is an athletic, scopey horse with good joint articulation, which means lots of impulsion and activity. In the inter II the extended trots had super ground cover and Zelham embraced his tempi-changes with controlled enthusiasm.
“He’s my first proper grand prix horse,” said Sara, who bought him as a three-year-old and has produced him herself. “Today the weather was quite close and I didn’t want to give him too much to do in the warm-up — so we had a hack around the car park in the middle. He’s a brilliant horse who tries so hard for me.
“Our main issue has been contact because he’s so exuberant. Recently it seems to have clicked and he goes in a better frame so I can just sit there and enjoy the ride. He knows the work now so my job is just to keep him supple.”
Henrietta Cheetham and her nine-year-old Dancier gelding
Dancer Khan won Saturday’s PSG.
“He’s the most talented and scopey horse I’ve had,” Henrietta said. “I took him for a lesson with Ferdi Eilberg the day before coming to the show and it was good preparation. Ferdi quickly spots the problems you’re having.”
Former young rider and dressage vlogger Olivia Towers had three horses at the show and was particularly successful at medium and advanced medium with her Apache eight-year-old, Mercian Edjena (Eagle).
“He’s not the biggest mover but he’s the most trainable horse and he doesn’t get stressed when he makes a mistake,” said Olivia, whose focus is on riding more positively.
“Jaw-dropping” is how judge Sally Andrews described Nikki Crisp and San Pedro’s elementary test, which scored 77.42%. The six-year-old by San Amour is owned by Celia Bushnell and Nikki keeps him loose and supple with a varied programme of flatwork, hacking and jumping.
Amateur rider Nicola
Crowther beat some professional rivals to win the first day’s novice 38 on her 10-year-old Friesian Ytsen H. She bought him a year ago from Holland where he had been used as a driving horse.
“He’s my first Friesian —
I loved his half-brother, who is owned by a friend of mine, so I thought I’d give one a go,” said Nicola.