Irish draught takes the spoils
JORDAN KAVANAGH was on flying form at Askham Bryan. He picked up a win, two thirds and a seventh from his four rides. Samantha Carmichael’s Miss Offaly Skippy was the comfortable winner of BE90 section A, finishing on her dressage of 25.8.
“I did a bit with her last season, but only took back the ride for this event as her owner had been having a few ups and downs and wanted her to finish on a good note,” explained Jordan. “She’s pure Irish draught [by Skippy Diamond Clover] and she can be ‘heavy’ to ride. She makes you feel like you want to hold her up with your hand, when in fact you need to do the opposite and ride her from behind. She gave me a bit of grief in the dressage collecting ring, but 10 minutes before the test I thought, ‘I’ve got you’.”
Jordan was equally impressed with his two third-placed horses, new ride Ice Man III (BE90) and Penhill Promising Vision (BE100open), an intermediate campaigner dropping down a few levels at the end of the season.
BE100 winner Teri England has the perfect solution to combining a full-time job with riding — she has built an office in her yard. No commute and flexible working hours enable her to be at her desk one minute and on a horse the next.
“My business is supplying technology used to operate toll roads — it’s as far removed from horses as you can get,” she said.
Teri’s ride, Coady Bay Logic, was bred by the Coady Bay Stud and is one of several youngsters she has produced for the sport horse operation.
“He’s seven, but he’s not done a lot; he was quirky and sensitive when he came to me, but now he’s showing talent for all three disciplines,” she said of the gelding by the Landgraf I son Landstreicher. “Showjumping has always been my weak link, but my trainer, Michael Potter, has transformed me this year — he makes me allow the canter to do the work.”