SOUTH-EAST
Alice Oppenheimer won freestyles at four levels at Merrist Wood.
Alice also achieved two gold section second places competing Headmore home-breds from novice through to advanced medium level.
The 17.3hh eight-year-old powerhouse Headmore Dirubinio (Robin), top scorer in the advanced medium, is Alice’s most exciting international prospect.
She said: “Mum and I think Robin is ‘it’!”
Alice put herself on a regime of eating less and working out more when she got back in the saddle after injury earlier this year.
She explained: “I felt not just fat but unfit. I felt a hindrance to the horses. It gave me a wake-up call and I’ve lost about two stone.
“I feel a lot better and, although I’m still not strong enough yet to organise Robin without getting in his way, I’m getting there.”
Holly James, 13, hit the deck when her FEI prospect, the Dutch-bred Welsh pony stallion Speyksbosch Diablo, did a handstand at Hickstead.
She said: “Normally I can sit his bucks, but not this one. He was clipped the day before and was feeling too well.”
Three days later at Brendon, the pair won the elementary 59 on 67.5%.
Holly said: “I was a bit nervous getting back into the ring, but Diablo helped me out and I think we trust each other again.”
Kent-based blind para equestrian rider, Nicola Naylor, is also investing in team potential horse power, a “follow-on” to her top rides Donnatella H, aged nine, and Ferrari V, a seven-yearold. She has qualified newcomer Fahrenheit, a Foundation x Weltmeyer five-year-old, at novice in just two outings.