Central Hollies overcome adversity
A catalogue of challenges make it a sweet victory for the winning team while individual honours prove to be a battle, with standards improving
Senior Home International, Mount Ballan Manor, Monmouthshire
The victorious Central Hollies team proved perseverance through adversity can pay off.
Winning team captain Shirley Rixon was ably backed up by
Anna Foster, Sian Nash and Becky Gibbons, each of whom has had a challenging year.
“It’s been tough,” said Anna, whose overall medium win propelled the Hollies to a threepoint lead over runners-up Southern Dom Perignon and third-placed Welsh Rarebit. Anna’s 14-year-old Lord Loxley mare Wanarico underwent sinus surgery before suffering a series of setbacks over recent months.
“She’s had a few lamenesses this year, but we’ve scraped through to every competition,” said Anna, who was medium champion with Wanarico at the senior inter-regionals in May.
“She’s an angel in every way.”
Anna, who works as a veterinary nurse, bought Wanarico as a just-backed threeyear-old. The pair now train with Levi Hunt.
“We’re competing at advanced medium and she does get quite excited about her flying changes,” she said. “But we had good tests with no blips.”
Sian put a “roller-coaster” year behind her to finish third at elementary with Woodcroft Dream Boy, the eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding she calls Del.
“We thought it was game over when Del had a freak accident on the horse-walker in May and got his leg stuck over the central partition,” said Sian. “Luckily, he only suffered superficial injuries. Thanks to the fantastic vet Jacopo Corsalini from Corner House Equine Clinic, who spent time cleaning and flushing out his wounds, I was back on board four weeks later.”
After scoring a personal best of 75% in the warm-up test,
Sian’s error of course on the Saturday knocked the pair down the placings. A solid test on the Sunday brought them back into the reckoning.
Becky’s event horse Duckey Bank suffered an allergic reaction just days before the competition.
“We then scored our worstever percentage in the warm-up test,” said team newcomer Becky, who took up dressage earlier this year having nursed “Duba” through a significant superficial digital flexor tendon injury. “I just wanted to go home, but with help from team coach Tom Graham, reassurance over the phone from my trainer Sarah Schofield and support from our amazing team, we nailed our first test.
“It was a complete shock to hear that we’d come ninth overall in the novice,” added Becky. “I burst into tears!”
The Hollies’ chef d’equipe Jane Imbush praised the organisation of the event, which attracted 34 teams from England, Wales and Scotland and was run for the first time at Mount Ballan Manor.
“It was like being at the Olympics, with an opening and closing ceremony,” agreed team captain Shirley, who rode her 12-year-old gelding Dornik Gold at advanced medium. “I was so proud to be part of it and feel hugely motivated to raise my game to qualify again next year.”
IMPROVING MARKS
THE battle for the individual titles produced some hot competition, with Rui Campeao and Lordswood Adonis leading at novice by a narrow margin. Nicola Grainge of the second-placed Southern Don Perignon team took the elementary title, heading the scoreboard on both days with her Sorento gelding Eminence.
“Our marks have gone up,” said Nicola, a dentist, who bought her eight-year-old gelding three years ago. “It has been slow progress for both of us, as he was a bit down in the hand and I was too heavy on the rein. It’s really coming along now. We’ve been doing plenty of transitions and I’ve taken up pilates to increase my own fitness — and I’m finally learning how to do sitting trot.”
Annabelle Trigg clinched the advanced medium with Rockefeller 61, ahead of Rebekah Wintle and Dolce Vita IV, while Devan Woodgate emerged victorious at advanced/prix st georges. Devan’s consistent 18.1hh Donaugold gelding Distaulgold produced winning tests on both days, boosting scores for the Southern Lanson team.