Pindar takes off the handbrake
Scottish event riders claim Foxhunter qualifying spots, with an event horse bought as a broodmare taking the lead
IT came down to sheer jumping prowess when two Scottish event riders turned the tables on their showjumping counterparts and claimed the top two Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) qualifying spots in the Equitop Myoplast Foxhunter second round.
From the 29 who started over Raf Suarez’s track, 10 went clear in round one. When nine jumped clear again, the fences were cranked up for the final timed round for the two tickets available.
Nigel Spinger recorded a steady clear aboard Lumbbrook Lad to stop the clock in 46.57sec, which turned out to be good enough for third and just miss a place.
Next in, Annabel Shields — winner of this qualifier last year and buoyed with her success the previous day in the newcomers second round — set the big arena alight, pulling off some daring angles with Creevagh Carisma just rubbing a pole to finish on 40.75sec.
Event rider Louisa Milne Home recorded the next clear with Harry DV, producing a smooth, economical round to break the beam in 43.95sec and go
into the lead, putting the pressure on the final rider Rosie Pindar. Placed third in the newcomers second round the previous day with Hanleen Beatrice, Rosie set off steady, but left the handbrake off after the second fence to claim the spoils and finish just in front of Louisa on 43.55sec.
“I can’t believe it,” admitted a clearly shocked Rosie. “I wasn’t going to jump this class as I’d thought she’d done plenty yesterday and bust a gut for me, but Ron Brady said to go and do it as it might only be one round.”
The Otis 12-year-old
Hanleen Beatrice was bought as a broodmare two years ago by David and Claire Shand from her breeder Harry Aird.
“She had a foal and I started jumping her last year. She’s green at this level and, until today, the biggest she’s jumped was two 1.30m open classes,” explained Rosie, who used to purely event.
Two years ago, Rosie spent six months dressage training in Germany, followed by showjumping training with Ron Brady. Additionally, being based in Inverness, she has decided to reduce the event rides and concentrate on showjumping.
“It was a big course and I saw the second fence was causing problems, so after we’d jumped that, I kicked on,” said Rosie. “She’s jumped six clears in two days and has gone fantastically this week. She is sharp and I need to ride her sympathetically to a fence. I can’t get after her, but she always tries when she gets there.”
Rosie has the mare qualified for the silver league semi-final at Bishop Burton as well as Harry Aird’s Perrotta JX.
“I’m lucky to have some nice horses to ride and I’m grateful her owners didn’t put Beatrice back into foal,” added Rosie.
Four-star event rider Louisa Milne Home admitted she thought it might be another “nearly day”, but was overjoyed finally to collect a qualifying ticket with Harry DV.
“He missed out in the grade C by one place at Fife and then again missed out in the Talent Seekers at the Royal Highland this year. This
has been my main goal for him and he deserves it. I haven’t gone south to chase qualifiers, so it’s special today,” said Louisa.
The Bonnie Prince Charlie 11-year-old was purchased from Alistair Gatherum as a five-yearold to produce for eventing.
“He was placed at British Eventing intermediate level, but then started to get strong across country,” said Louisa. “He loves showjumping and eventing is so expensive, so I decided to switch him to pure showjumping two years ago. I’ve always wanted to qualify for HOYS and I compete Harry for fun.
“I’m enjoying British Showjumping [BS]; there are lots of good venues in Scotland. I don’t have to travel too far, you can win money, it’s fun and it certainly helps keep your eye in. I was a bit concerned when there were nine through to final round; I thought it might be another nearly!”
Louisa trains with Alistair and takes a “lorry load of eventers” to his yard each week.
“Harry’s had a little tune up the past three weeks and we’ve been working on turns for the jump-off. He made it feel easy,” added Louisa, who plans to fit in showjumping with CCI2* eventing at Blair Castle next month.
‘UNASSAILABLE TARGET’
THE Connolly’s Red Mills newcomers second round saw 56 come forward, with a related distance from fence three to four, followed quickly with a dog-leg to a big parallel at fence five, causing problems.
With 16 jumping clear in the first round, seven went forward to the final round, where seconddrawn Annabel Shields set an unassailable target with Creevagh Carisma.
Angel Tough came closest with a good try on Dam Dam, finishing only 0.69 sec behind in second.
Annabel has had the ride on
Vic Gibson’s eight-year-old Camiro De Haarz mare for only six weeks.
“She’d done some eventing but didn’t like water, so I’ve been spending time practising water trays and open water. She flew the open water at South View last week and likes to jump clear. She did everything I asked today and is quick across the ground, and ready to step up to bigger classes now,” said Annabel, who admitted she thought her other ride Cartender might have had a better chance.
Angel Tough, 15, was thrilled with the home-bred Dam Dam in second and to collect her first HOYS ticket.
“He’s never done a three-round class before and he’s only jumped two 1.30m classes, so I thought the course today was quite an ask for him,” said Angel.
“We decided against the warmup class as Dam’s got a massive heart — he’ll just come in and jump round and give it his all.
He’s been consistent, but we didn’t know if he’d go against the clock like this.”
The Luidam six-year-old gelding is out of Harmonie De Guldenboom, who was previously owned by the Italian Equestrian Federation.
“Everything we’ve bred by Luidam has been a replica of the mother, so the quality of the dam is important,” admitted Angel’s father Emerson, who explained they have strong, young homebred horses coming through.
Just 10 came forward for the Scottish Branch 1.40m grand prix, where five, including two with four faults from the first round, went through to the timed round. The winning round was a cracker from Alex Barr with Ferrara Durona to claim the £1,000 top prize. This marks the eight-yearold (Balou Du Rouet x Chin
Chin) mare’s biggest win to date, although Alex is looking forward to travelling to competitions in Belgium and Holland shortly.
David Harland enjoyed two wins in two days with Suzanne Craighead’s Fauber, taking both the 1.30m open and the 1.20m speed open.
The show ended with a popular amateur schedule on the final day, which saw marathon entries. Emily Ryder won the bronze championship with
Pippa Du Perron and Meghan Ballantyne claimed the 1.05m open mini grand prix with Cookie De Reve.