SKELTON SETS A REMARKABLE DRESSAGE RECORD

CARRIE SKELTON and Ramesses B set a new BE record at Norton Disney (1) with a dressage score of 5.5 in BE100open section M.

“The test felt lovely and he was very rideable, but I honestly thought 5.5 was a typo,” admitted Carrie, who rides for the horse’s owners, the Lancer Stud, in Suffolk. “He was super-sharp in the warmup, which made me think it would either be a great test or he’d spook his way round. My trainer, Fiona van Tuyll, always gets me to ride a canter square as the last thing I do before I go into the arena to get him ‘sitting’ behind and focused, so that’s what I did and it must have worked!”

Unfortunately the pair were eliminated when Carrie missed out fence 10 on the cross-country.

“I didn’t even see the fence when I walked the course – I was probably distracted by watching the novices – but I have learned a lesson: to fully concentrate and always check the photos on the cross-country app before I get on,” said Carrie.

The section was won by Grace Donnor and Marchwood, who finished on the second-best dressage score of the section – 10.