Equissage Pulse Para Winter Championships

BELOW: ELAN WILLIAMS, 12, WHO TOOK THE BRONZE GRADE 1 WITH HER TRAINER SARA JONES-WILLIAMS’ WSH SOMETHING BORROWED. ELAN TRAVELS ONE AND A HALF HOURS, THREE TIMES A WEEK WITH MUM CERYS TO BENLLECH ON ANGLESEY TO RIDE.

THE 2022 EQUISSAGE PULSE PARA WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE SUCCESSFULLY HOSTED BY THE SUPPORTIVE TEAM AT MYERSCOUGH COLLEGE AT THE SECOND TIME OF ASKING AFTER AN ENFORCED DELAY BY STORM EUNICE. A FULL WEEKEND OF CLASSES ACROSS THE GRADES WAS ENJOYED BY ALL WITH SOME NEW NAMES FEATURING ON THE WINNER’S ROSTER.

BRONZE

BELOW: LILY HUGHES AND LORNA HIGGINS’ NIKITA (ANNIE), OR NIK NAK FOR SHORT, TOOK THE WIN IN THE GRADE II BRONZE - THE DUO WERE RUNNERS UP IN THE SILVER TOO – IN

THEIR FIRST COMPETITION OF 2022 TOGETHER. Grade I Elan Williams and WSH Something Borrowed 66.15% Grade II Lily Hughes and Nikita (Annie) 64.41% Grade III Vicky Earnshaw and Aldo MW 70.93% Grade IV Lisa Griffi n and First Class IX 67.08%

Grade V Donna Rooney and Scarlets True Skyfall

LEFT: LINCOLNSHIRE’S LISA GRIFFIN ONLY JOINED BD IN JULY LAST YEAR BUT SHE AND HER OWN FIRST CLASS IX HAVE ALREADY NOTCHED UP THEIR FIRST TITLE TOGETHER IN TAKING THE GRADE IV BRONZE. LET’S HOPE IT’S THE FIRST OF MANY!

BELOW: SUPER SMART CARMARTHENSHIRE DUO DONNA ROONEY AND SCARLETS TRUE DUO DONNA ROONEY AND SCARLETS TRUE SKYFALL TOPPED THE GRADE V BRONZE SKYFALL TOPPED THE GRADE V BRONZE RANKS FOR A FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE TOGETHER.

SILVER Grade I Veronica Bower and Game Over

Grade II Sarah Cooper and Seni-Lliso 1 Grade III Vicky Ernshaw and Aldo MW Grade IV Georgina Maton and Despereaux

BELOW: SARAH COOPER AND SENI-LLISO I, A HORSE THAT COST THE PRINCELY SUM OF £1 INCLUDING TACK, WERE CROWNED GRADE II SILVER CHAMPIONS. SENI-LLISO, A 20-YEAR-OLD PRE GELDING, IS OWNED BY BECKY MONK OF LAKEFIELD EQUESTRIAN CENTRE WHERE SARAH HERSELF WORKS WITH PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS. Grade V Joanne Dagley-Cleworth and Uptimistic Grade V Joanne Dagley-Cleworth and Uptimistic 68.02% 68.02%

BELOW: DESPERADOS-SIRED DESPEREAUX HAS HAD A BUSY START TO THE YEAR HAVING CONTESTED A REGIONAL AND AREA FESTIVAL WITH SARA LOUISE MORELAND BUT MYERSCOUGH BROUGHT A FIRST EVER TITLE WIN WITH OWNER GEORGINA MATON IN THE GRADE IV RANKS.

LEFT: VICKY EARNSHAW, WINNER OF BOTH GRADE III SILVER AND BRONZE WITH FORMER EVENTER ALDO MW BY MATTERHORN, WAS ONLY GRADED AS A PARA RIDER LAST SUMMER, AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS.

LEFT: CONWY RIDER VERONICA BOWER AND TRACY ORMROD’S GAME OVER, WHO HAVE A COMBINED AGE OF 86, KEEP UP THEIR EIGHT-TEST WINNING STREAK TO GO ONE BETTER THAN 2021 AND TAKE THE GRADE I SILVER TITLE.

GOLD Grade I Mari Durward-Akhurst Quaikin Guaranteed Good 70.48% Grade II Lee Pearson and Roughcote Jupiter 71.96% Grade III Emma Kent and Royalty II 71.13% Grade IV Laura Gulliver and Farok V. Singing 70.16% Grade V Joanne Dagley-Cleworth and Uptimistic 66.47%

RIGHT: SOPHIE BUTCHART’S SAMBA HIT II MARE ROYALTY II HAS QUICKLY FORMED A FORMIDABLE PARTNERSHIP WITH EMMA KENT – SECOND SPOT IN THE SILVER CHAMPIONSHIP WAS BETTERED WITH VICTORY IN GRADE III GOLD.

BELOW: JOANNE DAGLEY-CLEWORTH AND UPTIMISTIC, BY CARL HESTER’S OLYMPIC RIDE UTHOPIA, WON BOTH GRADE V GOLD AND SILVER TITLES. THE TEN-YEAR-OLD GELDING IS 17.2HH AND JOANNE DESCRIBES HIM AS ‘A PERFECT GENTLEMAN – LIKE A GIANT LABRADOR’. LEFT: MARI DURWARD-AKHURST, WHO ALSO ROWS INTERNATIONALLY, TOOK A FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE WITH HER OWN GRAFENSTOLZ-SIRED QUAIKIN GUARANTEED GOOD, OR ‘DAMO’ FOR SHORT, IN THE GRADE I GOLD.

RIGHT: SIR LEE PEARSON WON THE GRADE II GOLD WITH ELIZABETH GREEN’S REGISTERED SHIRE GELDING ROUGHCOTE JUPITER. SIR LEE SAYS: “HE HAS A GREAT WALK AND A GREAT CANTER AND A MASSIVE BUCK, VERY ATHLETIC FOR SUCH A BIG HORSE! I LOVE THAT PARA DRESSAGE CAN GO FULL CIRCLE, HEAVY NATIVE TO FLASHY WARMBLOOD BACK TO HEAVY HORSE.”

BELOW: A NEW MEMBER ON THE WORLD CLASS PARA PODIUM POTENTIAL PROGRAMME, LAURA GULLIVER HAS USED THE WINTER WISELY TO STRENGTHEN HER BOND WITH USED THE WINTER WISELY TO STRENGTHEN HER BOND WITH LATEST PARTNER, FAROK V. SINGING, OWNED BY JOANNE WHITWORTH, WITH VICTORY IN THE GRADE IV GOLD.