Charlotte Breban and Papillon III triumphed in the senior large class for horses of any grade. (Picture by Brian Green, 0608346)
STANDARDS have never been higher at Chemin Le Roi.
As with many sports in the island, equestrian is moving with the times and providing as many opportunities as possible for the protagonists, especially the aspiring juniors, to succeed.
They are taking advantage of those opportunities and reaping the rewards in the arena. ‘It just seems to be getting bigger and better all the time,’ said BSJA Guernsey chairman Ken Carre.
‘We have more members and more initiatives going on than ever. We have just launched a junior academy in association with the English Association and we hope to see the benefits of that over the coming years.
‘The showground does not shut down. We seem to be becoming a centre of excellence for equestrian – more and more people and associations want to come and use the facilities which we have.’
But the rise in quality is not restricted to the juniors.
‘In the seniors it used to be that the novice classes had the big number of entries,’ Carre said.
‘Now we have a role reversal and the high-fence classes are bigger, which is great.
‘The juniors seem to be more evenly spread from the nursery ponies upwards, so it is encouraging for the future of the sport.
‘The committee are working really hard to encourage it and develop it.’
Carre was talking during the weekend’s Summer Show, which, in contrast to several previous events this year, was held in bright sunshine.
The combinations were tested by visiting course builder Paul Thompson, whose abilities are evident in the fact that next weekend he is building at one of Hickstead’s big events.
‘He is so easy to work with,’ said Carre, one of Thompson’s assistants at Chemin Le Roi.
‘He is a professional, which is what local riders need every so often. Although our local builders are very good, there is always that familiarity and when we have a visitor over it keeps people on their toes and gives a sense of variety.’
First day victories were also spread out, especially among the seniors, which Carre admitted ‘is nice to see’.
‘There is not so much domination by certain individuals as we have had in the past, although you will always have people having good days with more than one win.’
Samantha Gervaise-Brazier on Dazzling Gold was the sole rider to claim two victories during the senior jumping in the morning.
The ever-popular puissance, though, was won by Emma Dorey on Snaffles Purple Patch with the wall reaching 1.60m and the spread measuring 1.40m high and 1.60m wide.
In the afternoon’s junior classes there were five double-winning combinations.
Freddie Best riding Gew Trogan, Jodie Travers on Pimm’s Parade and Catherine Gaudion with The Hale Viola all claimed two outright victories.
They were joined with two firsts by Penny Freeman on Kilrea Boy and Shelley Tostevin on Cadnam Catnap, who shared the place in the puissance having earlier won a class apiece.
In the day’s concluding class, both accrued four faults in the fifth and final round.
Kilrea Boy cleared the 1.40m wall at the second attempt after an initial stop before Cadnam Catnap’s val-iant attempt to clear it saw a block dislodged.
Article posted on 21st July, 2008 - 2.29pm
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