With the hype of the recent London Olympics still in the air, day one of the 2012 Australian Dressage Championships started with a generous amount of enthusiasm. It was great to see Olympian, Mary Hanna, back on home turf and watching some of the Novice competitors. We knew the competition was going to be hot but what we didn’t know is that the temperature was also heating up
– it ended up being the first seriously hot day for spring. For a lot of the horse and rider combinations from the southern states of Australia, this meant a change to their normal preparation.
Thankfully, there were only three competitions scheduled for day 1 – the EJ & Co Novice 2C, the Novice 2D and the Intermediaire II. The Novice classes were outside and the Inter II was in the indoor. With thirty five competitors in the Novice the second half were riding in temperatures around the mid-thirties.
Although there were a number of quality tests, the battle for the Novice Champion ended up being between Queensland rider, Jayden Brown, on San Andrea owned by Beau Dowsett, Judy Dierks on Highlight Australia owned by Janelle Duffy, Emma Flavelle on Cabaret C owned by Caitlin Cullen and Linda Foster on Neversfelde Samiro. All four riders scored over 70% for both Novice tests but it was Jayden Brown on the very impressive mover San Andreas who stole the show. While checking the score board you could hear comments on what a beautifully ridden test it was. This great combination won the 2C with a score of 77.656 and the 2D, scoring 76.810. Definitely a horse to watch out for in the future.
As the indoor arena was a few degrees cooler, the Intermediaire II, attracted most of the spectators. By 4pm all the 22 riders had completed their test. Seventeen of the riders broke the 60% mark but it was Heath Ryan from, NSW on his proven stallion, Regardez Moi, who won the competition with a score of 65.237. Gitte Donvig from Victoria on her handsome gelding, Port Said, came second and Queensland rider, Alexandra Berns on her Australian bred Warmblood, Kings Legend, came third.
The temperature for the second day of the Saddleworld Australian Dressage Championships is meant to be about 10 degrees cooler which will make it nearly perfect for riders, horses and, of course, the spectators. Tomorrow’s program will kick off at 8.30am and the highlight of the day will be the Grand Prix CDI-W starting around 11.30. The top fifteen riders of this competition will qualify for the Hamilton Island Grand prix Freestyle CDI-W which will be held on Saturday evening.
by Scott Pollock
Photo © Franz Venhaus
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