British international FEI dressage pony rider Lily Laughton has secured the ride on two horses that can take her to junior and young riders level this year.
Laughton has been competing for Great Britain internationally at FEI Pony level since 2018.
In her first CDI year on ponies she rode Maddy Whelan's former British European Pony Championship ride Ode to Shannon (by Washington Postman) at Keysoe and Deauville. In 2019 she showed at the CDI's in Nieuw en St. Joosland, Compiegne and Hagen on Steendieks Cadillac (by FS Chambertin). She was long-listed for the British selection for the 2019 European Pony Championships
Lily was supposed to make an effortless transition to junior riders in 2020 with two irons in the fire, but the corona pandemic has brought competition life to a grinding halt.
Laughton has the 7-year old Hanoverian Decurio (by Desperados) to ride which she purchased from Alex Hardwick in December 2018. The black has competed at the 2018 British Championships at Elementary level and already did two shows with Lilly at Medium level over the winter.
Her newest addition to the barn is the 8-year old Dutch warmblood Horatio VCG (by Don Schufro x Jazz) which she took on this month. Previously campaigned by Beth Bainbridge, Horatio has shown at Advanced Medium level.
The lockdown has given Lily extra time to connect and develop her two horses.
"My plan is to definitely do Juniors on them both," Lily told Eurodressage. "I personally think having the extra training at home has been extremely beneficial. It has allowed me to take the time to reflect and really work on the basics before working at the higher level movements. With Decurio we are currently working really hard at the Junior tests and we are slowly making our way up to the PSG work. He is still young so I think it is a great time for him to gain lots of confidence in the Junior work before going out and competing. With Horatio, I have only had him a few weeks, but I think it’s a great time to get used to him with no pressure of competing straight away. I am really enjoying training him at the moment, and I can’t wait to get out soon."
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