Riders rev up for Regionals

Imperial College’s first riding team’s penultimate competition was hosted by the University of Kent. Although a bit cloudy on the long, early morning drive to Canterbury, by the time we arrived the sun was shining.

The dressage phase was first as normal in the morning, and the four horses were an interesting mix! Liane Marshallsay rode Willy, an enthusiastic dark bay cob, first and she rode a really accurate test to win on Willy, putting 5 penalties on our nearest rivals Kent. The second rider was captain, Rachel Gregory, who rode a Kodjak: a dark brown, surprisingly fast cob. Rachel rode an accurate test to put 11 penalties on the rider from Kent’s team. Andre Wilmes was third and rode a really lazy cob called Vinnie, and despite his unwillingness to move, Andre won on his horse as well, which was helped by the Royal Holloway rider who couldn’t get Vinnie going. Claudia Saksida was our final rider on her horse Cashew, a chestnut sports horse. Claudia also rode a fantastic test to leave the Imperial team in first after the dressage on 0 penalties, ahead of Kent on 26 penalties in second, Royal Holloway in third on 80 penalties and LSE on 127 penalties.

We all had lunch in the sunshine before walking the showjumping course. We were slightly disappointed by the height, but not surprised because at our home competition two riders from LSE had fallen off! The horses are shown before we have to ride them, and the last horse to go, Warrior, was a bit difficult, which was slightly disconcerting! Claudia was the first to go on Holly, a piebald mare who loved jumping and was surprisingly fast, producing a clear round. Rachel was second to go on her horse, Cody, a steadfast and reliable black cob who did the minimum effort to go clear. Andre was the third rider on Lady, a pretty grey mare, and he also went clear. Our final rider was Liane, riding Warrior, who had already eliminated a rider from LSE, and Liane rode a careful, calm and most importantly clear round.

We had a tense wait for the results as we knew they would be close as all the jumping rounds were fairly similar, with no major disasters to separate the riders. When the results were announced the team had come first, Andre was 1st, Rachel 2nd, Liane 5th and Claudia 8th. As a result the team are well-placed to qualify for regionals, with the final competition next week. Providing the team doesn’t come last we will have qualified! Individually, Rachel is currently lying in first place individually and is guaranteed a place at regionals and Andre is second, with Liane in 4th and Claudia in =9th.