Results & Club Reports 2022
BRC Championships, Winter Intermediate Dressage
Bury Farm, April 23rd
On April 23rd it was the turn of the Senior Team to venture to The BRC Intermediate Winter Dressage Championships at Bury Farm Equestrian. Here is a report of the day from Amanda Sykes:
With the possibility of an 8.30am time slot on Saturday for Jock and myself we decided to head up there on Friday night and make a weekend of it! This also appealed to my 6 year old daughter – Kate, who was very keen to come and camp in the lorry, with promises of great food (Holly had already checked out the catering facilities) and an adventure from her big sister. On that note, I would like to say that I don’t think the usual Sykes catering is too bad but it’s worrying that the prospect of cheesy chips is such a pull for both 6 and 16 year olds! Indeed, she was so keen to come she willingly helped me clean the lorry!
So, off we went on Friday afternoon and after 3 hours travelling I kind of regretted not making an early start on Saturday instead. This sentiment was not agreed with by Jock as to his delight all the stables were on grass and also being rather a ‘foodie’ he was very excited with the prospect of an ‘all night, all you can eat grass buffet’ not even being deterred by our attempt at covering the grass in shavings. The only upside to this was that he didn’t have time to roll and was actually still clean in the morning, just a slight problem with getting the girth done up!
In the end our time was much later than predicted so we turned up in the warm up half an hour before our test well rested, well fed (some more than others) and ready to work. Julia, with her boots this time firmly in place, soon joined us as she was on shortly after us in the next door arena. After a quick catch up, it was time for the test (the actual reason for being here) so in we went. Feeling happy and secure and fully knowing my test, I entered the arena to surprisingly exit very quickly, just about hanging in the saddle and avoiding falling off. You see, Jock has a thing about certain flower pots (Lanes Farm no exception) and these seemingly normal white flower pots lurking at A were the worst he’d come across, threatening to swallow me and him whole. Fortunately he hadn’t got as far as stepping into the arena so we tried again with the same result but I just decided to go with it and steer him up the centre line which worked as for the first time our comment read ‘Fairly active and straight’. Once in the arena all was much calmer and he was back to his rather over-chilled self, making me work for every mark but completing an ‘ok’ test, according to my ever critical daughter! I was just pleased to get out unscathed and still on board and when the results came out was pretty pleased with a score of over 67%.
Julia’s turn was shortly after ours and she had a rather less eventful time on the lovely Bobby who performed a great test in a hotly contested Elementary class despite confessing to a slight panic moment of ‘which way am I turning at C’ at the start. It was lovely to see Anne Granger who came to help Julia with Bobby and keep her company whilst travelling.
So it was 2 down, 2 to go with both the novice classes taking place in the afternoon. I was also writing for a novice class so was able to watch a little of the tests. First up was Sarah on Nino and with the wind blowing a hooley and the arena resembling the Sahara, they appeared, when I was able to see, to cope admirably with the conditions and complete a great test.
There was a short gap until Demi and Teddy’s test. They had drawn the short straw and were in Arena 3 with not only flower pots but also big, flappy flags to deal with. As I saw them come in I thought Teddy looked ‘rather on his toes’ but obviously Demi appeared as chilled out as usual. I learnt later that they described this mood as his spicy or vindaloo attitude and it often doesn’t end well! The bits I saw of the test looked fabulous but afterwards Demi was non-committal, describing it as ok. Anyway, the news of the score came whilst she and Nic were ordering their lunch and by the way both Nic and Demi were blubbing you’d have thought she’d got 20%! It was a huge win with over 75% and also the highest score of the competition, crowning them overall winners! It was so lovely to see how proud Nic was and how thrilled the usually demure Demi was. I have a feeling Caron will now refuse to let Demi enter another novice test and we’ll see them fly up the levels in BD using ‘vindaloo’ to her advantage!
Not forgetting the team. Out of 29 teams we came a respectable 15th place and I think we’ll all agree that we had a largely enjoyable time.
Thank you so much to Andrea for all the organising and to Caron for the support and grilling in rallies and lessons before the event and whose voice I’m sure was with us all during our tests – ‘hands up, sit tall, show off and ride for every mark’ certainly resonated with me throughout!
Bury Farm, April 23rd
On April 23rd it was the turn of the Senior Team to venture to The BRC Intermediate Winter Dressage Championships at Bury Farm Equestrian. Here is a report of the day from Amanda Sykes:
With the possibility of an 8.30am time slot on Saturday for Jock and myself we decided to head up there on Friday night and make a weekend of it! This also appealed to my 6 year old daughter – Kate, who was very keen to come and camp in the lorry, with promises of great food (Holly had already checked out the catering facilities) and an adventure from her big sister. On that note, I would like to say that I don’t think the usual Sykes catering is too bad but it’s worrying that the prospect of cheesy chips is such a pull for both 6 and 16 year olds! Indeed, she was so keen to come she willingly helped me clean the lorry!
So, off we went on Friday afternoon and after 3 hours travelling I kind of regretted not making an early start on Saturday instead. This sentiment was not agreed with by Jock as to his delight all the stables were on grass and also being rather a ‘foodie’ he was very excited with the prospect of an ‘all night, all you can eat grass buffet’ not even being deterred by our attempt at covering the grass in shavings. The only upside to this was that he didn’t have time to roll and was actually still clean in the morning, just a slight problem with getting the girth done up!
In the end our time was much later than predicted so we turned up in the warm up half an hour before our test well rested, well fed (some more than others) and ready to work. Julia, with her boots this time firmly in place, soon joined us as she was on shortly after us in the next door arena. After a quick catch up, it was time for the test (the actual reason for being here) so in we went. Feeling happy and secure and fully knowing my test, I entered the arena to surprisingly exit very quickly, just about hanging in the saddle and avoiding falling off. You see, Jock has a thing about certain flower pots (Lanes Farm no exception) and these seemingly normal white flower pots lurking at A were the worst he’d come across, threatening to swallow me and him whole. Fortunately he hadn’t got as far as stepping into the arena so we tried again with the same result but I just decided to go with it and steer him up the centre line which worked as for the first time our comment read ‘Fairly active and straight’. Once in the arena all was much calmer and he was back to his rather over-chilled self, making me work for every mark but completing an ‘ok’ test, according to my ever critical daughter! I was just pleased to get out unscathed and still on board and when the results came out was pretty pleased with a score of over 67%.
Julia’s turn was shortly after ours and she had a rather less eventful time on the lovely Bobby who performed a great test in a hotly contested Elementary class despite confessing to a slight panic moment of ‘which way am I turning at C’ at the start. It was lovely to see Anne Granger who came to help Julia with Bobby and keep her company whilst travelling.
So it was 2 down, 2 to go with both the novice classes taking place in the afternoon. I was also writing for a novice class so was able to watch a little of the tests. First up was Sarah on Nino and with the wind blowing a hooley and the arena resembling the Sahara, they appeared, when I was able to see, to cope admirably with the conditions and complete a great test.
There was a short gap until Demi and Teddy’s test. They had drawn the short straw and were in Arena 3 with not only flower pots but also big, flappy flags to deal with. As I saw them come in I thought Teddy looked ‘rather on his toes’ but obviously Demi appeared as chilled out as usual. I learnt later that they described this mood as his spicy or vindaloo attitude and it often doesn’t end well! The bits I saw of the test looked fabulous but afterwards Demi was non-committal, describing it as ok. Anyway, the news of the score came whilst she and Nic were ordering their lunch and by the way both Nic and Demi were blubbing you’d have thought she’d got 20%! It was a huge win with over 75% and also the highest score of the competition, crowning them overall winners! It was so lovely to see how proud Nic was and how thrilled the usually demure Demi was. I have a feeling Caron will now refuse to let Demi enter another novice test and we’ll see them fly up the levels in BD using ‘vindaloo’ to her advantage!
Not forgetting the team. Out of 29 teams we came a respectable 15th place and I think we’ll all agree that we had a largely enjoyable time.
Thank you so much to Andrea for all the organising and to Caron for the support and grilling in rallies and lessons before the event and whose voice I’m sure was with us all during our tests – ‘hands up, sit tall, show off and ride for every mark’ certainly resonated with me throughout!
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Area 9 Combined Training, 10th April at West Wilts
Fab results from the combined training riders at West Wilts today and all with foot perfect clears!
Team 7th
Fiona Symes individually 9th
Naomi Wright individually 2nd
Eleanor Newman individually 5th
And Demi Davis won her section as an individual
Good day all round finishing off with lemon drizzle cake and a coffee
Fab results from the combined training riders at West Wilts today and all with foot perfect clears!
Team 7th
Fiona Symes individually 9th
Naomi Wright individually 2nd
Eleanor Newman individually 5th
And Demi Davis won her section as an individual
Good day all round finishing off with lemon drizzle cake and a coffee
Area 9 Winter Intermediate Dressage, 6th March at Leyland Court
Amanda Sykes reported on the day as follows:
After the juniors showed us how to do it in style last weekend, it was the turn of 4 more mature members to compete at the Intermediate Dressage Qualifiers at Leyland Court yesterday. Gifted with quite reasonable times to allow for stretching and any painkillers to kick in, (for me, not my hairy pony), we picked seasoned competitor Demi up at 9am and headed off. As we got there Demi realised she’d forgotten her gloves and couldn’t borrow mine as our times were too close. Amazingly, Demi seems to know everyone in the South West and managed to quickly borrow a pair of ‘lucky’ gloves from a fellow competitor.
So, all was not lost and we headed, aided by super groom Holly (whose chief aim was the burger van), to the warm up. 20 minutes later and we were in, both competing at the same time in next door arenas. I think Jock had been given a pep talk by super Teddy in the lorry as he channelled his inner dressage pony and did a very reasonable test scoring just sub 67%. Teddy and Demi were true professionals, posting a score of almost 71% and going into the lead. It was then a long wait to see if they stayed there. Of course they did so after the first 2 tests we were in team 3rd with a score of just 7.
After Holly had more sustenance from the burger van, we picked up sheets and headed off, bumping into a slightly flustered Julia who had forgotten her boots! Now, a pair of gloves are fairly easy to get but borrowing boots is a completely different ball game. Anyway, Julia must have some amazing friends as someone raced them all the way over to her in the nick of time.
We then left Julia and Sarah to complete their tests. Sarah posted a good score in a very hotly contested Novice 27 but said Sky wasn’t feeling it as he’d also been out the day before (it amazes me that you could go through this 2 days in a row so I salute you Sarah!). Then it was, the now booted up, turn of Julia and Bobbie who posted an incredible score of over 67% in the Elementary - obviously the pressure of the situation helped (bareback next time Julia?).
Anyway, if you managed to read this far, after waiting for all the other competitors to finish and the scoreboard changing every minute we managed a fabulous Team 2nd from 16 teams.
STOP PRESS - we have received confirmation from BRC that the team has qualified for the Championships which will be held at Bury Farm on April 23rd - so let's hope that things run more smoothly next time!!
Amanda Sykes reported on the day as follows:
After the juniors showed us how to do it in style last weekend, it was the turn of 4 more mature members to compete at the Intermediate Dressage Qualifiers at Leyland Court yesterday. Gifted with quite reasonable times to allow for stretching and any painkillers to kick in, (for me, not my hairy pony), we picked seasoned competitor Demi up at 9am and headed off. As we got there Demi realised she’d forgotten her gloves and couldn’t borrow mine as our times were too close. Amazingly, Demi seems to know everyone in the South West and managed to quickly borrow a pair of ‘lucky’ gloves from a fellow competitor.
So, all was not lost and we headed, aided by super groom Holly (whose chief aim was the burger van), to the warm up. 20 minutes later and we were in, both competing at the same time in next door arenas. I think Jock had been given a pep talk by super Teddy in the lorry as he channelled his inner dressage pony and did a very reasonable test scoring just sub 67%. Teddy and Demi were true professionals, posting a score of almost 71% and going into the lead. It was then a long wait to see if they stayed there. Of course they did so after the first 2 tests we were in team 3rd with a score of just 7.
After Holly had more sustenance from the burger van, we picked up sheets and headed off, bumping into a slightly flustered Julia who had forgotten her boots! Now, a pair of gloves are fairly easy to get but borrowing boots is a completely different ball game. Anyway, Julia must have some amazing friends as someone raced them all the way over to her in the nick of time.
We then left Julia and Sarah to complete their tests. Sarah posted a good score in a very hotly contested Novice 27 but said Sky wasn’t feeling it as he’d also been out the day before (it amazes me that you could go through this 2 days in a row so I salute you Sarah!). Then it was, the now booted up, turn of Julia and Bobbie who posted an incredible score of over 67% in the Elementary - obviously the pressure of the situation helped (bareback next time Julia?).
Anyway, if you managed to read this far, after waiting for all the other competitors to finish and the scoreboard changing every minute we managed a fabulous Team 2nd from 16 teams.
STOP PRESS - we have received confirmation from BRC that the team has qualified for the Championships which will be held at Bury Farm on April 23rd - so let's hope that things run more smoothly next time!!
Area 9 Junior Dressage
Congratulations to our juniors at the area 9 dressage qualifier, held at CRE on 27th February, with Perdie Lawrence and Dukeshill Pebbledash coming 1st in P2 class, and Holly Sykes riding Sky 2nd in P12 class.
Congratulations to our juniors at the area 9 dressage qualifier, held at CRE on 27th February, with Perdie Lawrence and Dukeshill Pebbledash coming 1st in P2 class, and Holly Sykes riding Sky 2nd in P12 class.
Area 9 Winter Show Jumping, January 9th 2022
Fiona Symes posted the following report on the show jumping:
Cracking day in the sunshine for the area show jumping with great team and individual results, well done Eleanor Newman for your win, Ben Newman for your 4th, Holly for your 6th place, and to our teams in the 70 and 80 who were both placed 4th.
Hope I've got it all right, fab cake too! Well done to our mates from the VWH for their team win.
Cracking day in the sunshine for the area show jumping with great team and individual results, well done Eleanor Newman for your win, Ben Newman for your 4th, Holly for your 6th place, and to our teams in the 70 and 80 who were both placed 4th.
Hope I've got it all right, fab cake too! Well done to our mates from the VWH for their team win.
Results & Club Reports 2021
Area 9 Winter Novice Dressage Qualifier, November 7th
SDRC fielded 2 teams for the senior dressage at West Wilts on 7th November, with 25 teams in all competing. A few last minute changes due to illness and injury but didn’t they do well!
Team Zebedee came 2nd with Esther Stevens and Annabel Bloor Berry 3rd at Preliminary 2 and Preliminary 13, Demi Davis 8th and Sarah Dew both at Novice.
Team Ermintrude were unplaced but Pamela Hunt came 7th on Whiskers in her first Novice test, and Fiona Symes, Preliminary 2 and Sarah, on her second horse at novice, were unplaced but great team supporters as always.
And it was a sunny day, some great photos. Professional ones credit Jasmine Punter Photography
SDRC fielded 2 teams for the senior dressage at West Wilts on 7th November, with 25 teams in all competing. A few last minute changes due to illness and injury but didn’t they do well!
Team Zebedee came 2nd with Esther Stevens and Annabel Bloor Berry 3rd at Preliminary 2 and Preliminary 13, Demi Davis 8th and Sarah Dew both at Novice.
Team Ermintrude were unplaced but Pamela Hunt came 7th on Whiskers in her first Novice test, and Fiona Symes, Preliminary 2 and Sarah, on her second horse at novice, were unplaced but great team supporters as always.
And it was a sunny day, some great photos. Professional ones credit Jasmine Punter Photography
Small jump rally at Lanes Farm, October 31st
Feedback on Facebook from Pamela on the rally:
AWSOME SDRC baby / small jump clinic this morning with Whiskers . A great clinic for young / green horses or for riders like me who haven’t jumped for a long while and want to take it slow and low. Whiskers loves jumping and we are just starting out together in this phase, it’s a great safe place with lots of encouragement and a small nudge out of comfort zone.. which could be something as simple as a jump down the ‘long side’. Thanks Caron for coaching and guidance … I think we all came away smiling. Well done Emma and Carly .. was great to meet you both. Would love to do another , fab winter training!
AWSOME SDRC baby / small jump clinic this morning with Whiskers . A great clinic for young / green horses or for riders like me who haven’t jumped for a long while and want to take it slow and low. Whiskers loves jumping and we are just starting out together in this phase, it’s a great safe place with lots of encouragement and a small nudge out of comfort zone.. which could be something as simple as a jump down the ‘long side’. Thanks Caron for coaching and guidance … I think we all came away smiling. Well done Emma and Carly .. was great to meet you both. Would love to do another , fab winter training!
First Timer Cross country at Rabson Manor, October 23rd
Christina, Rachel and Sara had a great time at Rabson Manor in a first timer cross country rally. It was not all jumping, and all three horses went happily through the water, in and out of the sunken road, and over the ditch. Sara's horse was not at all sure of the ditch and so Caron walked him over it a few times, with and without Sara to familiarise him with it. A good lesson that a cross country course has all sorts of questions to ask, even away from the jumps.
Arena Eventing at West Wilts, October 10th
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It was great to see so many new members on the team and felt fantastic to be back out again!
the 70cm team was placed 8th - the team members were Nicola Davis, Annabel Bloor Berry and Holly Sykes.
The 80cm team were placed 4th - the team mebers were Fiona Symes, Demis Davis and Carly Melita Smith.
And to top it off Fiona also won individually!!
the 70cm team was placed 8th - the team members were Nicola Davis, Annabel Bloor Berry and Holly Sykes.
The 80cm team were placed 4th - the team mebers were Fiona Symes, Demis Davis and Carly Melita Smith.
And to top it off Fiona also won individually!!
British Riding Clubs Dressage to Music Championships, Bury Farm, October 3rd
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Huge congratulations to Claire Burton and The Musketeer on coming 4th at the Riding Club DTM championships at Bury Farm on Sunday. Claire and Mouse scored over 70% and were less than 1% behind the winner in a massive class in what was only her second time riding this test in public. All the practise at home paid off with obviously expert coaching and guidance from Caron Roberts .
Fantastic performance.
Fantastic performance.
South West and Wales Riding Club Championships, Hartpury, August 21st
Swindon qualified teams for the dressage and riding test , both teams represented by Sarah Dew, Claire Burton, Eleanor Newman and Andrea Moxey. Everyone achieved individual placings and the dressage team was 5th . Well done everyone, and special thanks to our volunteers Julia Lloyd-Parks, Vicki Thomas and Fiona who got rather damp!
BRC National Eventing Championships, August 7th
Ben Newman with CHF Chloe
Ben Newman with CHF Chloe
National Champions again; this time with CHF Chloe!
A competitive outing at the RC National eventing championships saw us finishing 1st in our arena and 2nd overall, on our dressage score of 32.
After going up and down hills on a long, hard course, and then being held just before the water due to a fall from the rider in front, I couldn’t be more proud of this young mare.
Who would believe that this was just her sixth ever event, having came over from Ireland last October, having done nothing prior to that! She’s just a star
Thank you ground Crew Eleanor, Kathryn, Sarah, and Tina.
Up to the 100’s now
A competitive outing at the RC National eventing championships saw us finishing 1st in our arena and 2nd overall, on our dressage score of 32.
After going up and down hills on a long, hard course, and then being held just before the water due to a fall from the rider in front, I couldn’t be more proud of this young mare.
Who would believe that this was just her sixth ever event, having came over from Ireland last October, having done nothing prior to that! She’s just a star
Thank you ground Crew Eleanor, Kathryn, Sarah, and Tina.
Up to the 100’s now
Area 9 Show Jumping Qualifier, July 25th
Today 4 SDRC members headed off to Rectory Farm for the area showjumping qualifiers. Fiona Symes, Tina Starling, and Eleanor Newman for the team 80cm, Ben Newman for the individual 90cm and Fiona also did the 75cm style jumping.
Firstly BIG congratulations to Fiona for winning the style jumping.
Tina and I were chuffed with 2 clear rounds and a very speedy jump off, 2 seconds between us! Unfortunately Fiona had a ‘senior moment’ and missed a jump, we’ve all been there and done it but this meant no team result.
Ben had a very stylish 2 rounds on his young horse sadly rolling a couple of poles.
As usual we all enjoyed the team spirit and you can’t have an outing without cake!
Firstly BIG congratulations to Fiona for winning the style jumping.
Tina and I were chuffed with 2 clear rounds and a very speedy jump off, 2 seconds between us! Unfortunately Fiona had a ‘senior moment’ and missed a jump, we’ve all been there and done it but this meant no team result.
Ben had a very stylish 2 rounds on his young horse sadly rolling a couple of poles.
As usual we all enjoyed the team spirit and you can’t have an outing without cake!
Area 9 Dressage Qualifier, July 3rd
Some photos from the Area 9 qualifier. The senior team of Sarah Dew, Claire Burton, Eleanor Newman and Andrea Moxey all doubled up to do team dressage and the riding test, qualifying in both for the SWWRC at Hartpury. Emilie Rogers was there representing the juniors in her individual Novice test. Everyone got individual placings.
Thanks from us all in the team to everyone involved in organising and helping and coaching, we can’t do it without you
Thanks from us all in the team to everyone involved in organising and helping and coaching, we can’t do it without you
Area 9 Dressage to Music Qualifier, June 19th
Congratulations
to Claire Burton and The Musketeer on winning the Dressage to Music preliminary class at the area qualifier with an impressive 75% score. Not bad for first attempt at DTM! Well done
to Claire Burton and The Musketeer on winning the Dressage to Music preliminary class at the area qualifier with an impressive 75% score. Not bad for first attempt at DTM! Well done
Area 9 Eventing qualifier, June 20th
Well done to our Senior Horse Trials Team, Fiona Symes, Naomi Wright and Tina Starling - 3 double clears and 5th place.
And for Ben Newman it was a successful day out. An improved dressage for 33, 1 unfortunate pole show jumping, and another super clear round of cross country.
A well deserved win for CHF Chloe, so we’re off to the championships, in August
And for Ben Newman it was a successful day out. An improved dressage for 33, 1 unfortunate pole show jumping, and another super clear round of cross country.
A well deserved win for CHF Chloe, so we’re off to the championships, in August
Senior Intermediate Winter Dressage, Online Qualifier. March 2021
SDRC have been busy doing dressage! Online area qualifiers have been going on and we fielded a senior team at intermediate level and a junior in the novice qualifier.
Emilie Rogers (junior) came third individually riding Kayentai in the Novice 24 her first time at this level. SDRC organised this competition so well done Tammy and co.
The senior team of Julia Lloyd-Parks on Bobbie Dazzler was 7th in Elementary 42, Demi Davis on Teddy was 2nd in N28, Sarah Dew on Skyfall competing first time for the club, was 8th in N34 and Pamela Hunt on Whiskers was 4th in P18. The team were 5th overall!
Well done everyone for making the effort and to their supporters taking videos! Thanks also to SVRC for organising the senior competition.
Emilie Rogers (junior) came third individually riding Kayentai in the Novice 24 her first time at this level. SDRC organised this competition so well done Tammy and co.
The senior team of Julia Lloyd-Parks on Bobbie Dazzler was 7th in Elementary 42, Demi Davis on Teddy was 2nd in N28, Sarah Dew on Skyfall competing first time for the club, was 8th in N34 and Pamela Hunt on Whiskers was 4th in P18. The team were 5th overall!
Well done everyone for making the effort and to their supporters taking videos! Thanks also to SVRC for organising the senior competition.
