British Riding Club team on top of the world!
6th August 2013A team of riders representing British Riding Clubs has triumphed in a showjumping contest at the World Cup Tournament 2013 – an international celebration organised by the French Equestrian Federation.
The tournament, held in Lamotte, was a National Club Championships over a two week period. The event incorporated a combination of all disciplines from endurance to vaulting, quadrille to showjumping involving some 14,000 horses and ponies.
British Riding Clubs (BRC) was invited to send an affiliated Riding Club Team to represent Great Britain in the showjumping competition. Held over the weekend of 27 and 28 July, this would be a competition at 1m, with two rounds and a jump off.
The selectors decided that the team victorious in the Senior Intermediate Showjumping at the Riding Club National Championships (over the same height of 1m) were best placed to carry the flag at the tournament. This was the team from East Cheshire RC.
Unfortunately only two of the team, Brook Butler and Nicky Toomer, were able to take up their place, so the opportunity to be part of the unique competition was opened up to all clubs. The first club to respond was Gower in Area 21 and two of their riders, Tassy Hole and Alex Cashmore, made up the team of four.
With the team complete, and managed by Gwen Robinson from East Cheshire Riding Club, the riders set off for France. Tassy transported her team members’ horses Walt Disney and Lily from Wales, and the East Cheshire riders hired horses called Owen and Syrial owned by Jean Francois de Miulle. They were initially apprehensive about the horses, which they had never met before, but managed to get some good results during their warm up.
After the parade of nations on the Saturday, the teams jumped their first round. At this stage some brilliant clear rounds saw Great Britain in the lead with a score of zero. On Sunday afternoon the second rounds took place, which were run in reverse order of achievement. The British team were delighted that they were still in the lead after this round and it was highly unlikely that they would be caught. The best five teams then went into the jump off and, after just three of the British team members had jumped, it was evident that the victory was theirs. All team members jumped clear eventually, leaving France in second place with four faults. Suriname from South America took the Bronze position.
Gwen Robinson, team manager said: “The event was so much more than we had ever envisaged. The planning that must have gone into it was very impressive and the whole competition ran like clockwork. The entire team are overwhelmed with the experience and would love to have the opportunity to take part in it again in the future!”