On the 22nd October, Sidcot Equestrian started the long drive up to Keysoe Equestrian Centre, Bedfordshire to compete at the NSEA National Championships. All riders, and their equally important support teams, had loaded all their kit ready for three very busy days of competing. In order to ride at this event, you must have previously qualified at one of the regional events over the year. We were incredibly fortunate to be contesting in the 70cm showjumping class, 70cm Jumping with Style class, two teams in the 80cm show jumping class, Regional Points League and the 90cm Jumping with Style class.
70cm Show Jumping- representing Sidcot in this class were Olivia, Nelly, Hattie and Hugo. All four riders jumped faultless and fast clear rounds to finish the first round in 4th place, meaning they had made it through to later that evening to jump in the final round against the clock. After a long day of competing in other classes, the team walked the new course. Another four faultless rounds from all four riders and in super quick times meant that they finished on the podium in an incredible 2nd place!
80cm Show Jumping- we were very fortunate to have two teams representing Sidcot at this height; the Sidcot Stars and the Sidcot Stripes.
Sidcot Stars - the Sidcot stars were Erin, Harriet, Archie and Henry. All riders had to go as fast as they could to try and make it through to the evening jump off, as there had been a lot of fast teams go in before them. With a combination of clear rounds and the odd touch of a pole left the team just outside the top 8 and narrowly missing out on the evening jump off. A fabulous effort from all involved.
Sidcot Stripes - the Sidcot stripes team was made up of Olivia, Nelly, Hattie and Ava. All four riders completed very impressive clear rounds but just narrowly missed out on the top 8 jump off by a couple of seconds! As a very young team I am sure they will be back next year to contest a place in the jump off.
70cm Jumping with Style- The jumping with style team consisted of Hugo, Nelly, Hattie and Ava. The course was proving to catch a few horse and rider combinations out but all Sidcot riders flew round the course and showing the judges exactly what they wanted to have very impressive style marks and finish a brilliant 4th.
Regional points league- This was something new for team Sidcot, having never qualified for this in previous years. you can have a maximum of eight riders, with two riders at each height (70cm, 80cm, 90cm and 1m), with the best five scores to count. We had six riders representing Sidcot; 70cm: Hugo and Olivia 80cm: Henry and Ava, 90cm: Erin and Archie. After a very busy day, the riders impressively learnt a new course again, and flew round in their respective heights to finish in 2nd place! A wonderful achievement given we had fewer members than all the other teams!
Prelim Dressage Championships- Erin was the only one representing Sidcot in this class having qualified back at Moreton Equestrian Centre last year. It was a very busy class and Erin rode a beautiful dressage test to finish just outside the placings.
90cm Show Jumping- Riders representing Sidcot in this class were, Erin , Harriet , Henry and Archie. The riders gave it their all to again reach the top 8 jump off later that evening but the occasional roll of a pole meant that they narrowly missed out, but a brilliant effort from all the riders involved.
90cm Jumping with Style - This was the last class of the competition for Sidcot School after a long weekend of competing and my word did we go out with a bang! As the last team in, the riders rode very mature and stylish rounds to WIN the whole class and become national champions! This was an outstanding result and ended the whole competition on a high! CONGRATULATIONS to Henry, Hugo, Hattie and Erin. Well done to Hugo who also finished in 3rd place individually, with the best style mark of the day!
Congratulations to all the riders involved in these championships and I think I can speak for everyone that a fabulous weekend was had by all. The team atmosphere demonstrated by all of Sidcot Equestrian is absolutely lovely to see and something that definitely doesn’t go un-noticed with other schools. A big thank you to team coach, Sophie Clarke, who without her help and support not only at the championships but in the training leading up to these finals, these results would not be possible. There’s no rest for the equestrian team as they are back out this weekend trying to qualify for the county dressage championships, which will be held in April next year. Good Luck!!
