British Riding Club National Championships Lincoln - 13th & 14th September 2003

British Riding Clubs (BRC) celebrated their most successful championships in history during the weekend of 13th and 14th September 2003. With entries topping any previously recorded level, and unseasonably good weather, the atmosphere, venue and competitors were second to none. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of affiliation to the British Horse Society and to celebrate, parties were held on both the Friday and Saturday evenings to allow all competitors to join in the celebration.

Saturday 13th September kicked off with the senior finalists. A staggering 16 dressage arenas were in action, featuring preliminary to international levels of dressage, plus four jumping rings with novice and open jumping and our own Equitation Jumping final in which marks are awarded for style and riding. The open ring attracted a big crowd with its testing track in a truly grand arena.

Saturday 14th was the junior day with the NAF sponsored Evergreen Veteran classes held alongside. Teams had travelled from Cornwall, Isle of Wight and Scotland.

Seniors:
Longton Riding Club, based near Preston in Lancashire always do well at the championships and this year was no exception. Starting the day with a win in the Senior Open Team Dressage, followed by the Rural Riders International Dressage Test, Longton went on to take the Overall Individual Riding Test Championship. Longton's extremely well matched Rural Riders team under the watchful eye of team commander Christine Fayle, were awarded the Scaramanga Trophy for the second year in a row.

Rutland RC based near Leicestershire, took the Overall Individual Dressage Championship with an excellent test from Suzy Dawe on Paledo. An award was also made by the Retraining of Racehorses organisation to the highest place ex-racer in this competition. The award went to Rachel Franklin and Galloway Reiver.

Rochdale RC, also based in Lancashire celebrated a win in the Riding Test Team Championship with two of the team also winning their respective arenas.

East Cheshire RC enjoyed a win in the senior open show jumping championships and took home the beautiful Spillers Bowl and the Alan Ashby Memorial Trophy. The individual title went to Lucy Pinney and Redlight from the South Western Dressage Group. The Retraining of Racehorses organisation were again on hand to make an award to the highest place ex-racer, which this time went to Jerry Prince and Iffy from North Lincs RC.

Mid Somerset RC ensured their long journey was worthwhile by taking the Pairs Dressage championship. Marylou Ashton and Claire Derryman, riding Charlie Brown and Maytree Washington, celebrated with a picture including their Jack Russell team mascot.

Hailsham RC from East Sussex proved to be a team with excellent jumping style by taking the stunning BSJA Eagle Trophy and the Equitation Team Jumping Championships. The individual title went to Sophie Saunders and Isenhurst Fatal Attraction, the combination being part of the Hailsham winning team.

East Yorkshire RC were represented by the talented Joyce Fearn riding Something Else in the Medium Dressage Final, and an excellent performance
from this pairing secured the title and the silverware.

Beccles and Bungay RC hailing from Suffolk, took the Novice Show Jumping Team Championship, beating a huge field of competitors. This championship class was so large that the first and second round were held in separate rings. The individual title went to Rachel Birch and No Doubt from East Midlands Dressage Group. The highest place ex-racer in this competition was also awarded a prize from the Retraining of Racehorses organsation and this went to Samantha Burch riding The Tester from > Berkshire County RC.

Elstead RC were victorious for the second year in a row in the Novice Dressage Championship sponsored by Natural Animal Feeds. Based in Surrey, the club were ecstatic to take the trophy again. The Overall Individual title went to Joanne McNeill and Irishmore, representing Polnoon Castle Riders Association in Scotland.

Showing
Evergreen Classes
The NAF sponsored Evergreen Veteran Horse and Pony classes drew a huge entry with the removal of the jumping section. With 23 ponies and 34 horses entered in each class the judges had their hands full to find an overall champion. The Evergreen Pony Championship went to Isobel Reynard and 17 year old Little Red Rooster from Hambleton RC based in North Yorkshire. The Evergreen Horse title went to Sharon Moss and 25 year old Fuego from Berkeley RC in Gloucester. Sharon and Isobel went forward to the Overall Evergreen Veteran final and after some tough debate, the Evergreen Horse of the Year award was given to Sharon Moss and Fuego. Sharon was presented with the newly donated Sundance Kid II Trophy in memory of this exceptional pony who was extremely successful in the Evergreen class.

Juniors:
Essex based Ingatestone and Blackmore RC took the Junior Riding Test Team Championship. The individual title went to Gemma Carman and Worton Buccanneer from Warwickshire based Rugby RC. Gemma also took the ndividual title in 2002 with this extremely versatile pony.

The Junior Team Dressage Championship went to Kings Leaze RC from South Gloucester, fielding an almost identical team to the Junior Horse Trials
Championships at Offchurch. Kings Leaze juniors are certainly pulling off consistent performances across the board. The individual title went to Kings Leaze team member Claire James and Chinook Tapestry.

Riders 2000 RC hailing from Cardiff were the successful duo in the Junior Pairs Dressage Championship. The judges were particularly impressed with the standard this year. Martha Thomas and Laura Major riding Mr Perky Perkins and Llamaes Lad respectively, took home a silver salver each.

Rochdale RC were in the ribbons again with brilliant performance in the Junior Open Show Jumping final. Last year 's individual champion, Daniel Warburton, was in the winning team but unfortunately had a fence down in the jump off. The individual title went to Samantha Magennis and Birchwood Belle representing Lakes RC in Cumbria.

Herfordshire based North Mymms RC were the proud recipients of the Junior Novice Show Jumping Team Champions silverware. The individual title went to Jamie Goss and Mighty Mouse from Cropthorne and Evesham RC in Worcestershire.

Elstead RC again had cause to celebrate with yet another victory, this time in the Junior Equitation Jumping Championship. Elstead were very proud to take this title for the second year in a row. The individual title went to Samantha Oakden and Zephyr from Lakes RC in Cumbria.

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