RDA National Championships 2018

Earlier in July the Group made the long trip to Hartpury College in Gloucestershire for the RDA National Championships. This year we had thirteen riders who had qualified to compete, out of our eighteen regular riders. Boysie (Drunkeen Boy) and Danny were the trusty steeds of the weekend, with Chris and Olivia taking their own Quintus and Uma. Horses, coaches and other volunteers rose to the occasion and the Group secured some brilliant results. Read on to find out more!

Our volunteers always do fantastic work. Here are Helen and Laurie dashing off to their next job!

Showjumping

• RDA Level 2 - Chloe 12th Junior; Shani 10th Senior (both on Boysie)

• RDA Level 3 - Eleanor 5th (Boysie)

• RDA Level 4 - Lizzie 3rd (Danny) and Chris 4th (Quintus)

Showing

• Eleanor 6th (Boysie) and Chris 7th (Quintus)
• both have qualified for the RDA SEIB Search for a Star final!

Musical ride

• Unled - 'Trooping the Colour', Cambs College 1st (devised by Gillian and ridden by Chloe, Emily, Chris, Lizzie and Shani)

Emily riding her dressage test on Boysie, closely watched by Zebedee the RDA East Region mascot!

Dressage

• Grade 3 Championship test - Eleanor 1st and Class Champion (Boysie). This was a great victory in a very competitive class, made all the more impressive by the fact that Eleanor's score of 77.05% was a full 5% higher than that of the rider in 2nd place, and very nearly the highest Championship dressage score of the whole weekend. This remarkable performance has been documented in The Cambridge News (see below) and The Cambridge Independent (click here to read the article online).

• Grade 4 Freestyle - Olivia 8th (Uma)

• Grade 4 Championship test - Olivia 3rd with 72% (Uma), Gemma 12th (Danny)

• Grade 1-6 Canter Championship test - Lizzie 5th (Boysie)

• I/D Canter Championship test - Chris 12th (Quintus), Shani 14th (Boysie)

• I/D Canter Freestyle test - Chris 2nd (Quintus)

• Walk/Trot Led Championship test - Kodie 11th (Danny)

• I/D Walk Championship test - Jodie 4th (Boysie)

• I/D Walk/Trot Championship test - Chloe 8th Junior (Boysie) and Emily 11th Senior (Boysie)

• Walk only Led Championship test - Rebecca 8th (Danny) and Claire 13th (Danny)

An article on Eleanor and Boysie in The Cambridge News.

Countryside Challenge

• Led or 1 sidewalker - Kodie 13th (Danny)

• Led and 1 sidewalker - Lucy 4th (Danny)

Vaulting

• Individual - Lizzie 1st 17+ and Overall (Bear - Perry RDA horse) and Best Turned Out vaulter

Arts and Crafts

• Individual Collage - Claire 4th

Best Turned Out

• Olivia and Uma - 5th

Volunteer, Sarah, giving Danny a pep talk, whilst Kathryn finishes tacking up.