We are so so proud of ALL our TEAM BKRC members who attended the BRC Championships at Lincoln on 31 August and 1 September.
Our team of dancing dressage divas and our jumping dynamo put in sterling performances for Team BKRC at the championships, with some cracking scores and so much to be proud of.
Attending a Championships, particularly one where people have qualified from all over the UK - and had to win to secure their spot - means that there's a hair's breadth between the competitors as they are all at the top of their game.
This year it seemed even MORE competitive, with 27 teams in the Open Dressage and 32-33 competitors in each individual class (I'm sure in previous years there's been only around 20 it felt like everyone was really gunning and "in it to win it" this year. And that showed very clearly through the scores with just 3% separating top half of each senior section.
This meant that even posting scores to be blooming proud of (especially at a Champs where the marking it traditionally harder) our senior team members were sadly not in the frillies this time (see the day below)
BUT for our Junior rider - also at her first 'big' National championships ever - it WAS their turn to shine.
Heading out on Sunday 1 Sept for day 2 of dressage, this time a prelim, Thatcher's Gold (Scrumpy to his pals) danced his way into 8th place and a score of 67.31% (just 3% from the top spot) with his favourite hooman - Evie Keedwell.
We're so proud of Evie and elated for her for this success. Evie has worked so hard and has been to two championships for BKRC this year (one regional SWWRC and one National). Evie also secured 3 local business sponsors for TEAM BKRC's trip to Lincoln - from Tecni Ltd, Western Fuels and the Fox and Goose - so what a wonderful reward to come home with a frillie!
But our seniors did shine too! And here's how it happened....
Marion Eaves and Indigo Queen of Hearts
Dressage day opened at 8.30am on Saturday 31 August and Marion Eaves and Indigo Queen of Hearts (Liz) were first on for both BKRC 's Dressage Team and for the Novice 30 class....And they smashed it, scoring 67.5% setting the pace for the day. Holding on in the top spot in the early part of the competiton (it's never good to go first), Marion and Liz finished just 3% from the winner and it was so close at the top from a lot of the later competitors that it sadly dropped them out of the frillies. However, Marion and Liz were literally called up to compete two days before the championships when Freddie of the fern went lame. On top of that, this is Liz's first 'away-stay party' so a truly top result and definitely a Champion!
Dabinette's Delegate with Ros and Dave Luff
Next up representing BKRC individually were Ros and Dabinette's Delegate. Also at his first away-stay party, Dabi had a busy day doing Senior Intro (where he narrowly missed a top 10 placing) followed by riding test (only his 4th ever Prelim competition) and finally competing with Dave in the 80cm showing - where he went double clear but sadly picked up a time fault knocking him out of the final jump off - argh! It really is that tight at the top. This meant Dave finished 24th out of a whopping 117 competitors where only 94 got through both rounds!!! Go Dabi! Well done to both his pilots.
Amanda Holmes and Thatcher's Gold
Our second team member (also our second reserve rider, taking the spot of Jayne Harman and BamBam) was Team Manager Amanda Holmes and Evie Keedwell's, Thatchers Gold.
Having only sat on him 4 times, Amanda and Scrumpy did a lovely test. I think that's pretty impressive to just 'pop' on a pony and ride a competitive novice test at a championships. So massive thank you to Amanda and also to Scrumpy and Evie.
Laura Williamson and Freddie Bear.
Riding third for the BKRC Dressage Team was Laura Williamson doing Novice 24 with her Freddie Bear. Laura and Freddie won their section at the area qualifier with 70% and delivered another lovely test to score 65.87, finishing just out of the frillies and just 3% from the winner. They then had a 2.5 hour wait to compete in their Prelim individual test - once again pipped just out of the frillies!
Jane Tomlinson and Tempest Harley
Dancing at the higher end of the dressage classes and therefore having to wait until later in the day to compete were BKRC's final Senior team combo - Jane Tomlinson and Tempest Harley.
Riding first in the Team elementary class and then individually in the Medium class, Jane and Harley delivered two beautiful tests. Once again - as was the BKRC story of the day - being close in scores but it was tight at the top.
We've put together a little compilation of the weekend for our competitors both 4 and 2 legged including snippets of their arrival, their tests and jumping.
THANK YOU
TEAM BKRC couldn't have managed this without the help of the sponsors, so for one final time, please applaud the support from our fabulous local businesses:
Please check out our Lincoln Championships page for more info on each of the businesses and how to contact them.
Plus we'd like to thank our 4 local businesses who have donated feed, haylage and their services:
Pophams Saddlery - who donated 8 haylage bales to the team
PALS pet and livestock Locking - who donated feed and bedding
Millie Robinson Veterinary Physiotherapist - who donated her time to give all equine competitors a pre-competition treatment
SME Marketeers - who donated their time to produce the digital marketing and printed posters
THANK YOU FROM TEAM BKRC!
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