Hopetoun Estates ran their first International Horse Trials this weekend, catering for several classes of competitor across the range of experience from relative novice to full International. The field was headed by William Fox-Pitt, fresh from ‘The Wedding’ and included a full Irish team on Olympic selection duty.
The event, essentially a telescoped Three-day into One-day event, was held over two days with each of the 12 classes competing in Dressage (photo – Michelle Chalmers, BANDOSHEA), Show Jumping (Photo – William Fox-Pitt, PARKLANE HAWK) and Cross-country (Photo – Sarah Hitchison, BORTHWICKS WINGMAN). The less experienced riders, classes BE90 and BE100, competed on the gloriously sunny Saturday and the others, CIC3*, CIC2* and Novices (the horses, that is), on the less glorious, grey Sunday.
Class winners were as follows –
CIC3*, Section A – Sam Watson (Irl), HORSEWARE BUSHMAN
CIC2*, Section B – Nicola Wison, ARISTOTELES II
BE90, Section C – Jo Luton, BLACK EYED PEA III
BE90, Section D – Katy Watson, IN TOO DEEP
BE90, Section E – Jennifer Lange, DESDAMONA
BE90, Section Fns – Claudia Claydon, THE GINGER KING
BE100, Section G – Amanda Walker, HARRY CRUISE
BE100, Section H – Ruth Edge, WHITEROCK ROBBIE
BE100, Section Ins – Mhairi Willison, TUIDAM
BE100, Section J – Carolyn Gospel, WILLAMY TWINKLE
Novice, Section K – Tanya Kyle, DIVA DE LUX
Novice, Section L – Wills Oakden, ZIPILO
Open Novice, Section M – Tanya Kyle, ATLANTIC DOMINO
Huge numbers of visitors attended on both days to enjoy the riding and supplementary entertainment and to made a success of the whole event, with organisers and sponsors being well pleased with the turnout. It can, therefore, probably be assumed that preparation for next year may well be underway in the next few months.
Report and Photos – John Preece
