Not all eventers are thoroughbreds! Katie Padgett and Maizey in the BE80 (T)
An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on cross country at
Skipton (1) - find out more here
It was a stiflingly warm weekend at Skipton (1) where plenty of ice creams were consumed and the gin and tonic van was very popular! Despite the temperature, the horses and riders coped very well with this hilly course, although there were a few rider ‘sat-nav errors’, demonstrating the challenges posed by a course of this style.
Pietro De Marchi won the BE100 Section A on Legal Graffiti owned by Seema Gater and Marilyn Marathe. This horse also won the BE90 at Belsay at the start of June so is set to have a good rest of the season. Section C was won by Alex Postolowsky on Iden Van De Rosweide (watch their cross country ride here) , owned by Wendy Rose, and Section B by Erica Hockney on her own Eddy Splash, a 14.3hh traditional gypsy cob.
This horse is not your usual eventer type but Erica says “He loves it and no one has ever shown him a mirror!”
“I’ve had him since he was three weeks old, we bought him off the side of the road when he was due to go to Appleby horse fair as a foal at foot with his mum but we fell in love with them. We still have Eddy's mum who my mum hacks out. Eddy loves himself, he’s a real character. I don't have an arena so we spend most our time hacking up the hills which helps his fitness. Our aim now is a few regional finals and see what happens”
Erica is a part time dentist with two young children. Eddy is so calm that they are able to help put his studs in and plait him up; he's clearly a well-loved family pet!
Aimee Penny had a cracking weekend, winning the BE100 Section D on PSH Mirror Image, the Novice Section F on PSH Charisma and Section G on PSH Mirage, all owned by Gary Power. The Novice Section E was won by Sophie Wilson on her own Carden Cloudy Bay.
Katie Stephens-Grandy also had a successful weekend, winning the BE90 Section H on her own Mr Music, Section J on Tilly Marley’s Rathbrennan Buachaill and taking second place in the BE80(T) Section N on her own Rathcline Kestrel. Katie says of her rides, “Mr Music is a homebred, I have such a soft spot for him he’s very special to me. He’s very sensitive to ride yet has a huge opinion and is very bold! He qualified for the Mitsubishi Motors Cup in 2018 but we couldn’t go because I had an accident and missed the whole season, so we are really looking forward to the Regional Finals here in five weeks’ time. Chris McGrann trains me and he really understand Music’s mind and attitude!”
“Rathbrennan Buachail is owned by the Marley family. He’s a beautiful Connemara and their ponies are based with me to ease things for them while they are at school. Rathcline Kestrel is a young Connemara, it was his first run for me and I’m delighted with his attitude. I have huge hopes for him but for now I’m trying to build foundations”
Section I in the BE90 was won by Gabriela Baxter on her own Billy Castillo and Section K by Bradley Allsopp on his own Ferodo.
The winning horses in the BE80(T) sections were all ridden by their owners, with Lucy Robinson taking Section L on Portland Street (watch their cross country ride here), Section M by Lucy Thompson on Woodstock Friday Man and Section N by Kacey Finch on Moychullen Turbo. Kacey and Turbo also won at Warwick Hall (2) earlier in the month and were the recipients of much admiration as they flew around the course at Skipton.
Skipton has some of the best views of any of the events I’ve been to and the use of the hills really demands control and balance around the course. And of course, we’ll be back for their second BE event of the year in August.
Article by Jess Johnson
