Spring 2013 Saddle Club Newsletter - Honourable Artillery Company

LUCY OLDFIELD TROPHY COMPETITIONOn 23 rd November 2012 Juanita Coulson, Rosie Blake and Georgina Jenkins (your author)took part in the Lucy Oldfield Trophy competition at Trent Park Equestrian Centre inOakwood, North London.This is the second year running that the team has entered the competition, involving a ridertest – an assessment focused on rider only, not the regular combination of horse AND rider.It’s a tricky concept to imagine – the conventional dressage test, at any level, is an evaluationof the harmony between horse and rider, one influenced by the other, however in the case ofthe Lucy Oldfield competition, this is a rider competition through and through.Having competed last year and been pipped to the post in placings for all three riders(Juanita took 2 nd in 2011 by 1%!!!) we were determined to improve on the results. The drawwas not in our favour, as I was drawn first but was followed by Rosie and Juanita ridingroughly midway through the draw. We each had 10-15 minutes to warm up our horse andafter this brief encounter we were ushered into the arena to complete the British RidingClubs Novice Riding Test 11. The team each rode a sound test. I personally incurred twofaults for putting in an extra circle (oh dear…), Rosie did very well on a hot horse andJuanita made it look easy as usual!In the gallery we feasted on a superb buffet supper and chatted to new and familiar faces.The wine flowed (thankfully) until the scores were up. And worth the wait it was! Rosie wasawarded 6 th place, I was awarded 5 th place and Juanita won the competition on a score of+70%. Hooray!Moonlight was quick to make sure we had a winning photograph taken and we deliveredsome deserved carrots and Polos to the horses too. What a great result to take home on aFriday night and real boost for the club. Well done to all and thank you to Moonlight, Edwinand Stephen for the support!13