20 Nov 2006 - Dressage Competition at Middleton Park
Three RDA groups from the Yorkshire & Cleveland Region took part in a dressage competition on 12th November 2006. They were Middleton Park Equestrian Centre (the hosts), The Unicorn Centre, near Middlesbrough and our own.We had excellent representation in Mandy Schofield Elaine Button, Bernadette Spellman & Paul Kitchingman.
The competition had three classes. Grade One Test was Introduction to Dressage - a walk with or without a leader. Grade Two Test was Test 21 - walk & trot unlead. Grade Three Test was Test 32 - walk, trot & canter. The degree of difficulty in test 32 is very demanding and, as a sequence of complex movements and changes of pace, this test is designed to challenge the experienced rider to the maximum.
It is important to stress at this point that, due partly to the unavailablility of their usual mounts and partly to the expense of transporting them, all the Otley competitors were riding borrowed horses, kindly lent by the MPEC. This, of course made extra demands on the riders' skills in balance and communication.
Mandy regularly competes at Middleton so she is no stranger there and is always impressive. She scored 75% in test 32 & 73.8% in test 21, percentages which gained her a first in both tests.
Bernie did her cause no harm at all with second place in her section of Test 32 with a very creditable score of 57.7%. I am sure there will be more to come from Bernie
Elaine, in her first competition at Middleton, turned in an excellent performance coming third in her section with an equally creditable 63.1%.
I, Paul, came joint first with Sara, a Middleton rider. Both of us got 70% in the A test.
Congratulations also go to Anna Hirst, a former Otley rider, who came third in her test with 47.7%.
It was very pleasing to see how the riders all supported each other and I would like to congratulate them all for putting in such terrific performances. I would like to also emphasise again that riding strange horses increases the difficulty and reduces the chances of putting in a good performance.
Thank you to Middleton Park Equestrian Centre for being such good hosts and for the kind loan of the horses.
Paul Kitchingman
Mandy regularly competes at Middleton so she is no stranger there and is always impressive. She scored 75% in test 32 & 73.8% in test 21, percentages which gained her a first in both tests.
Bernie did her cause no harm at all with second place in her section of Test 32 with a very creditable score of 57.7%. I am sure there will be more to come from Bernie
Elaine, in her first competition at Middleton, turned in an excellent performance coming third in her section with an equally creditable 63.1%.
I, Paul, came joint first with Sara, a Middleton rider. Both of us got 70% in the A test.
Congratulations also go to Anna Hirst, a former Otley rider, who came third in her test with 47.7%.
It was very pleasing to see how the riders all supported each other and I would like to congratulate them all for putting in such terrific performances. I would like to also emphasise again that riding strange horses increases the difficulty and reduces the chances of putting in a good performance.
Thank you to Middleton Park Equestrian Centre for being such good hosts and for the kind loan of the horses.
Paul Kitchingman