It was wonderful for so many of our riders to be able to go to the National Championships at Hartpury after a two-year gap because of Covid – and they certainly made the most of it! However, it was our best horse, Boysie, who really stole the show, winning all three of the classes he was entered for: dressage and show jumping with Lizzie Bennett (making them National Champions in both classes), and the Countryside Challenge with Olina Peters. Lizzie rounded off an incredible two days at the championships with three wins in the vaulting.
Chris Bradley was awarded the “best rider” prize in the SEIB Search for a Star showing class (and soon after the national championships Chris went on to qualify for the 2023 Global Championship in France by coming second in both of his classes at the Virtus Para Dressage World Championships)
Sadly, for many of our riders, all the Sunday competitions at Hartpury were cancelled due to the extreme heat. Under the circumstances, this was obviously the right thing for RDA to do, but it was very disappointing for the riders concerned. We hope all the riders who missed their competitions on Sunday can enter the virtual championships instead.
Altogether, 10 of our riders had qualified for the National Championships this year. Had it not been for Sunday’s cancellation, this would have been a fantastic turn out at Hartpury.