27th July 2010
Young para-equestrian dressage riders took part in the first ever inter regional competition which was held at Millfield School, Somerset over the weekend (23-24 July).
Organised by Amanda Heath from British Dressage (BD) in conjunction with the British Equestrian Federation's (BEF) Regional Foundation Squads, 20 riders from across five regions (South East, Northern, East Midlands, South West and West Midlands) took part in this inaugural event, together with individual competitors. The competition offered young para-equestrian dressage riders the chance to train in a competition environment and develop the skills required to be part of a team.
Top level coaches Tanya Larrigan, Nina Venables, Erik Mackechnie and Maria Eilberg supported their regional teams by providing coaching support and advice during the competition.
After a closely fought contest, the winning team was the South East, followed closely by the Northern team in second place. The winning team comprised riders Daniel Manning, Nicky Thompson, Alex Sutton and Ben Rodin who were supported by their coach Tanya Larrigan. She has been working with this group of riders since the programme was launched last autumn.
The individual winning rider was Fiona Maynard from the Northern regional squad, with Nicky Thompson from the South East second and Vicky Barrick from the East Midlands third.
"The aim of the Regional Foundation Squads is to identify, support and develop riders and horses demonstrating talent and potential in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. This competition provided an excellent opportunity for these up and coming young para-equestrian dressage riders to develop their riding skills in a competition environment," said David Hamer BEF Regional Squad Coordinator. "The riders had the opportunity to ride in front of international judges - gaining advice and education from them via the competition will be an invaluable part of their development."
Each team received excellent prizes and support for this event from the Windrush Group, Garrett's Saddlery, Woof Wear, Fly-Away, New Forest Equestrian Services, Adidas, White's Horses, Blenheim Horse Trials, the British Dressage National Championships and the Para Dressage Training Trust.
After this first successful competition, the aim is to replicate the inter regional structure of competitions which already exists for able-bodied dressage riders.
Full list of team results:
South East Team 1st
Daniel Manning
Ben Rodin
Alex Sutton
Nicky Thompson
Northern Team 2nd
Fiona Maynard
Amy Franks
Georgia Wilson
Lauren Rathbone
West Midlands Team 3rd
Ashleigh Jones
Ruth MacCarthy
Kirsty Buckwell
Natasha Adkinson
East Midlands Team 4th
Kathryn Gallagher
Mari Durward-Akhurst
Victoria Barrick
Matthew Dalley
South West Team 5th
Kristina Keefe
Britta Francis
Justine Bowers
Melissa Nicholls
The Winning South East Team
