Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

68 Horse&Hound 22 August 2019

PONY CLUB

TETRATHLON

CHAMPIONSHIPS

9-11 August

PonyClubTetrathlon

Championships,

OffchurchBury,Warks

GUYANDERSONmadeit a clean

sweepofage-grouptitleswhen

hetooktheopenboys’individual

honoursatthetetrathlon

championships.The18-year-

oldWestWarwickshirebranch

memberwonthejuniorand

intermediateindividualcrownsin

2016 and 2017 butdidn’tfeature

intheprizeslastyear.

“Myrideeitherseemstogo

reallywellorreallybadly;we

wereeliminatedattheregionals

last week so I wasn’t expecting to

go clear here, especially around

a course which proved to be so

challenging. We went cross-

country schooling mid-week and

I learnt how to use my legs which

really helped,” said Guy, a member

of the victorious open mixed team.

Guy produced a shooting score

of 960, a swim which was just

short of his personal best, was

Theopenboys’winneraddstohisjuniorandintermediate

crowns,whileanothermemberbreaksa 22-year-oldrecord

oneofa handfulofcross-country

clearsandthenwontherun,

finishing 255 penaltiesahead

ofJackStephens(Breconand

TalybontHunt).

Takingthespoilsinthe

opengirls’individualeventwas

Oxenholmebranch’sEmma

Whitaker,anothercompetitor

tohavepreviouslytastedglory

atthesechampionships,having

liftedthejuniortrophyin2015-16.

“Idomodernpentathlon

andI reallystrugglewiththe

change from laser to pellets in

the shooting. I came here with

a different mindset; I wanted to

try my best but also stay relaxed

and enjoy it rather than putting

pressure on myself. It all went to

plan,” said the 18-year-old.

Emma was one of only two

competitors in this class to record

the maximum 1,400 points in the

ride phase and shared her horse,

Pixie,withsisterCharlotte,fourth

individually.Thisresult,plus

thefastestruntime,a 940shoot

and1,093inthepool,leftEmma

236 pointsaheadofPoppyClark,

lastyear’sintermediategirls’

champion.

LloydHunt’stestingand

technicalcross-countrycourse,

ByEMILYBEVAN

Anderson completes the se

which ran over a twisty and

undulating track and featured a

gate and a slip rail, caused myriad

problems in each class.

BRANCH GLORY

FIRST place in the open boys’

team event was awarded to Mid

Surrey, the only team to enter,

for the third year in a row, while

Beaufort Hunt took victory in the

open girls’ team event ahead of

their only rivals Zetland Hunt.

Emma Whitaker (Oxenholme)

takes the pressure off to

land a win in the open girls’

individual event

Some extra cross-country

schooling pays off for Guy

Anderson of the West Warwickshire

branch after he jumps clear around

a tough course to take first place

in the open boys’ individual event