Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

1 August 2019Horse& Hound 55

IT’Sreallyspecialtobepicked

foryourhomeNationsCup;

theshowsI’vedonethisyear

haveallbeenbuildingupto

this.It’sa differentfeeling

performinginfrontofyour

homecrowdandtheirsupport

iswonderful.

AmandaDerbyshire’s

fallwasa horriblestart—

unfortunatelyit is partof

thesportbutweareallhoping

sheandRouletteBHare

goingtobeOK,andI’msure

theywillbebacktofight

anotherday.

Ionlylivefiveminutes

away,soHicksteadis my

localshow—I’vecomehere

everyyearsincemakingmy

debutaged 10 onmy12.2hh

J’sJunior,sotobecompeting

ona teaminthefive-starthis

weekis a dreamcometrue.

NationsCupdayis unique

comparedtoanyother

competitionandhassucha

specialfeeling.

Thereis definitelyadded

pressure,though,especially

whenyouareinfrontofyour

homecrowdandyouhaveall

thatsupport.Youdon’twant

toletyourteamdownand

you’renotjustjumpingfor

yourself.

Justtobeona teamwith

Ben Maher was unbelievable.

Thisis onlythefirstyear

atfive-starlevelforJames

WilsonandI, sotohearBen’s

wordsofwisdomwasgreat

andhelpedustremendously.

PaulConnor’scourse

wascleverlybuilt;it wasbig

andtoughandI thinka lot

ofriderscamebackmore

confidentinthesecond round,

includingme.

ONTHERUN

I RANwiththeMolarsOn

TheMoveteamfromChris

Warren’sequinedental

practiceinSaturday's

#10forTimrelayracein

aidoftheTimStockdale

Foundation.

Itwasamazingforsuch

a massiveplacetohave

supportersallthewayaround.

Itendedupbeingvery

competitive!Butit wasa lotof

funandraisingover£50,000

is incredible.H&H

‘I’ve been building

up to this moment’

AmyInglisonjumpinginfrontof

a homecrowd and fundraising

ONLY IN HORSE & HOUND

OPINION

AmyInglis,22,wonsevenEuropean

medalsjumpingonponies,young

ridersandchildrenonhorsesandis

now competing at five-star level.

Guestcomment

fromthe

London GCT

NEXT

WEEK

classlastyear,andwillbeaiming
tocompletethesetin2020.
“Nextyearis goingtobemy
year,”shelaughed.“Lastyearwas
herfirsttimehereandshejumped
reallywell.ThisyearI thought
shefeltlikeshewasbackingoff
theHicksteadfences,soI was
doinga bitofkickingtostart
with,butthenshegotmoreintoit
andjumpeda superroundinthe
jump-off.”
Thelittlemareshowedjust
howcleverandagilesheis,
breezingoverPaulConnor’s1.50m
courseandwhizzingthroughthe
jump-off.
“Iwaswarmingupandtrying
towatchonthescreen.I knew
Davidwouldn’thangaround,so
I wentinanddidwhatI could
andhopedwewerefastenough,
butunfortunatelyit wasn’t,”she
added.“I’moverthemoonas
she’sa littletrierandI can’task
herformore.”
WilliamFletcher,20,rode
twoimpressiveroundswith
13-year-oldPersimmontotake
thirdplaceandtheprizeforthe
highest-placedunder-25rider.
“Thisclassis onewealways
pickouttotrytowin,”said
William,whowasontheyoung
rider Europeans team with the

geldingtwoweekspreviously.

“I’mdelightedtobeinthe

runningforit andtofinishthirdis

brilliant.Mymum[TinaFletcher]

haswonit threetimes,soit goes

backthroughmyfamily.”

Persimmonlookedtobe

relishinghisnewcareer—the

Dutch-bredgeldingeventedup

toadvancedlevel,winningteam

silverattheEuropeanEventing

Championshipsin 2015 under

KittyKingbeforeswitching

disciplines.

MarkEdwardsandMontreuxs

TalehadDavidontime,stopping

theclockon39.68sec,buttookthe

frontrailoffthefinaloxertodrop

tofourth.

KeithDoyleandHarlequin

Dunravenwerealsointouchwith

thetopplacingstime-wise,but

eightfaultslefttheminfifth.

GREATFULLGLORY

LAURAKRAUTandtheeye-

catchinggreyGreatfulladded

anotherHicksteadtitleto

theirrecordwitha wininthe

ChampagneCavewintergrades

B&Cchampionship.

Theeight-year-oldmare,who

wontheOldLodgeinternational

seven-andeight-year-old

championship here in 2018,

Laura Kraut tops the winter B&C championship with Greatfull Harry Bateman takes the novice championship with Lex Lokoda

Shaunie Greig and Teagan Arla Rose land the grade JC championship