With the penultimate competition at Blair Castle International Horse Trials having just taken place in the Equi-Trek Main Arena on Sunday afternoon the competition really hotted up for the CCI2* competitors. The cross country course at Blair Castle is always testing, with the wonderful hills and country that the horse and rider combinations have to tackle on Saturday. Thirty horse and rider combinations came forward to complete this final phase of show jumping in the competition. The show jumping at Blair Castle certainly tested the horse and rider combinations and once again clear rounds were few and far between. Matthew Wright (GBR) jumped a lovely clear round and is thrilled as he recently won the Hartpury CCI2* event and has now added this title to his tally. Hugginstown jumped beautifully and ensured that all the poles stayed up lifting Matthew to the top of the leaderboard. Matthew has had Hugginstown for 9 years and he has won the CCI2*at Blair Castle twice before, so now an impressive 3 times. He was fifth here last year and has competed at Blair Castle six times previously. Matthew commented “If he won today then he would retire ‘Huggy’ after this event. Huggy is a such a nice horse and he is like a pet. He has never had anything wrong with him, he is as hard as nails and will hunt”. The whole team - Charlotte Cole, owner, and Nicola Ruck, groom, were all very emotional. Emily Parker (GBR) on Diamond Sundance, the only rider to go clear inside the time on the cross country course on Saturday, sadly dislodged two poles, picking up eight penalties relegating her to fourth position. Sarah Parkes (GBR), riding Balladeer Durban Hills, finished in second place knocking one pole in the final show jumping phase. Sarah had a little mishap before she left for Blair with her ride -Balladeer Durban Hills, travelling with no shoe and a poultice on. However the vet and farrier on event at Blair Castle did an amazing job and he had his shoe replaced on Wednesday morning before the trot up. Sarah commented “He has been on really good form and with the perfect ground he really tried his heart out and helped me out when he needed too. Recently we have just turned a corner and built a lovely partnership”. For full results visit www.bdwp.co.uk/blr
With the penultimate competition at Blair Castle International Horse Trials having just taken place in the Equi-Trek Main Arena on Sunday afternoon the competition really hotted up for the CCI2* competitors. The cross country course at Blair Castle is always testing, with the wonderful hills and country that the horse and rider combinations have to tackle on Saturday. Thirty horse and rider combinations came forward to complete this final phase of show jumping in the competition. The show jumping at Blair Castle certainly tested the horse and rider combinations and once again clear rounds were few and far between. Matthew Wright (GBR) jumped a lovely clear round and is thrilled as he recently won the Hartpury CCI2* event and has now added this title to his tally. Hugginstown jumped beautifully and ensured that all the poles stayed up lifting Matthew to the top of the leaderboard. Matthew has had Hugginstown for 9 years and he has won the CCI2*at Blair Castle twice before, so now an impressive 3 times. He was fifth here last year and has competed at Blair Castle six times previously. Matthew commented “If he won today then he would retire ‘Huggy’ after this event. Huggy is a such a nice horse and he is like a pet. He has never had anything wrong with him, he is as hard as nails and will hunt”. The whole team - Charlotte Cole, owner, and Nicola Ruck, groom, were all very emotional. Emily Parker (GBR) on Diamond Sundance, the only rider to go clear inside the time on the cross country course on Saturday, sadly dislodged two poles, picking up eight penalties relegating her to fourth position. Sarah Parkes (GBR), riding Balladeer Durban Hills, finished in second place knocking one pole in the final show jumping phase. Sarah had a little mishap before she left for Blair with her ride -Balladeer Durban Hills, travelling with no shoe and a poultice on. However the vet and farrier on event at Blair Castle did an amazing job and he had his shoe replaced on Wednesday morning before the trot up. Sarah commented “He has been on really good form and with the perfect ground he really tried his heart out and helped me out when he needed too. Recently we have just turned a corner and built a lovely partnership”. For full results visit www.bdwp.co.uk/blr