Endurance mix – Losing energy at the end of the event? Endurance mix can
help.
Our 2015 Badminton Grassroots Championship coverage is brought to you by our supporter The Herbal Horse. For more information see the bottom of this post.
The 2015 Badminton Grassroots Championships competitors could have been forgiven for anxiously refreshing the weather forecasts in the run up to the first day of competition, with heavy rain and high winds being the order of the day! Anyone who hadn’t taken advantage of the classic British weather over the winter would be left kicking themselves as tents blew away in the campsite, and horses got more and more wound up.
Today was a dressage day for half the competitors in each class, and the only small consolation for them was that tomorrow’s forecast is just as bad, so no-one will get an advantage.
Despite forgetting all her competition clothes and having to make a dash to Horses in Sport to get kitted out with breeches and shirts, Michelle Pritchard managed to do a nice test with Moortown Alchemist to post a score of 32.3 in the BE90 section. This was a mere 7.8 penalties behind the BE90 leaders at the end of day one, Hollie Booth and Dramatic, whose dressage of 24.5 was all the more impressive considering the weather.
Dramatic is a 16.2, seven year old mare owned by Julia McGowen, whom Hollie has been competing since 2013. The pair have gained some impressive dressage scores in the past, with their personal best being the 19.5 they posted at the 2014 regional final, which netted them third place and a ticket to this years Grassroots Championships.
In the BE100 section, Rachel Lade and Surprise Addition put to rest the myth that going first results in lower marks, with an impressive 27.6, which saw them hold the lead for several hours. They eventually finished the day in fourth, behind Alexandra Farrah-Fry (27.5), Rachel Holden (27.1) and the current leader Lucinda Stephenson. The latter is just 0.2 of a penalty ahead of second place, having posted a score of 26.9 on Coniston Nadal.
Lucinda is no stranger to Badminton, having finished 11th in the BE90 2013 Grassroots Championships aboard Alfie XX, and she’ll be hoping to make it three out of three for Coniston Nadal, who has won both of the BE100 events he’s run in this year.
Tomorrow concludes the dressage and sees the competitors showjump and then take on the formidable cross country track. This looks to be a true test of their mettle, and we expect to see some real shakeups on the leaderboard by the end of the day.
We’d love to have brought you some great dressage photos, but unfortunately the apocalyptic weather was threatening to destroy our camera equipment – sorry!
Our Grassroots reports are supported by ‘theherbalhorse’, who make products such as their famously effective Calm Mix. Please take the time to visit our supporters to see what they can offer you, as without them we wouldn’t be able to to run e-Venting.
