British Riding Clubs National Horse Trials Championships
9 - 11 August 2002 Offchurch Bury
A small army from Ardingly traveled to Offchurch for the National Championships and we are pleased to say they returned with an armful of silverware. 1 Novice Team, 1 Open Team, 1 Novice Individual & 1 Special Open Individual had qualified. The Novice Championship is run as a 2 day event & the Open & Special Open as a 3 day event. Ardingly took with them some great team spirit with everyone parking together and helping each other out over the 3 days, a big thank you to all the helpers. We also had many admiring glances & compliments for our smart club colours and new team numnahs.
Our Open Team were down to 3 by the start .Tony Watts (Poyntz Pass), Penny Sangster (Mr Muggins) & Claudia Hamlett (Denstar) had a steady start from the Dressage which was a very complex Novice 3 day test. On the second day Roads & Tracks & Cross Country (4 sections A,B,C & D as detailed below) Tony & Penny flew round clear and Claudia just had one stop which left the team in a good overnight position. Unfortunately Tony's horse was a little sore on the Sunday so did not compete but Penny & Claudia completed the Show Jumping as individuals. Claudia had a few down over a large course that saw few clear rounds but Penny with just 2 down finished a fantastic 9th in her section, a great achievement on an inexperienced horse. Claudia (Colour of Magic) also competed in the Special Open for Intermediate Horses but an error of course whilst on the Cross Country took her out of the competition.
The Novice Team of Juliette Huckstep, Nicola Hill, Fiona Seymour & Sandy Watts had a strong first day being the only team with all riders under the 40 penalty mark by the end of the day after Dressage & Show Jumping, we took a 6 point lead into the second Roads & Tracks day. Fiona led off with a brilliant penalty free start over all 4 phases on the Sunday Roads & Tracks(Phase A), Steeplechase (B), Roads & Tracks (C) then the Cross Country (D) and the rest of the team then followed her example! The Cross Country course had to be shortened to take out the water due to flooding from 2 days of rain but it still seemed to cause a fair amount of problems. Our Individual in the Novice Penny Sangster also flew round with a few time penalties for being too fast. None of the other 40 teams there could match our performance and Ardingly took the Novice National Team Title, with Fiona also taking the Novice Individual Team Title. Fiona, Juliette & Nicola won their sections, Sandy was 5th in hers and Penny finished 5th in her section - words failed them all at the prize giving and it has taken some time for this fantastic result to sink in. Last time winners Horsham finished 2nd. The results in full were:-
Novice Team - BRC Novice National Horse Trials Champions 2002 - Ardingly Riding Club
Fiona Seymour - Air Tel, Sandy Watts - Here's Paddy MacCoy, Juliette Huckstep - Valemount Jasper & Nicola Hill - Fleetmead Factotum
The team also took the Silver Salver for the best 4 scores to count.
Novice Individual - BRC National Novice Horse Trials Champion 2002
Fiona Seymour - Air Tel
Novice Individual - Section Results
Section 1 - Winner Juliette Huckstep
Section 2 - Winner Nicola Hill
Section 3 - Winner Fiona Seymour
Section 4 - 5th Sandy Watts
Section 6 - 5th Penny Sangster - Secret
Open Individual - Section Result
Section 1 - 9th Penny Sangster