In a new series, H&H's eventing editor rounds up some fun statistics from the first week of the 2015 eventing season
Dates: 2-8 March, first week of the 2015 season
The basics
Number of BE sections run: 57
Best dressage scores
Moreton: 20.5, for Katie Vincent and Glen Carter, who won BE90 section J despite 10 “too fast” time-faults
Aston-le-Walls (1): 16.8, for Cordelia Croft and Kattia De La Rose, who topped BE90open section K
Askham Bryan College (1): 17.5, for Samantha McNicholas and Vayran, who were the victors in BE100 section O
Speedy gonzales
1: number of pairs who beat the 4min 46sec intermediate optimum time at Isleham — Oliver Townend and ODT Ghareeb, winners of open intermediate section N (pictured below)
3: number of pairs who beat the 4min 55sec novice optimum time at Isleham. They were: Caroline Powell on Shepherds Watch (winners of novice section J), Laura Collett on Mr Bass (winners of open novice section K) and Harriet Dickin on Dargle Looks (eighth in open novice section K)
And also…
21: the hot issue everyone is talking about — the change in FEI rules meaning any competitor breaking a frangible pin is given an automatic 21 penalties unless “clear mechanical failure has produced an unexpected activation of the mechanism”. Give your opinion at: http://eventingriders.com/
3: number of horses who competed at last year’s World Equestrian Games who were spotted in the open intermediate at Isleham — Wesko (New Zealand’s Tim Price), Fenyas Elegance (Ireland’s Aoife Clark) and High Kingdom (Britain’s Zara Phillips — pictured below)
2: number of 2014 young rider team bronze medal winners who contested the open intermediate at Isleham — Holly Woodhead on DHI Lupison (picured top and below) and Tom Jackson on Waltham Fiddlers Find.