Find out which young dressage horses took the spoils at the British Dressage Young Horse Championships at Keysoe
This year’s most exciting young dressage horses finally had their time to shine, with the Keysoe British Dressage Young Horse Championships taking place over 2-4 October.
The weekend hosted the BD finals for four-, five- and six-year-olds horses and ponies, and the inaugural BD seven-year-old championship, as well as five-, six- and seven-year-old selection trials for December’s FEI Dressage World Breeding Championships in Verden, Germany.
Check out those who emerged triumphant – which would you most like to take home? And don’t miss the full report from these championships in Horse & Hound magazine (15 October issue).
MSJ Dante VX
This British-bred son of Dante Weltino was expertly ridden by British team rider Michael Eilberg to claim the brand new seven-year-old national title with 76.38%. This tall gelding was bred by Emma Blundell at Mount St John Stud and is now owned by Michael’s mother Geri and Nicky Reid.
High Hoes Estelle
This exciting British-bred mare was bred by Nicky Callam in Sussex, and despite a late start due to her tall frame, was crowned six-year-old national champion. Estelle is now jointly owned by Nicky and her rider, Dannie Morgan, who piloted the elegant Escolar x Laudabilis daughter to a winning 83%.
RSC The Ogopogo
The winner of the six-year-old pony title, 14.2hh stallion The Ogopogo, is by the Cuddy supreme in-hand champion Ceulan Calon Lan and out of Hanoverian mare Fabienne. Under Bryony Goodwin, he posted 76.2% to claim victory here by almost 10%.
Waverley Fellini
Fresh from taking the novice gold title at the rescheduled Winter Dressage Championships in August, this British-bred Fustenball x Sandro Hit gelding scored a whopping 92.6% under Greg Sims to top a massive five-year-old championship. The pair also headed the FEI five-year-old selection trial, scoring 87.2%.
Mount St John Diamonds Are Forever
It proved a very fruitful weekend for Emma Blundell’s stud, as this eye-catching Diamond Hit daughter came out on top of 38 starters to be crowned national four-year-old champion. The German-bred mare was ridden by Amy Woodhead to score 82.4% on what was only her sixth competitive start.
Godric’s Dionysus
The new four-year-old pony champion, known as Haymitch, is by Danger 36 out of Tiger Lily, and was bred by Bev and Sam Brown at Godrics Stud. He was ridden here by Elly Darling, achieving a score of 70%.
Sugarhouse Targaryen
The national five-year-old pony championship landed in the hands of Lucy Pye and this eye-catching palomino gelding. Targaryen was bred by Ruth Mealey and is by Llangwedh Sunny Jim, out of Bonita van de Rosheove.
Straight Horse De Milla
This smart six-year-old chestnut mare is owned by Denmark’s Helgstrand Dressage, and boasts impeccable breeding being by De Niro x Blue Hors Zack. Now based in Britain with Emile Faurie, and ridden by Tom Goode, she posted 88.4% to win her FEI selection trial here.
Impressive
This chestnut gelding is by Charmeur out of the Krack C mare Vechta, and certainly looks to be an exciting prospect for the future. He topped the line-up in the seven-year-old FEI class, scoring 80.31% under Sarah Millis.
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