‘She could have gone another 10cm’: 16hh puissance first-timer clears 6ft 11in to win

British showjumper Carmen Edwards and 12-year-old mare Happy Valerie won the puissance at the ALX Horseboxes Major Showjumping Championships (16-22 September) at Arena UK, Grantham, Lincs, as the only combination to clear 6ft 11in (2.10m).

They and fellow puissance first-timers Ryan O’Sullivan and Kilroy V, along with Paul Sims (Kingfisher) and Joe Trunkfield (Locomotion) all made the fifth and final round but only true all-rounder “Val”, who stands a little over 16hh, negotiated the towering set of bricks clear.

“She’s a brave old girl isn’t she?” said Carmen, who has produced the Verdi x Dutchboy mare for the past nine years.

Val has won a CSI3* grand prix in the Netherlands and jumped on three-star Nations Cups teams with her rider but was entered into Friday’s Dodson & Horrell-sponsored puissance as Carmen said “she felt like she needed to jump something a bit different”.

“I had a couple of fences down in the qualifiers for the grand prix [at Arena UK] and I thought she felt a bit stale,” said Carmen of the mare who is co-owned by his father Carl Edwards and Ian Kellett.

“I was staying at Michael Whitaker’s house and he and my dad had a chat the night before and said it might be a good idea to jump the puissance.”

Thirteen intrepid competitors came forward for round one, and six were still in contention for the penultimate round. But with the bricks closing in on the 7ft marker for the final round, just Happy Valerie cleared the wall in fine style, earning the £1,500 top prize. Ryan, Paul and Joe shared the runner-up spot, taking home £700 each.

“It was a class where we didn’t feel any pressure and could just enjoy it,” revealed Carmen. “She felt like she could have gone another 10cm.”

The pair went on to jump clear in the grand prix won by Emma Crawford on Dukes Of Hazzard, just having an early rub on an oxer in the jump-off.

You can read the full report from the ALX Horseboxes Major Showjumping Championships in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, in the shops Thursday 26 September.

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Jennifer Donald

H&H showjumping editor

Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.