Caroline Hunt secured a first LeMieux National Dressage Championships victory on her own mare Fancy That (Freya) after they led the Equitop national dressage championships elementary silver championship with a final score of 72.13%.
Caroline, who runs a livery yard in Oxford and also teaches on a freelance basis, bought the now seven-year-old when she was a two-year-old.
“I went over to Germany to look at a four-year-old and came back with a two-year-old,” said Caroline, of the Hanoverian-bred chestnut mare. “She came round the corner looking very scruffy, as two-year-olds often do, and my heart sank a little bit as I didn’t want a chestnut mare. But I saw her move and she showed off some of her character and I said ‘yep, that’s my horse.’ My parents were a bit mortified as she was the scruffy one out of the horses we saw, but she was the right one to go for. She’s totally been worth waiting for.”
Caroline has been selective with Freya’s outings.
“We’ve been doing lots of arena hires,” said Caroline, who trains with Julie Payne and Judy Harvey. “She’s working towards medium at home. She tries really hard and is a pleasure to train. She’s not a typical chestnut mare in any way.”
When asked what helped Freya achieve her winning score, Caroline said: “It was her focus. I went in expecting to worry about getting her around the arena, but she said ‘come on Mum, what are we doing today’ and she got on with her job.
“This is a bucket list moment. I’m so happy with Freya today; the win is a very big bonus.”
Girl power trickled down into second place in the national dressage championships elementary silver championship, as Jennifer Corrett and her mare Joie De Vie finished on 72.81%. In third on 71.41% was RS Fürst Love ridden by Jessica Griffiths.
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