Becky Moody danced to Magic prix st georges (PSG) freestyle victory today (20 April) at the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships.
Her winning horse, the nine-year-old Desperado x Fidertanz stallion James Bond 2, proved himself as a superstar of the future as he scored 77.21% to pip yesterday’s straight PSG winners, Sadie Smith and Swanmore Dantina, into second.
Becky explained that James Bond has found an extra dose of power over the past few months.
“As a stallion it has taken him a while to find that self-sustaining energy, but that’s what has really changed with him now,” she said. “He’s starting to feel like he’s going to be a grand prix horse: he’s beginning to take me forward and the gears are there. There is loads of room for improvement – the half-passes need to get a bit more fluent and the pirouettes more confident – but he’s really trying and that’s pretty cool.”
Their freestyle – James Bond’s first – was set to brand new music, put together by Equidance, using music from TV series Wednesday.
“I enjoyed the series and when I was watching it I thought it was cool music,” said Becky. “I really enjoyed riding to it.”
‘She is everything I ever wanted and more’
Jade Clark and Jemimah HH at the Winter Dressage Championships 2023
A home-bred mare gave her owner/rider a second national title when taking the Equitex advanced medium silver.
Jemimah HH is a nine-year-old by Lord Leatherdale, owned by Sue Brennan and rider Jade Clark. She and Jade were medium winners at the National Dressage Championships in 2021, and Jade said that “she has exceeded all expectations” by winning here too.
“She’s quite sharp and it’s been a rough ride at times – I’ve spent a lot of time up in the air – but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, I think,” she said, adding that it feels “indescribable” to be achieving so much on a home-bred.
“The test went really well; there are always things that can be improved of course, but I was pleased with the trot work as that’s always a highlight. Over the winter we have been working on improving the canter and that is slowly catching up, too.
“She has quite a funny character: she can be evil in the stable but as soon as I bring her out she knows she has a job to do and she thrives on it. She is everything I ever wanted and more, and I just hope we can keep climbing the ladder.”
Kirstie Clarke and Ghita Fille De Zita S at the Winter Dressage Championships 2023
Another mare with a big character claimed the Nupafeed advanced medium silver freestyle at the Winter Dressage Championships. Rider Kirstie Clarke describes Fenella Quinn’s Lord Loxley daughter Ghita Fille De Zita S as “very, very sassy”.
“She has been tricky, as she is very opinionated,” added Kirstie, who scored 73.06%. “But she’s so much fun to ride, and we had a really good test – I enjoyed the whole thing.
“At home we try to give her a lot of variety in her work, with lots of hacking and polework to keep her entertained.”
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