It has been a busy few months for our sponsored rider, India Piper-Dadswell; with trips to Europe and around the UK to competitions, but we were very lucky to catch her for an update on how the season is going for her so far…
“Valkenswaard (The Netherlands) was a great experience for both the ponies and me. The courses were a lot more technical and they were built stronger than the courses in England. I thought the ponies would do well and I knew that Shelby would cope with the atmosphere. Millie is a new ride for me and therefore i wasn’t sure how she would cope. Both ponies performed to the best and exceeded all our expectations. Millie jumped clear every day and was also in the money every day, winning on day 2.
Shelby jumped up a class and after winning on the first day produced some other great rounds. Although winning on both ponies was my highlight of the show, I was most proud of my round the in the Medium Grand Prix as Shelby jumped clear but however had one time fault meaning we could not progress to the next round. The Grand Prix was the biggest and most technical course i have jumped so far and he jumped incredible! I was over the moon with Millie after she won her class on day 2 as she is not experienced at this height or in this type of arena. Valkenswaard is a very special show and is by far my favourite.
“Our next show was Welsh Home Pony International which was another successful show for each pony. Shelby was the star and jumped double clear in both Debut home pony team qualifiers placing third each day making us the 5th member of the team being the most consistent over the two days.
Millie jumped some super rounds and stepped up a class into the 1.15m to jump clear in the first round and have one down in the jump off. I was very happy with how she jumped over the course of the show as it was bigger than she had done previously. Wales was great experience and set both ponies up beautifully for their return later in August for Chepstow international CSIP.
The National British Showjumping Championships was another successful show for Team Starnash! Shelby had an unlucky fence in the 1.20 Members Cup final and then went on to jump double clear placing 6th in the silver league final. This was a great result in a tough and competitive class. Millie jumped the Foxhunter (1.10m) each day to just have a pole. She jumped some lovely rounds and paced 3rd in the warm up on the first day. I was very pleased with her as they were building strong and she jumped all the bigger fences with ease.
Millie performed beautifully at the academy show with Shelby left at home for a rest. She couldn’t of jumped any better and produced a clear both days to secure the win for Sussex team. As the anchor I felt quite a lot of pressure as I knew if I jumped a smart, fast clear then our team would take the win. We had the edge being drawn last team to go and it was an exciting competition, with the course causing a lot of issues. After Millie jumped the clear it was also announced that we had taken the individual win too! It was a great experience and a good atmosphere which made it a special win!”
It was wonderful to catch up with India for this blog post and also for the opportunity to capture these images of India with the wonderful Millie. India, Millie and her other pony Shelby are now at Chepstow International for four days so we wish her good luck, for the next few days and for the rest of the season!