On Saturday 9th December, members of the WGHS Equestrian team headed off to Northallerton to have a go at the Country Dressage Qualifiers with the aim of a qualification ticket to the championships held at Hickstead in May.

First to ride was Isla, our newest member of the Equestrian team, on her horse Newtonhill Prince Phillip. She competed in the ‘warm up’ prelim 7 class where she finished 3rd with 62.95% kicking the day off to a good start. 

Next was Tilly with her horse Ramiro’s Master in the Prelim 12 class: finishing 11th overall and 3rd for West Yorkshire after a pleasing test with lots more to come. The pair also competed in the Novice 24 class to take the win with 61.52% for West Yorkshire and 3rd overall; another pleasing performance Tilly was happy with, after her horse’s recent time off due to injury. 

Florence also competed on Lynwood Entertainer in the Novice 24 class; despite not being totally happy after some cheeky spooks from her horse, they still managed to pick up 2nd for West Yorkshire with 60.87%.

Isla continued her successful debut competition for the team as she headed into the Prelim 12 class where she scored 66.48% to finish 6th out of 22 overall and 2nd for West Yorkshire – despite some excitable moments in the test from her horse! 

After a shortened warm up due to late arrival, Isobel competed in the Prelim 12 test on her horse Tilly to produce a sweet test for 68.52% to pick up overall 4th and the win for West Yorkshire. 

Our final rider of the day Chloe, riding her horse James, also competed in the prelim 12. Although openly admitting to dressage being a weak point, she produced a nice test for 62.22% for 17th overall and 4th for West Yorkshire – she should be very proud. 

To finish the day on a high the team won the county section, securing a team qualification for the championships at Hickstead in May, as well as individual qualifications for Tilly in the Novice 24 and Isobel in prelim 12! Well done team WGHS!

Year 12 student Isobel