Holly Hanvey made the trip from Northern Ireland to represent East Antrim Group at the recent RDA National Championships in Hartpury, accompanied by her mother Paula and coach Laurel.
Arriving on Thursday, July 13 to meet the horses matched to her by Saxon and Penni Wells RDA Groups for the competitions, also gave the opportunity to have a good look around the fabulous facilities at Hartpury.
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The weather was not what was expected in July, so having travelled light, a hasty trip to Ledbury was made to purchase some much-needed waterproof clothing!
A trial ride on ‘Baloo’, courtesy of Cady and her team from Saxon Group, enabled Holly to find his buttons. ‘Baloo’ was a very different ride to Holly’s usual mount ‘Copper’, a 16.2hh Irish Draught sport horse, but she quickly identified his fortes and was happy to compete with him in Level 3 Show Jumping to finish in eighth place and the Countryside Challenge, completing the course with a score of 80%.
Sarah and Olivia from Penni Wells Group supplied Holly with the lovely ‘Tayto’, a crisp cob with a Northern Irish connection, for the Dressage. A short trial before the competition allowed her to get the feel of him, where she identified his active walk and she produced a score of 69.76% to finish in sixth place.
Making the most of the opportunities on offer, Holly also entered the Horse Care and Knowledge competition, where she scored 98% in the Standard level and went on to achieve 84% in the Advanced section. Holly made good use of the knowledge she had acquired as a volunteer and Pony Club member at Laurel View Equestrian Centre.
Finally, as a budding photographer, Holly submitted her lovely print of Laurel View’s trio of Kerry Bog Ponies, ‘The 3 Sweeties’ - ‘Polo’, ‘Murray’ and ‘Minty’, which earned her first place in the Senior section.
Thanks are extended to the generous sponsors, who enabled Holly to make this trip: Page Setup Design, Budds Tree Services, East Antrim RDA and all those who contributed toward this wonderful experience.
Just a reminder that East Antrim RDA are running a Pleasure Hack at Shane’s Castle, Antrim on Sunday, September 17 - more details here: