Antonia and David had a full week of competing at Hickstead and made a real impact in the ring including top rides with the young horses, plus a few main ring appearances.
The week got off to a great start with double clears all round for the young horses. David started the week with Quiona V/H Lemmenshof in the 5yos and Billy Carmen in the 6yos. It is always a big ask for the young horses to come jump these classes, but they did not disappoint. Quinoa jumped a double clear in the 5yos but was not to be outdone by Billy Carmen, who came into her own in the 6yos finishing on a double clear and 5th place overall. Antonia rode fantastically in the age classes; Midnight Spiros and Milburn Pheonix both jumped two clears, showing real maturity in the 4yo and 5yos, respectively, followed by a 4th in 6yo for Patton M. We love to see the young horses enjoying their jobs while succeeding.
For the older horses, David had his debut ride with Indeed 26 in the 1.30m Open, jumping a double clear placing them 4th overall. Meanwhile, Marvin Van De Waterhoeve showed everyone how it’s done by landing on top of the podium in the 1.30m Open with a speedy double clear. What an amazing start to the week for all the horses.
Thursday saw yet more clears from David, with Indeed 26 and The Billy Stud’s Billy Diamo in the National 1.40m. Both horses jumped with ease, making it look like just another schooling round at home. Milburn Pheonix continued to improve in the 5yo class with Antonia gaining a top 10 placing. Thursday also included yet another win for Antonia and homebred Balloon Cruise in the 1.30m Open, they flew round inside the time leaving everyone else in to dust as they took the lead.
On to Friday, Milburn Pheonix and Antonia once again produced a fantastic double clear leaving them with another 3rd place podium finish in the 5-Year-Old Final – what a fantastic main ring debut for this exciting young mare. David and Indeed 26 went on to go clear in National 1.40m, this duo is proving to be quite the power couple in the ring with all these clears! Young stallion Pjtor Van De Kruishoeve then added another double clear to the list in the 1.20m Open. The Friday highlight went to the wonderful Billy Wosley, whose performance in the 7yo class placed him at 4th in a hotly contested class.
On the final day of Hickstead, Antonia and Balloon Cruise had a stellar round in the 1.30m Open Championships. A pole kept them out of the jump off but their performance all week has been nothing short of superb and it has been great to see Antonia do such a great job with “Maggie” over the week. To finish, David and Indeed 26 entered the main ring for the 1.40m Grand Prix and jumped a fantastic round in the time to finish 9th – a great way to end the show on this new ride! We certainly look forward to seeing more from this pair in the future!
Another huge thank you to Hickstead for a brilliant show as always, we will see you next week for even more results!
