Area 17 Dressage to Music Qualifiers at Sparsholt

It was my absolute pleasure to watch our Club perform in the Dressage to Music qualifiers at Sparsholt on 28th May. You may remember the weekend was incredibly cold and wet, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of those competing for Solent Riding Club.

3 Juniors and 2 Seniors rode for us.

First up, was the junior competition; Justine, Jess and Alice have worked tirelessly over the last 2 months putting together and practicing their individual routines. This was the first time any one them had tried Dressage to Music, and the results were outstanding. Justine on Kate, rode a wonderful test to a beautiful medley from Fantasia, which included the ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ and the ‘Nutcracker Suite’. Jess on Lulu, rode an energetic test to a toe tapping selection from ‘Glen Miller’, getting everyone, including the judges ‘ In the Mood’. Alice completed our junior trio on Percy, riding a lovely and varied test to a selection of 60’s songs based on sunshine and holiday’s.

Jess and Alice came joint 2nd with 68.61%, and Justine 5th with 66.39%!!!!!!!! The top junior score for the day was 71% so all 3 of our competitors were only a whisker away.

(Also I must mention that their horses and themselves were beautifully turned out).

Leanne and Amber competed in the senior competition; at the very last moment Leanne was able to borrow a horse when another rider had to drop out and rode a very positive and ‘up-beat’ test to a selection of music from ‘Queen’. Leanne got a fabulous 63.8% and finished 8th overall, in a class of 24. (Perhaps we should all borrow a horse, ride it 3 times and compete!!) Amber also rode a very nice test, her theme being Madonna. The music was very catchy and she scored 58%.

Prior to doing this competition, I personally had no knowledge of Dressage to Music, four of the tests were put together using the software Dressage Diva’s, a lot of technical riding help from Mandy Keen, the experienced eye of Rose Seagrave, an immense amount of Leannes time changing and perfecting the tests on her PC. Also my sincere thanks to Liz Budny, who let us use her ménage to practice in week after week.

(A word of caution: We have found that the Dressage Diva’s software does not run on all PC’s, before purchasing one, you may want to contact Aly or Leanne to discuss this).

Wonderful day, wonderful results!!

Written by Aly Burges

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