July 2015
Holly Woodhead (GBR) on
DHI Lupison Image credit
Mike Bain
Nicola Wilson (GBR) with
Annie Clover
Inset: Nicola Wilson with
Mum after XC
Image credits Tara Hector
“Nicola is a true professional in all three phases
now, she’s got a great team of horses and she’s
riding at the top of her game.”
CCI4* Eventer, Pippa Funnell
“Nicola is a true professional in all
three phases now, she’s got a great
team of horses and she’s riding at
the top of her game.” Well said that
lady! Pippa had led the dressage
with the talented by sharp Billy
The Biz but had four time penalties
on the cross country course
which cost her the top spot, a wise
decision on the 10 year old with
little experience under his belt having only been eventing since
2013. She also came within the
top ten in the CCI with Sandman
7 and is really excited about the
two horses futures “If I can get
the mileage into them then these
could be two of the best horses I
have ever had.”
Woodhead Wins the U25 CCI
Title
Holly Woodhead, another
Yorkshire born Brit, stormed to
victory in the under 25 section
riding DHI Lupison to win with
8
a massive margin of more than
11 penalties over nearest rival
Dani Evans and a final score of
33. Twenty one year old Holly is
slowly coming to the fore of the
eventing scene and this marks
her first three day win and was
perfectly timed to celebrate the
life of the horse’s owner - Holly’s
grandfather, who sadly passed
away the week before the event.
With a flawless cross country
round maintaining her dressage
lead, Holly then had a 2 pole
advantage in the show jumping
after Dani’s ride Smart Time had
one down to put them in second
place. But the combination
didn’t need either as security and
jumped the up-to-height track foot
perfectly. “I’ll admit that yesterday
I’d never felt so nervous, but
today I was surprisingly calmer.
The horse jumped exceptionally
and felt like he wasn’t going to
touch a thing.” Holly said of her
Pippa Funnell (GBR) with
Billy the Fizz Image credit
Tara Hector
Everything Horse Magazine • Issue 22 • July 2015
show jumping round on the
stunning chestnut. “He tried
his hardest and now we have
our first three day win; I still
can’t quite believe it and I
think it will take a long while
to sink in!”
Dani attributed her single
fence down to rider error but
was extremely pleased with
the 11 year old gelding, “he’s
been on it all week, which
makes my job easier, and
I couldn’t be happier with
him. The show jump down
was completely my fault but
if it was going to be anyone
to beat me, I couldn’t be
happier that it was Holly!”
Holly is campaigning for
a place in the British team
for this year’s Young Rider
European Championships
in Poland, and Dani is
hopeful of an individual
place at the Senior
European Championships
in Scotland. It’s a long shot
in my opinion, given the
performance of some of the
more experienced Team
GB riders and the talent of
their mounts, but given that
we are not trying to secure
Olympic qualification here,
it is still a possibility. But
one thing is for sure…the
pressure is on for one of
those coveted 12 spots in
Scotland!
Image right: Dani Evans
(GBR) on Smart Time Image
credit Mike Bain
July 2015 • Issue 22 • Everything Horse Magazine
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