Hartpury trio join dressage superstars at Keysoe after GB selection
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Up and coming dressage stars from the Hartpury Equine Academy filled three of the 10 UK selection spots for the prestigious Keysoe CDI – the first international on home soil this year .
Lucy Pincus , Francesca Bradley and Lily Hewitt were among 10 UK Young Riders selected to compete for Great Britain Under-21s at the CDI 3 * event by British Dressage , with the talented trio coming up against senior professional riders . London 2012 Olympic gold medallists , Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester – Hartpury Equine Academy ’ s elite dressage coach – competed at the event in the top classes .
Lucy and her horse , Sheepcote Doncalisto , claimed an excellent second place finish in the Young Rider Freestyle dressage to music class with 70.917 % as well as finishing fourth overall in the Young Rider Individual ( 67.631 %) and seventh in the Team Test ( 66.227 %).
Lily finished in ninth spot in the Team Test on Sir Charlie Chaplin with a score of 64.122 %, 10th in the Young Rider Freestyle ( 66.500 %) and 13th in the Young Rider Individual ( 64.649 %). Affected by the unseasonal snow , Francesca Bradley and Baldovino had three 14th place finishes , in the Team Test with 62.850 %, in the Individual ( 63.114 %) and in the Freestyle ( 63.875 %).
Lucy has been in excellent form so far this Spring , achieving a score of 74 % in the Intermediate I class at Kings Equestrian and then achieving fifth ( Prix St Georges Music ), sixth ( Prix St Georges ) and eighth place ( Intermediate I ) finishes in the Myerscough Premier League . Lily was also delighted with her score of 68.11 % in the advanced medium open class at the recent Winter Dressage Championships at Hartpury .
Fellow Equine Academy starlet , Alessya Kaiser , has also been in excellent form in senior competitions recently . She achieved a first place finish on her horse , Aida , in the British Dressage affiliated Prix St Georges at Chester Hall with 66.58 %, despite a difficult warm-up , and the duo – still tired from the previous day - secured third spot with 62.10 % in the same class at Pachesham Equestrian Centre only a day later .
The pair then headed to Hickstead , where they won the Silver Section Prix St George and they were third overall with a score of 66.10 % out of 13 competitors .
Alessya said : “ The competition at Hickstead was superb ! I was really worried because we were competing in torrential rain and Aida is very sensitive but she was perfect in the warm-up and rode her nicest test so far . With 7s for the pirouettes and the changes , the judge at C had me winning the whole class on 68.7 % but the overall score with the second judge was 66.10 %. I was so happy with her and with our placings .”
Pictured are
1 , Lucy Pincus on Sheepcote Doncalisto .
2 , Francesca Bradley on Baldovino .
3 , Lily Hewitt on Sir Charlie Chaplin
Images courtesy of Hartpury College
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