SPORT // EQUESTRIANISM
EQUESTRIANISM
Review 2021-22
It has been a busy term in the Equestrian Calendar where the team have competed at many events . The focus has been gaining qualification to the County Championship in May . At this event Pocklington School will be representing East , West and South Yorkshire ; we managed to qualify a team or individual team member in all Eventers ’ Challenge and Show Jumping classes . Another focal point has been gaining the prestigious qualification for The Royal Windsor Horse Show , also in May ( we qualified for this event at Northallerton ).
For Lower School : Thank you to Emily O ’ Gram who is a regular rider for the team .
For Middle School : Well done to Emily Jones , Niamh Cowen , Harriet Jacklin , Anna Falkingham , Charlotte Falkingham and Poppy Levitt , who qualified for the County Championships . Poppy Levitt and Polly Raper are also representing the school at The Royal Windsor Horse Show .
For Seniors : Well done to Emma Forsyth and Martha Lee , who qualified for the County Championships , and to Nicole Barnes , who will be representing the school at The Royal Windsor Horse Show .
The Equestrian Team have had much documented success this year and all riders have contributed to this success at some stage .
Mentions : Emma Forsyth for her contribution at Hickstead , and Nicole Barnes for Windsor and Hickstead .
The NSEA National Championships 2021
This is probably the largest number of riders we have ever qualified for the National Championships , since starting the Equestrian Club at Pocklington . Over the course of five days , 12 riders , 13 adults and 16 ponies trekked down to Keysoe , Bedford .
The competition started well on Friday with Lucinda O ’ Gram coming 7th out of 70 riders in the 70cm scurry , and Sophia Elliott winning the 80cm scurry out of a strong field of 80 .
Our greatest achievement of Saturday , was in the RPL class where we came 5th . This class involved eight riders jumping 70cm , 80cm , 90cm and 1m – Harriet Jacklin , Emily Jones and Harriet Hodge all jumping clear . In the 70cm and 80cm classes , Emily Jones and Lucinda O ’ Gram achieved further clear rounds ; Anna Falkingham and Polly Raper also went well to achieve their first clear rounds of the competition . Charlotte Falkingham , riding for the first time at a championship , rode an excellent round after a dirty stop at the first fence .
Daisy Shepherd , returning to Pocklington especially for the team , competed in the Preliminary class of Individual Dressage , and Martha Lee in the Novice . Daisy had a particularly difficult time as her horse , Jackson , had found the journey south nervewracking , and hadn ’ t settled . She executed a good test under the circumstances , but was not placed . Martha was riding both of her ponies in the Novice , Koko ’ s test scoring slightly better than Harry ’ s , despite one of the best extended trots seen !
The day finished on both Sophia and Poppy Levitt going clear in the 90cm scurry , but being out of the rosettes due to their times .
On Sunday , the focus was team dressage and the 1m class . Sisters , Emily and Lucinda O ’ Gram , represented the school in the dressage Preliminary class , and Polly Raper and Martha Lee in the Novice section . All girls achieved respectable scores , but the team were unfortunately unplaced .
The 1m class , with Harriet Hodge competing , was nail-biting . Harriet qualified for the jump off and was leading with only one horse left to jump ; a rider who had just won Hickstead . Only a very quick clear would knock Harriet off top slot ; I couldn ’ t bear to watch . Poles remained in tack , and only tenths of seconds separated the two – Harriet came a phenomenal 2nd .
THE POCKLINGTONIAN 51