Dressage stars of the future had their chance to shine at theLeMieux National Dressage Championships today (21 September) where all eyes were on five-year-old Exige M, ridden by Daniel Greenwood, who was crowned supreme champion.
Crowd-pleaser
While crowds flock to the annual dressage competition to see top horses and riders in action, another crowd favourite is the Shearwater Potential International Dressage Horse Championships which sees the most promising four and five-year-olds in the country put through their paces.
The unique competition puts six four-year-old’s and six five-year-old’s forward from the qualifiers into a final judging, where the top two horses from each age range are then ridden by a rider-judge before the final decision is made.
This is a chance to find the next Valegro or next Totilas, and entrants include top riders such as Charlotte Dujardin and Michael Eilberg showcasing their most promising youngsters.
Riders horse
Today’s competition belonged to Daniel Greenwood and the striking iron-grey ‘Freddie’ who had only been brought through to the final four horses as reserve in the five-year-old section. But after rider-judge Daniel Sherriff took him for a spin, his mind was made up.
The dutch-bred gelding that Daniel describes as a ‘real riders horse’ impressed the judges with his fantastic canter and good collection – even at such a young age. “I was rider-judge when Woodlander Farouche won this class a few years ago, and i think that Freddie is as good,” said Daniel.
Judge Mariette Saunders said: “This is a horse with an excellent canter and a really active hind-leg, and he shows a little more promise to collect than the previous horse.”
Reserve champion
The reserve title went to the other five-year-old finalist River Rise Escarla ridden by Sadie Smith. The big bay mare was a close runner-up to Exige M after she impressed the judges with her huge, off-the-floor canter and mature attitude to work.
Top four-year-olds included Mount St John Best Of All, under Charlotte Dujardin, and F J Veyron, under Garry Williams. Neither four-year-old made the top two, but no doubt we will be seeing a lot more from them in the future.
Horse & Country’s coverage of the LeMieux National Dressage Championships is brought to you in association withCharles OwenandPikeur. H&C is available on Sky 253 and online viaH&C Everywhere. For programme times,click here.