Ilkley and District Riding Association: Yorkshire riding club celebrates podium finish at top amateur event
Riders aged five to 79 have helped Ilkley and District Riding Association on to the podium at a top amateur tournament. Stuart Minting reports.
Members of a popular West Yorkshire riding club are celebrating a remarkable end to their season after being placed third out of 60 teams in a leading championship for amateur riders.
Following four days of competition at Aintree Equestrian Centre, Ilkley and District Riding Association’s points tally saw the club named second reserve champion at Stars Champion of Champions.
The event was established in 2018 as an inaugural end of season finale for riding and pony club competitors with the aim of giving many young and aspiring equestrians something to aim for and the honour of representing the clubs which they ride for.
While Ilkley was pipped to the title by clubs from Staffordshire and Lancashire, it was the Yorkshire’s top performing club.
Carol Dawson, the club’s chairman, said she had been thrilled by the result, particularly given that the club’s riders had been booked in for 40 out of the event’s 42 classes, but four combinations were forced to pull out through lameness and illness.
The club's winners included 18-year-old Eleanor Marsden who overcame competition from more than 60 rivals on Irrokkos Pasha in the Junior Equitation and nine-year-old Matilda Mason on Flash Dance in the First Ridden Equitation class.
Meanwhile, six-year-old Erin Marshall challenged for the supreme Dartmoor title on Newoak Jonas Blue after coming tenth in the mountain and moorland lead rein class and being the highest placed Dartmoor.
The results meant the club was well represented in the supreme championship on the final evening, with two combinations, and another in the supreme Dartmoor contest.
Elsewhere, Carolyn Johnson riding Kingston won the Working Hunter Horse Rising Star Award and seven-year-old George Sowray was given the Best Rider Award after competing the in Lead Rein Working Hunter on Dukeshill Dancing Digger.
Florence Sowray, nine, was placed eighth on the same pony in the Tiny Tots Working Hunter class and scored fourth places in both the Show Cob/Traditional and Coloured Traditional classes on Budweiser.
The club’s Katherine Linkogel finished fifth in the Retrained Racehorse class on Ask Paddy while six-year-old Olive Armstead claimed a fourth place in the Plaited Lead Rein on In the Night Garden.
The club’s oldest competitor, 79-year-old Anne Everall, contributed to the points tally in the Coloured Plaited class on Sophie with a ninth placing, Marisa McCulloch and Illuminate won Best Turned Out in Plaited Horse In hand and Jade Jennings a fifth place on Azalea Daisy Mae in the Coloured Pony class.
Speaking ahead of the club’s presentation evening tonight at King’s Hall and Winter Gardens in Ilkley, Carol said: “I came away with amazing memories that I will treasure forever.
"We are so fortunate to have wonderful families that support us and also to have quality horses and ponies.”
Carol praised the determination and courage of Matilda Mason, from Ilkley, for competing the day after falling down some steps, damaging her teeth as she walked back to the stables.
Carol said: “Stars is a rollercoaster of emotions. As John Whitaker says you lose more than you win in this game, you just have to bounce back up again.”
As well as lifting a title, Eleanor Marsden claimed a fourth place in the Hunter Horse category on Irrokkos Pasha.
Eleanor said: “Last weekend’s wins are something I will cherish forever. I’m absolutely thrilled with the results at Stars and throughout the year. “Winning Junior equitation at Stars isn’t just about the ribbon, it’s about the journey. I have worked hard training Pasha, developing an incredible partnership, with Stars set in our sights.
"Pasha literally gave it her all. As it’s my last year competing as a junior, it’s a fabulous end of season result.”
Eleanor, who has been riding since the age of four, said her family had bought Pasha in 2021 as a showjumper from a jumping yard in Durham and she had showjumped with her for three years before starting showing “for the fun of it”.
Eleanor said: “She’s just so willing and she loves the atmosphere, she thrives off it. She knows it’s where she should be and that’s where she performs best.
"She will put her foot forward to anything. Anything you ask of her she try her hardest.
“I was more excited than anything else because I knew she would take care of me and she’s a safe horse. We have worked so hard to get where we are it's just become a normality.”