Consistency counts for seniors

There were celebrations for Yorkshire and Humberside's Senior Open team, who were runners-up in their section and also won the All Four Scores to Count trophy.

The team comprised three riders from Holme Valley Riding Club, Christine Barber, Sue Chadwick and James Crosland, and one from the Harewood Combined Training Group, Phoebe Towers.

The team finished the first day in last place after dressage but four excellent clear rounds cross-country moved them up into second place at the end of the second day.

The overnight leaders and eventual winners, the North Lincs club representing the East Midlands, went into the show-jumping phase with four fences in hand.

They maintained their lead, finishing on a score of 117.5 with the Yorkshire and Humberside team just behind on 121.8.

They also took the award for having four consistent scores.

Individual placings for other members of the Holme Valley teams included fourth in the Novice for Natalie Noble; seventh in the Intermediate for Dawn Jackson and seventh in the Novice for Suzi Taylor.

TESSA NELSON from Malton will be competing at the Horse of the Year Show thanks to the SEIB Search for a Star competition.

Riding home-bred Blinkbonny Prince Harry, she was placed second in the Riding Club Show Horse class in the recent qualifier at Vale View Equestrian Centre.

The five-year-old skewbald gelding was shown successfully as a youngster but then fractured his pedal bone which meant seven months of box rest. He has slowly been brought back into work this year.

"I am nearly 50 and I thought, I have got to have a go at a HOYS qualifier as it must be brilliant, and what if you ever qualified?" said Tessa.

"I am over the moon and with a horse I bred myself, it is even better."

The horse was bred by Tessa out of her daughter's working hunter pony and by the local coloured stallion Briardale Holly King. The gelding was the Chaps Supreme National in-hand champion as a two-year-old and coloured in-hand champion at the Royal Show as a three-year-old. He was broken as a four-year-old and took part in the Burghley Young Event Horse competition.