Erin and Maisie provide GB girl power

Erin made her debut on the team at last year’s Pony European Championships which were held at Bishop Burton College. She was the youngest member of the British team and also finished the best placed, riding her German sports pony, Danny Boy B.

Erin will be hoping to replicate her April successes with this pony when they won both the team and individual pony classes at Keysoe Premier League with scores of over 70 per cent and dominated the Addington CDIP with an exceptional individual score of 75.48 per cent.

Yorkshire rider Maisie Scruton,14, from Westella near Hull, has also been selected for the team, riding Rembrandt DDH. Masie trains with international rider Julie Blanchard. “Masie rides both her ponies through rain or shine, six days a week and is very focused on her riding,” said her mother Isobel.

“Rembrandt DDH is a black 14.1h stallion and is known as the mini Totillas. He is a wonderful character and is admired wherever he goes.”

Erin trains with international dressage rider Sonia Webster most mornings before going to school at Mount St Mary’s College.

The other members of the team are Aimee Witkin, 14, from Watford who will ride Ferrari. This pony is no stranger to the Pony Europeans having competed last year at Bishop Burton with Charlotte Gill. Gabrielle Lucas,16, from Bentley Common, Essex, completes the team riding Top Star.

The two reserves are Charlotte Fry, 15, from Driffield with Andexer and Bethany Rose Horobin,13, from Rayliegh, Essex with Gigolo.

* Yorkshire riders also feature on the junior dressage squad bound for the European Championships at Broholm in Denmark which run from July 20 to 24. Emma Corbett, 18, from Huddersfield, makes her debut with her eight-year-old chestnut gelding Furst Diamantino and Jessica Knapton, 16, fom Hull is a non-travelling reserve with her 13-year-old gelding Remarkable.

The team will be led by Samantha Thurman-Baker,18, from Hedge End, Hampshire riding Spring Pascal. Pippa Hutton, daughter of international rider and trainer Pammy, from Cirencester, makes her debut with Duela and completing the team is Olivia Oakley,18, from Hedge End, Hampshire, riding Donna Summer.

* The Nidd Hall estate was the setting for a carriage driving competition organised by the North Eastern Driving Trials group. The two-day event involved carriage driving on the Saturday followed by a marathon course on the Sunday.

Sarah Meredith, from Lancashire, won the Open Horse class, beating Wakefield’s Judy Hilditch by a narrow margin, both drivers achieving the two fastest times of the day.

In the Novice Horse class Siobhan Eames, from Wetherby, took the honours in her first event, driving Christine Goodliffe’s coloured horse. Father and daughter duo, John and Tara Wilkinson, from Halifax, also had wins in the Intermediate Horse class and the Novice Pony class, respectively.

Results

Pre-Novice: Ian Bottomley, Halifax. Novice Pony: Tara Wilkinson, Halifax. Novice Horse: Siobahn Eames, Wetherby. Int. Pony: Anne Hampshire, Ossett. Int. Horse: John Wilkinson, Halifax. Open Pony: Tony Mould, Morpeth. Open Horse: Sarah Meredith, Bolton. Pony Pairs: Lyn Winder, Tebay. Horse Pairs: libby Priest, Cheshire. Tandems: Rene Shoop, Ashbourne. Teams: Peter Shannon, Chorley.

* A team of motorcycling vets is setting out on a bike ride of over 1,000 miles this month to raise money for charity. The team is led by Prof Derek Knottenbelt and will be visiting four different venues in different parts of the country over four days.

The plan is to raise money for World Horse Welfare and the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad. The vets will be delivering lectures at each venue covering a variety of topics of interest to horse owners including colic, Strangles, head shaking problems and obesity in horses.

The aim is to improve owners’ knowledge and raise money at the same time. Last year, the vets visited seven vets’ schools and this year they decided to concentrate on horse owners.

Their trip begins at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire on July 18 and they will be in Yorkshire on July 20 at Bishop Burton College, where presentations will begin at 9.30am. Tickets are £30. For more information, go to www.worldhorsewelfare.org/horsepower.

* The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is to award a £15,000 bursary to the Animal Health Trust (AHT) to be used to help fund the development of a rapid result blood test to identify horses infected with Strangles.

The AHT has already developed a test that can detect the disease, though the result is not known for 48 hours. The aim of the new research is to develop the test to produce a result within 10 minutes. This would be particularly useful for disease screening at sales and competitions. Strangles is the most frequently diagnosed infectious disease of horses and there are an estimated 600 outbreaks every year in the UK.

The bursary will be presented at Burghley Horse Trials (September 1 to 4) to mark the 50th anniversary of the event.