OLIVIA (AND IZZY) ACHIEVE BRILLIANT SECOND PLACE DRESSAGE RESULT!
Olivia Robinson, Year 9 student at Richmond School, recently took part in the National Schools Equestrian Association (NSEA) Inter-Schools County Dressage Qualifiers at Northallerton Equestrian Centre. She was riding her pony LPS Stormcatcher, know to the family as Izzy. Miss Spittlehouse, manager of the Richmond School Equestrian Team, passed on this report from Rachel, Olivia’s mum:
“Olivia took part in the NSEA County Dressage Qualifiers where students from their representative schools completed a dressage test in their relevant category. Olivia was entered into a competitive field for the Prelim 2 class and rode a brilliant dressage test, gaining a score of 66.52% and placing second! Olivia has now qualified for the next round later this year.”
We also managed to catch up with Olivia to find out a little more about the competition and her riding.
Olivia has only been riding Izzy for a few months and decided to enter the dressage competition because Izzy is currently recovering from an issue with her front feet and can’t jump comfortably. Dressage is a good way of keeping the pony and rider combination going, especially in the winter months when it’s not so easy to get out.
Olivia had previously only done approximately five dressage tests in total, mostly against adults (she said a lot of young riders think dressage is a bit boring!) so this was quite a stressful competition for her. She had to perform 16 different steps around a 20x40m arena, while being observed by a judge. Each section was marked out of 10, then converted to a percentage. Olivia said that 70-75% is a good score, so she was quite pleased with her 66.52%, considering she’s really just a beginner!
Her second place means that she qualifies for the next round, which is ‘four hours’ drive down south’ later on in the year. Olivia said that Izzy wasn’t particularly good at standing in a trailer for very long, so they’d have to wait and see whether they’d be able to get to the competition. We’ll keep you posted!
Olivia has been riding since she was 5 years old, so has had lots of experience. She has ridden a variety of ponies over the years and enjoys all aspects of riding, especially jumping. When Izzy’s foot issues have healed, she’s looking forward to doing some eventing with her, though Olivia said there’s a bit of work to do on Izzy’s fitness! Olivia also said that Izzy is a bit of a character and can sometimes be naughty. She’s impatient to get on with things and can get a bit stressed, especially with lots of other horses around. She’ll jump anything when her feet are right, though, so Olivia thinks she’ll make a good eventing pony, especially in the dressage and showjumping phases.
Well done to Olivia (and Izzy!) in their recent dressage competition. We look forward to finding out how Olivia’s riding progresses this year, especially when Izzy is fully fit. It sounds like they make a great combination and have some exciting times ahead!