2020 has proved to be a challenging year so far, however, the hard working Eventing Canterbury Committee have adapted and adjusted, finding new ways to keep their Eventing dates running. The riders showed their appreciation and solidarity last weekend, with by far the highest number of entries we have seen at a South Island 3DE – ever! With Springston Trophy 2020 cancelled, Eventing Canterbury decided to provide a Pony Club teams event which was kindly sponsored by Dunstan Horsefeeds. This event was very well supported and it was great to see so many new faces enjoying the competition over the weekend.
The contingent from the North Island was small but mighty, as they once again had a great time. We can only hope that they go home and spread the word about how fantastic the SI3DE is, and hopefully we will see more riders making the trip south in future seasons to come.
With the large entries, the committee decided that the most sensible option was to split the cross country day into two separate days, meaning that the 65cm and 80cm classes did their Show Jumping on the Saturday and cross country on Sunday. Although this meant more work for the officials from a logistical point of view, it ran very smoothly and meant that we did not have to restrict entry numbers.
The weather was kind, and the grounds were looking absolutely spectacular. The cross country tracks we tweaked to perfection, with long hours of hard work from a dedicated team of designers, volunteers and decorators – just what was required for a great weekend of competition! To these people, we are extremely thankful.
The weekend started with the Melwood Equestrian South Island Young Event Horse Class on Thursday afternoon. This competition would normally be held for 4 and 5yr old horses in April, but with the cancellation of this event due to Covid-19, the decision was made to run it under a slightly adjusted format at the SI3DE in October. It proved to be a very popular decision and was an extremely well supported class with some fantastic up and coming future Eventing prospects.
The class was won convincingly by the impressive 5yr old gelding BlackJac piloted by Ella Morshuis; second went to WS Empyrean ridden by Rebecca Wardle and third place went to Stamp VWNZ ridden by Dallas Hopkins.
Ella Morshuis and BlackJac winners of the Melwood Equestrian SI YEH Championship
The highest placed TB award, sponsored by NZTR, was WS Empyrean. Highest placed 6yr old and best placed mare in 4th overall went to Her Majesty and Imogen Morrison.
Friday morning saw the beginning of the SI3DE classes and although the upper level classes were small, they were very competitive fields filled with talent. Unfortunately due to issues with an earlier ride, nobody completed the
DVS Home Ventilation NZ 4* class which was disappointing for everyone, however the hotly contested Ultimate Design and Renovation Ltd 3* class came down to the final phase. North Island rider Abby Lawrence aboard Anonymous maintained their comprehensive lead over the three days of competition, finishing off with the only clear round of the class to complete on their dressage score. This saw them take the title ahead of local rider Cam Robertson riding Wairoa Renegade with Jordan Shrimpton on Ka Pai Kiwi rounding out the top three combinations.
1st Abby Lawrence Anonymous 30.1
2nd Cam Robertson Wairoa Renegade 38.5
3rd Jordan Shrimpton Ka Pai Kiwi 45.5
4th Sharne Paton McConnell Road 69
A strong field of 12 contested the Bates Saddles CCI2*-L class, with the younger riders dominating the top three places. Again the result went right down to the wire with Ella Morshuis convincingly leading the first two days on the ever consistent World Famous. Unfortunately, they had two rails down to slip into second place allowing Molly Moffatt and Ngahiwi Makem to continue their winning form of the season to take the title. Third on the podium was Rebecca Wardle on Dingmac Eccles.
1st Molly Moffatt Ngahiwi Makem 33.6
2nd Ella Morshuis World Famous 35
3rd Rebecca Wardle Dingmac Eccles 36.8
4th Lauren Enright Tygra 41.7
5th Claudia Faulkner Triple Shot 43
6th Georgie Dickson Tigerherz 47.3
There were 16 starters in the Hobson Horse Coaches &Motorhomes CCN1*-L class. Although there were very few issues on the XC, the Show jumping phase proved costly for many combinations with only 6 clear rounds of which 5 of them ended up in the top 5 overall placings. The honors went to Lindsay Colwell riding Waitangi Netflix, second place was young rider Sonya Benison on the delightful pony MF Spotlit, and third place went to Alex De geest aboard Argenteuil.
1st Lindsay Colwell Waitangi Netflix 34.2
2nd Sonya Benison MF Spotlight 36.4
3rd Alex De Geest Argenteuil 36.7
4th Colleen Marett Attenborough 38
5th Georgia Alison Velocette 40.3
6th Beth Colman My Rocket Man 41
Our next championship class was the Rangiora Equestrian Supplies CCN95 -S class which was led by Ciara Rayne riding El Camino from start to finish. The pair remained on their tidy dressage score of 31.2 to take out top spot. Catherine Boyer aboard the evergreen Starbust held second place during the competition, only adding a sneaky 4 faults from the showjumping to their score to end on 37.5. Hot on their heels and next on the podium was Lauryn Toomey and Double Connection who leapt from 6th place after the cross country to finish third on 38.2.
1st Ciara Rayne El Camino 31.2
2nd Catherine Boyer Starburst 37.5
3rd Lauryn Toomey Double Connection 38.2
4th Toni Finch Dobby The House Elf 42.5
5th Desley Haas Mojito 42.7
6th Sarah Bennetts Capability Brown 43
The Statesman Horse Floats CCN95-S under 21 class proved to be a tight one for sure. Meg Glassey riding Kerndale held their own throughout the competition to finish on in the lead, but they were followed closely by Caitlin Rayne and Brentwood Surprise who jumped a clear cross country to bump up to second place. In third, Grace Gormack and Rosewood Zakee on a great score of 31.2.
1st Meg Glassey Kerndale 24.8
2nd Caitlin Rayne Brentwood Surprise 29
3rd Grace Gormack Rosewood Zakee 31.2
4th Kate Gutry Tickety Boo 31.8
5th Bella Taane Marsden Magic 32.5
6th Emily Holder Jenks 32.8
Another success to add to the pile for North Island rider Abby Lawrence who took out the Astek Stud CCN95 5, 6 and 7 yr old riding Contiki KSNZ. The pair held first place from the dressage, to stay on 31 for the duration of the event. Ella Morshuis and BlacJac followed Abby closely to also remain on their dressage score of 35.5, to take second place on the podium. On 37.7, and to finish third was Kayla Wilson and Tulira. The pair continued to bump up the places after each discipline, resulting in a spot on the podium.
1st Abby Lawrence Contiki KSNZ 31
2nd Ella Morshuis BlackJac 35.5
3rd Kayla Wilson Tulira 37.7
4th Fiona Given Impulse Buy 38.9
5th Katherine Hadler Only A Rumour 39.8
6th Tinesha Benson Ataahua Bess 42
In the Canterbury Saddlery CCN80, Julie-Anne Sime riding Vogue I bumped up into first place at the competition of the cross country to finish in the top spot. DM Graduate and Rebecca Wardle gained second place after the cross country, jumping a lovely clear to obtain second place. With these top two spots settled, it was left to Nicola Sim and Killarney to settle for third. The pair have had a very successful season.
1st Julie-Anne Sime Vogue I 29.4
2nd Rebecca Wardle DM Graduate 31.1
3rd Nicola Sim Killarney 31.4
4th Eve Hawes Pennyweight Opiate 32.5
5th Tarryn Jones Tikoda 33.2
6th Sarah Barrett Mr Cosby 33.6
Alice Macdonald on the knowledgeable Yippee Ki Yay had another great event, as they placed first in the HUGE Melwood Equestrian CCN 80-S Under 21 class (48 horses!!!) Elise Shrimpton and Mister Puzzle slotted in behind them to take second place after completing both a clear show jumping and cross country round to secure their spot. Paige Hardwick and Alottatow took third place.
1st Alice McDonald Yippee Ki Yay 29.2
2nd Elise Shrimpton Mister Puzzle 31.1
3rd Paige Hardwick Alottatow 31.1
4th Imogen Morrison Her Majesty 31.4
5th Emily Heald Ed Harry 32.2
6th Daniel Thomas Picollo 32.8
The Cover Queen CCN65-S class consisted of a whopping 35 combinations, however a few unfortunate mistakes saw the class numbers drop. However, it was a great event for Georgia Allison and Sandow Jacob who took out first place, which they held from the first day of dressage. Christine Lewis and Irish Magic were close on the pairs tail, as they managed to settle for second place. Danni Cook and Corivale Broadway Musical secured third spot – very close behind the first two combinations.
1st Georgie Alison Sandow Jacob 26.4
2nd Christine Lewis Irish Magic 27.8
3rd Danni Cook Corivale Broadway Musical 28.3
4th Katie Fitzsimon Apsley Golden Secret 29.7
5th Olivia Cassie Ngatiwai Sugar and Spice 29.7
6th Ginny McKenzie Detroit Diesel 31.1
The two non championship classes were well contested with the Eventing Canterbury CCN2*-S being taken out by the only cross country clear under the time performance of Brodie Roberts riding Skyhi Sensei. Brodie had a comfortable margin leading into the show jumping, and was followed by Elsa Rosanowski and Eve Hawes.
1st Brodie Roberts Skyhi Sensei 49.3
2nd Elsa Rosanowski Tanae Mahuta RE 53.9
3rd Eve Hawes The Enchantress 57.6
The Dunstan Horsefeeds CCN 105-S was taken out by Charlotte Campion riding Bluewater. This was a big class of 29 horses and scores were close throughout. A rail from Alyssa Harnett proved costly and moved her from pole position to 4th place.
1st Charlotte Campion Bluewater 32.5
2nd Kayla Wilson Rednalhgih Galaxy Fleur Dior 33.4
3rd Olivia Logan High Jinx 35
4th Alyssa Harnett Bow Diddley 36.1
5th Ruby Taane Struck By Lightening 36.8
6th Kareen Klinac SE Hedging 37.6
We also had a huge number of additional prizes which are listed below:
The Rider Shop NZ/Rangiora Equestrian Supplies Style Prize was awarded to Lily Ellis and Wemblybrook Monarch
Highest placed young rider awarded the Bosun Trophy – Jordan Shrimpton and Ka Pai Kiwi, who also received the NZPCA Award.
Moores Riding Wear Ltd Turnout Prize
– FEI classes – Lauren Enright and Beaumont Cash
– Non FEI classes – Georgia Williams and Riverdance Black Jack
Dynavyte NZ Best Conditioned
FEI classes – Ella Morsius and World Famous
Non FEI classes – Eloise Thomas and Goldrush
Riccarton Dentists Smile Prize- Kareen Klinac on all of her horses in all phases!
The teams competitions were a new initiative this year and proved very popular. With Springston Trophy being cancelled this year, we did not want the pony clubs to miss out on that team atmosphere so Dunstan Horsefeeds kindly stepped up to sponsor the inaugural Pony Club Teams Challenge. This was well supported with 21 teams from all over the South Island competing. Competition was fierce with less than a rail separating the first 4 teams.
Dunstan Horse Feeds Pony Club Teams Challenge
1st View Hill The Sibs
2nd Kaiapoi Black
3rd Springston Brown
Not wanting the oldies to miss out, Mag n Turbo Overall Teams Challenge was developed inspiring some creative team names (Red Hot Filly Peppers being a particular favourite) and a fair bit of fun along the way. The Stirling Collection Squad took out a decisive win, adding more rugs to Abby Lawrence’s already impressive haul.
1st Stirling Collection Squad
2nd Glamour Girls and Grandma
3rd The Southerners
A huge congratulations to all of the competitors who participated over the weekend. A massive thanks to our amazing sponsors who have been so generous and supportive through this difficult time.