ALBERTON – Grace Trinity equestrian primary and high school learners won South African National Equestrian Schools Association (Sanesa) trophies at the Sedibeng awards.
Primary school learners placed first whilst the high school learners took second place in the region. Grace Trinity also placed sixth overall in the Gauteng province. Eight Grace Trinity high school and four primary school learners competed in the Gauteng finals at the National Sanesa Competition.
The top eight riders in each discipline competed in over four qualifiers in order to compete at the Gauteng finals. The top 12 riders in each discipline in the Gauteng region then represented Gauteng at the National Sanesa Competition. Over 11 000 entries were received in Gauteng alone.The core disciplines include jumping, dressage, prix caprilli, working riding, performance riding, equitation, extreme equitation, in-hand utility and working hunter. Other disciplines including eventing, endurance, English and Western mounted games, extreme obstacle and tent pegging are not available at regional level and competitors for these disciplines need to qualify for the Gauteng teams.
Tyla Nepgen qualified in seven core disciplines for the Sedibeng Region. At the Gauteng finals, Tyla qualified in five disciplines and was placed in eighth position overall in the Gauteng province. It is the first time a Sedibeng rider has been ranked in the top 10 riders of all schools in Gauteng. She also qualified in English mounted games to ride for Gauteng. At the National Sanesa Competition, Tyla placed third in working hunter and fourth in equitation in large classes of 35 riders each. She received two firsts, a third and a fourth for team placings. Chantelle Bennett qualified for Sedibeng in six disciplines, and in three for Nationals where she placed 12th in her jumping class. Simone Martins placed third in prix caprilli.