Equestrians get into the Christmas spirit

Aintree South Africa recently had their Christmas Show, with red and green colours to be seen from all over, horses dressed up and all equestrians looking the part.

“This year has been a hard year for many of us, especially losing a member of our team, Monica Jansen van Rensburg (16), at the beginning of the year, which put a big hole in all our hearts,” said instructor and owner of Aintree Louise Kennedy.

“Despite everything, the children, the parents and the whole team of Aintree competed and have some great results this year.”

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The results were as follows:

Classes one to three
• These classes were the Jump for Joy classes for the juniors, both riders and young horses, and beginner riders for heights 30cm, 40cm and 50cm. The riders were Katherine (Kitty) Henderson, Hailey Grant, Mia Palmer, Isabella Leo, Blaise Oberholzer, Madison Lotter, Chanel Lötter, Aneke Nel, Abigail Oberholzer, Saiyuri Puntis, Emily Saayman, Jonathan Richter, Nicole Richter, Dakota Kieser and Ty Kieser.

Class four
• This class was the Louise Extravaganza Fun Race. It was teams of riders and a parent partaking in a fun race combining a cable stitch portion with a parents’ mini-boot camp obstacle race. 1 Evan Paizes and mum, 2 Kylie Campbell and dad, 3 Blaise Oberholzer and mum, 4 Keira-Leigh Wissing-Dollman and dad Mark, 5 Madison Lotter and dad, and 6 Layna Knoetze and riding instructor Kaye.

Class five
• The Christmas Fancy Dress Show: 1 Saiyuri Puntis, 2 Hailey Grant, 3 Isabella Leo and 4 Danika Coetzee.

Class six
• A2 Competition 60cm: 1 Kylie Campbell and horse Ashgar Night Sky, 2 Tenielle Prentice and horse Victory Cruise, 3 Mia Palmer and horse June Rush and 4 Madison Lotter and horse Enigma.

Class seven
• Accumulator Six Jump 70cm: 1 Tenielle Prentice and horse Victory Cruise, 2 Kholo Seabi and horse Tequila, 3 Leigh Mervitz and horse Tequila and 4 Chanel Lötter and horse SL Lesedi.

Class eight
• A2 Competition 70cm: 1 Keira-Leigh Wissing Dollman and horse Levendi, 2 Kayelen Waghorn and horse Unicorn, 3 Kayla van Ginkel and horse Victory Roll and 4 Chanel Lötter and horse SL Lesedi.

Class nine
• Accumulator Six Jump 80cm: 1 Kayla van Ginkel and horse Victory Roll, 2 Kaylene Waghorn and horse Unicorn, 3 Keira-Leigh Wissing Dollman and horse Levendi and 4 Logan Landsberg and horse Doc Holiday.

Class 10
• Accumulator with Joker 80cm – 90cm: 1 Kayla van Ginkel and horse Victory Roll and 2 Evan Paizes and horse Rosie.

Class 11
• Accumlator with Joker 90cm – 1.00m: 1 Cara Jackson and horse Mystic, 2 Kim van Staden and horse Catch and 3 Nikki Puntis and horse Mambo Italiano.

Class 12
• A2 Competition 90cm: 1 Cara Jackson and horse Mystic, 2 Kim van Staden and horse Catch, 3 Eryn Preston and horse Ashgar Night Sky and 4 Evan Paizes and horse Rosie.

Class 13
• A2 Competition 1.00 – 1.10m: 1 Cara Jackson and horse Mystic, 2 Eryn Preston and horse Ashgar Night Sky, 3 Kaylene Waghorn and horse Tatiana and 4 Nikki Puntis and horse Mambo Italiano.

“Thank you to our sponsors, Western Shoppe, for vouchers for all riders, Uncle Tim’s for prizes, the Landsberg family and K2 Graphix for gift bags and prizes for the riders, and sponsoring jumps, Fur Buddies, Die Vet Fink and Rifle Printing for sponsoring jumps.

“Thanks to Kaylene Waghorn for the photography done for the day, Carol Pointeer and Michelle Knapp for judging for the day, and last but not least, Tanya and Deon Jansen van Renburg for the sound system, jumps sponsored and wonderful catering on the day.

“A huge thanks to everyone as it was all a team effort. Thank you to the grooms, the parents, the instructors, horses and the children. Enjoy your Christmas and New Year, as big work starts again in January, lots of new faces and new horses. We are thriving to have an even better year, competition wise, next year,” concluded Kennedy.

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