Records does it again and clinches first place in dressage

Siobhan Records attributes luck and having ridden many horses in her time to her winning her fourth national adult main dressage derby at Kyalami Equestrian Park.

The competition was hot at The South African Derby between 26 and 30 September, and while showjumpers soared high over jumps in grassy arenas, the country’s best dressage riders drew crowds to their sandy arenas by demonstrating skill in riding technique.

Chartwell North’s Records went into the main derby as a favourite after winning the adult mini dressage derby earlier while riding Raindancer.

She has won the main derby for the three previous years.

Riding Rathmor Caprice, Records was up against the best – Andrea Harrison rode Callaho Socrates and Patrick Brown rode Wow’s Yellowood in the final.

According to competition rules, all three riders took turns to ride their own horses as well as each others’ horses under the judges’ gaze.

This after only being given three minutes to try out their opponents’ horses beforehand.

It was a true test for the riders and unfortunately for Brown, Records’ horse Rathmor Caprice proved a handful to control and he did not earn enough points when riding him.

Records and Harrison proved good on all three horses, but Records edged her opponent out 1 541,5 points to 1 534,5 points.

“I have ridden a lot of horses so it is quite easy for me to get used to new horses quickly,” said Records afterwards.

“But you still need a bit of luck because anything can happen on another person’s horse. They could lose focus or not listen.”

Records added that she was very proud of how her ‘precious pony’ performed, and now looks forward to a few months of training her horses for higher grades before training shows start in December.

Also check out:

https://www.citizen.co.za/midrand-reporter/200383/siobhan-records-a-hat-trick/