Tegan Bruyns clinches the Mark White Nissan Philip Smith Equitation Championship
KYALAMI – This is a class in which the rider is judged.
Tegan Bruyns won the prestigious Mark White Nissan Philip Smith Memorial Equitation Championship at the Nissan Easter Festival.
The festival was held at Kyalami Equestrian Park and ran for 10 days from 24 March until 2 April, drawing riders, horses and equestrian enthusiasts from all over the country.
Bruyns described how the equitation championship works. “The top four junior equitation riders from 2017 Junior champs [2017 South African Championships] and their horses qualify for the Philip Smith Memorial Equitation Championship which is run over two days: Phase one on the first day, being the dressage test, and phase two, the showjumping,” she said.
“All four individuals have to ride their own as well as each other’s horses in both phases. It tests each rider’s skill, style, talent and most importantly the correctness and versatility of their riding.”
She added that the hardest part of the competition was that the riders only had two minutes to familiarise themselves with the other horses before performing the dressage test. “You get to feel its trot, canter; maybe practice a movement and next thing you know it’s time-up and you have to perform to the best of your ability,” she said.
According to the results posted on the Equitation South African Facebook page, Mikaela Bos placed second in the class while Caitlin Moyle placed third and in fourth place was Tanya Gabel.
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