Showjumping News/
Gold for Team England at the Scottish Home Pony International
It was another fantastic weekend for Brickfield Equine’s Ryan de Sousa at the Harbro Scottish Home Pony International, held at Scotland’s National Equestrian Centre from 15th to 18th July 2021.
The Home Pony shows and competitions are designed for young riders to gain experience within a team environment. By gaining experience at this level, it is hoped that it will assist in the development of riders that may go on to compete for Great Britain on a Nations Cup or Championship team in the future.
On Thursday, Ryan and Mighty Mouse W Van De Dauwhoeve had a lovely round and finished second, beaten by 0.6 of a second with a time of 36.06, in the 148cm Debut class and in the process made it onto the English Team.
Ewald went very fast too for a 4th place finish in the 105cm Sinclair Photography Speed Stakes. It was a very exciting jump off and all the crowd were behind them.
On Friday, Ewald jumped into second place in his only class in a very fast 80cm Open.
On Friday evening, the Teams event took place and there was such a great atmosphere. The English team was made up of Ellie Kitt, Holly Bundy, Izzy Doyle and Ryan de Sousa and Ryan was first to go after two double clear rounds in the 148cm Team class.
There was a tie with England and Scotland resulting in a jump off. Ryan and Mighty Mouse had a very fast time but had the last fence down, however Scotland had more misfortune as they had a stop at the last fence and Ryan ended up faster overall. Gold fell into the hands of England. The cheering and emotions of the English fans was a joy to watch. All the children and ponies were incredible and very professional under pressure.
It was a very proud moment for everyone at Brickfield Equine as Ryan and his teammates stepped onto the podium to the sounds of the English National Anthem to collect their gold medals.
Ballyerk lucky wasn’t feeling it this weekend and retired in the 1m Newcomers. Travelling to Scotland took it out of him so we didn’t jump him again.
A special thanks to the English team Chef d’Equip, Mia Palles-Clark; the organisers at the Scottish National Equestrian Centre; sponsors Harbro; coach Tom Vance and our own staff Kim Bilton and Sean Huggan for all their hard work.
