Youngsters shine in the NAF Five Star Finals
Thursday 15 August 2019
The British Showjumping National Junior Academy Championships, held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire on the 12th and 13th August, played host to the NAF Five Star Finals which took place on Monday 12th August. Combinations flocked from Nationwide and once again portrayed the successes achieved via the NAF Five Star Performance Awards Programme.
The competition was divided into six sections; Horse 1*, 2* and 3* and Pony 1*, 2* and 3* and was marked on the capability of the rider and their influence on the performance of the pony. The rider’s effectiveness, position, balance, feeling, timing, rhythm and impulsion to empower the pony to move and jump to the best of its ability was also judged and it was down to Victoria Gallantree, Linda De Matteo, Patsy Bartram and Liz Properjohn to make the tough decision on who would claim the winners titles, as well as the NAF rugs and goodie bags that were up for grabs.
Each section was made up of a predesigned course which required a demonstration of flatwork movements as well as jumping a range of fences depending on the star level the rider has achieved on the NAF Five Star Performance Awards Programme. Competitors with their 1* jumped a 0.70m track, 2* competitors jumped over 0.80m whilst 3* riders competed over 0.90m.
Following a day of great competition, the section winners were announced as follows:
In the NAF 1* Horse Five Star Final it was a win for fourteen year-old Shannon Jardine from Canonbie in Dumfriesshire with Michelle Jardine’s 14 year-old bay gelding Ragjah Du Granit.
It was Daragh Ramage aged eighteen from Peebles in Peebleshire that clinched the top spot in the NAF 2* Horse Five Star Final with her 14 year-old bay mare Aniels.
Seventeen year old Brook Walker made the journey from Longforgan, Dundee with Shannondale Flight, a 12 year-old chestnut gelding owned by Pamela Walker, to take the win in the NAF 3* Horse Five Star Final
Nine year-old Megan Fort from Consett, County Durham claimed the NAF 1* Pony Five Star Final on Sarah Fort’s 15 year-old palomino gelding Dylan.
Last year’s winner of the 1* Pony Five Star Award Evelyn (Evie) Bond Smith aged nine from Bawdeswell, Norfolk made a successful step up to take first place in the NAF 2* Pony Five Star Final on Clare Bond’s 14 year-old liver chestnut gelding Derrymore Lucky Lad.
Saskia Mohan, aged 16 from Kirtlington, Oxfordshire took home her second consecutive win in the NAF 3* Pony Five Star Final on Rebecca Long’s 7 year-old grey gelding Ballyerk Cobalt.
All images courtesy of 1st Class Images.
The NAF Five Star Performance Awards Programme has been designed to provide a series of progressive standards to assist riders with a focus for their training and improved performance in the ring alongside developing stable management skills. For more information on the programme, please contact Laura Rolph on 02476 698812 or Laura.Rolph@britishshowjumping.co.uk.
NAF’s premium range of Five Star brands include Superflex, Superflex Senior, PROFEET, Optimum, Magic, Oestress and Respirator Boost with quality at the heart of everything they do. They are a UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme), GMP+ (International Feed Assurance Scheme) and BETA NOPS (Naturally Occuring Prohibited Substances) accredited company and this enables them to guarantee full traceability on all the natural ingredients they utilise in their formulations, which are also selected in compliance with the FEI guidelines for Clean Sport. For further information, visit www.naf-equine.eu/uk/index.jsp.
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