Day 4 at HOYS - Youngest of the Charles Dynasty Makes History
Saturday 11 October 2014
The Charles family show jumping dynasty enjoyed a golden glow on day four at Horse of the Year Show as 12-year-old Sienna Charles retained her 128cm Championship title.
Sienna's father and London 2012 Great Britain team gold medallist Peter proudly looked on as Sienna lit up Birmingham's LG arena with an outstanding performance on the 22-year-old chestnut mare pony Murka's Flinor Songbird.
Sienna became the first rider to win the 128cm Championship twice, following her victory last year on Murka’s Mathew’s Girl and those of brother Harry in 2011 (Murka’s Headmore Little Lightning) and sister Scarlett (Murka’s Mathew’s Girl) 12 months later.
A jump-off time of 37.10 seconds proved more than two seconds quicker than runner-up Katie Clarke, riding Show Me Heaven, while Flo Norris finished third aboard Snap Water Jack.
"I am overwhelmed," said Sienna, who lives in the Hampshire village of Bentworth, near Alton, and had two other ponies in the competition - Murka's Matthew's Girl (the 2012 and 2013 winner) and 2011 Champion Murka's Headmore Little Lightning. "There is quite a bit of competition between me and my brother and sister - they expect me to do the same as them! I look forward to Horse of the Year Show every year. All my ponies are different, and I am really excited that 'Bambi' has won."
Peter, meanwhile, has no doubt where the feat of all three children winning the same HOYS crown ranks."She is only a little girl, and to go in and deliver the goods and win for the family for a fourth time is phenomenal," he said. "That feat will never be achieved here again in this division. What she has done is incredible. To me, that is the best achievement I have ever seen at this show.
"We go over the basics coming here, we are absolute sticklers for getting all the small things right. There is no magic formula of one particular thing. They are all taught to ride well, they all focus well and they all like to win, but they know how to win. You have to learn how to win.
Sienna didn't go in and blast it away, she did a very calculated round.
"While children are growing up, riding and caring for ponies is a wonderful thing to do. It teaches the children fantastic things about how an animal works. It is the most wonderful sport for kids growing up to give them discipline. If they keep continuing, there is no reason why any one of them couldn't go on to become a fantastic rider one day, but there is a lot of hard work to do."
Audio link to Sienna Charles defending her National Show Jumping 128cm Championship title
For full results visit http://results.scgvisual.com/2014/birmingham/r7.html
1weon0iftwu19.jpg "Scott Brash makes a long-awaited Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix win in Shanghai")
