Fourteen year-old Ward Ottley from Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire on board his father Jason’s 10-year-old brown gelding Kissemmie Chatterbox won last Saturday’s Blue Chip Pony Newcomers Second Round at Bicton Arena in Salterton, Devon. Ward fought off thirty-nine other competitors in his quest to secure not only the top spot, but also a place in the Championship Final.
With just two direct qualifying places available for the Blue Chip Pony Newcomers Championship Final at Horse of the Year Show, each rider was focused on producing a treble clear as they knew that this would give them the best chance of taking one of the coveted qualification spots as their very own.
From the initial starting field of forty, twelve combinations made it through to the final jump off and eight treble clears were eventually delivered. This resulted in the clock once again playing a crucial part in the allocation of the Championship Final qualification places.
Ward had the enviable position of being drawn last to go in the final jump off and this meant that he knew exactly what he needed to do in order to take the win. Knowing that only a treble clear in a fast time would do, Ward steered his pony over the jump off course both accurately and quickly to cross the finish line in 41.87 seconds. This saw the combination take victory with nearly 1.5 seconds to spare.
Second place was secured by 16 year-old Millie Dickinson from Harpenden, Hertfordshire with her mother Jan’s 9 year-old chestnut gelding Ron Burgundy. This combination finished inside the top two after producing their third foot perfect round in 43.24 seconds. This result also saw them secure a place in the Championship Final.
With the top two taking the direct qualifying tickets for the Blue Chip Pony Newcomers Championship Final at Horse of the Year Show, the riders and ponies that finished in third to eighth missed out on their Championship qualification this time around. However, they did take home the chance to compete in the Blue Chip Pony Newcomers Masters at the British Showjumping National Championships.
Photo: ESP Photographic
