By Devon van Til
Steffi Whittaker proved she is one of the top up and coming riders at her local show Ellesmere A&P Show 14-15 October.
It was a busy day for Whittaker with her three top horses entered over the series classes, one at each level.
First up was Ngahiwi Cruise in the FMG Young Rider class. With five combinations jumping clear rounds it was a very competitive jump off. The clear jumping kept coming and placings went down to the clock.
Whittaker posted a scorching time of 37.18 seconds and had a nervous wait with the final two riders still to jump.
Last to go Lucinda Askin and Portofino gave it their all, but fell short by less than a second to give Whittaker the win.
Next up was the Cavalleria Toscana Horse Mini Prix, in which Whittaker had an unlucky rail with her newest mount Eros K to finish in fourth place.
This class came down to a two-way jump off between Askin and Harry Feast aboard Double J Bouncer. Both jumped calculated clears, but Askin made sure she did one better to take win.
At the end of the day Whittaker again showed her class winning the Dunstan Horsefeeds & Equifibre Junior Ride class with another impressive jump off.
On borrowed mare Tribute OL owned by Katie Flett, Whittaker was one of four combinations through to the jump off. She again set the benchmark with a slick clear round.
Next to go Sophie Townsend and Kingslea Kiwi also jumped clear, but she couldn’t quite make the time and settled for second.
RESULTS
Ellesmere A&P
Cavalleria Toscana Horse Mini Prix: Lucinda Askin (Ashburton) Portofino 1, Harry Feast (West Melton) Double J Bouncer 2, Katie Meredith (Ohoka) Westgrove GNZ 3, Steffi Whittaker (Springston) Eros K 4, Harry Feast (West Melton) Banderas C 5, Louise Marriot (Rangiora) Concur 6.
FMG Young Rider: Steffi Whittaker (Springston) Ngahiwi Cruise 1, Lucinda Askin (Ashburton) Portofino 2, Kaitlin Feast (West Melton) Vivaldi NZPH 3, Jaimee Bird (Ashburton) Double J Wilma 4, Florence Tapley (Pigeon Bay) Ngahiwi Call Girl 5, Kimberley Bird (Ashburton) Cera Cassina 6.
Dunstan Horsefeeds & Equifibre Junior Rider: Steffi Whittaker (Springston) Tribute OL 1, Sophie Townsend (West Melton) Kingslea Kiwi 2, Rohan Tennekoon (West Melton) Elysium GNZ 3, Olivia Harkerss (Leeston) Astek Reformer 4, Tayler Nalder (Cust) Icebreaker ll 5, Olivia Harkerss (Leeston) Lacona Ammoe 6.
Caledonian Holdings Amateur Rider: Candace Kingsbury (Ashburton) Miss Serendipity ll 1, Courtney Thompson (West Coast) Arovet Li 2, Jessica Sonne (Rolleston) Summer Haze 3, Kerry Winterbourn (West Melton) Gingerlily 4, Ashley Hopewell (Rangiora) Benjamin Bunny 5.