By Devon van Til 

Many South Island riders had a full on long weekend, first training with Rob Ehrens before Show Jumping Canterbury’s Labour Weekend Show 22-23 October. The clinic at the South Island Equidays was attended by all squad members as well as a number of lucky additional riders who applied.

Everyone came away raving of Rob’s teaching and the hard work paid off for a number of riders competing successfully at the show.

All four riders in the Dunstan Horsefeeds & Equifibre Horse Grand Prix attended the clinic and the class was one to be watched. Lucinda Askin and Katie Meredith stepped their horses up to this level for the first time, both with green mistakes, but creditable rounds finishing third and fourth respectively.

However it became a battle between the more experienced horses Glenbrooke Archie Bunker and Double J Bouncer. Both horses jumped fantastic double clear rounds. In the second round Harry Feast set the bar in 48.20 seconds and Chris Harris, last to go used advantage of this position to shave off a fraction of time finishing in 47.29 seconds. This takes the combination to three wins in a row and continues their dominance in the South Island.

Grace Manera put her training into practice in the Country TV Pony Grand Prix. Again there were only two double clear rounds from Manera aboard Rednalhgih Cowan and Rosa Buist-Brown aboard Junior Disco.

Manera knew she had to pull something special out of the bag to beat known speed demon Buist-Brown. Manera took one more inside turn to carve off just over a second to secure the win.

Hard work paid off twice as much for talented rider Steffi Whittaker. After riding Eros K in the Rob Ehrens clinic she competed in only one round at the show -the FMG Young Rider class. Whittaker was the only double clear of the class.

Regular rival Jaimee Bird and Double J Wilma were also in the jump off and made a serious effort to come home a second faster. However they paid for their speed with one rail, leaving Whittaker on top.

Show Jumping Canterbury also hosted the first round of the South Island’s FEI World Jumping Challenge. Whittaker and Bird again were in a tight battle; however Whittaker had fresh legs this time in Ngahiwi Cruise.

Bird achieved the first double clear of the class coming home in a slick 61.13 seconds. Whittaker followed taking one less stride in the related line to finish in the narrowest of margins, 0.02 seconds ahead of Bird.

The win puts Whittaker in the best position going into the following competitions and she’ll be looking for consistency to hold onto that lead.

RESULTS- Canterbury Labour Weekend Show

Dunstan Horsefeeds & Equifibre Horse Grand Prix: Chris Harris (West Melton) Glenbrooke Archie Bunker 1, Harry Feast (West Melton) Double J Bouncer 2, Lucinda Askin (Ashburton) Portofino 3, Katie Meredith (Ohoka) Westgrove GNZ 4.

Cavalleria Toscana Horse Mini Prix: Morgan Baddeley (Christchurch) Mr Jerraco 1, Amanda Roy (Gore) Rumors NZPH 2.

Country TV Pony Grand Prix: Grace Manera (West Melton) Rednalhgih Cowan 1, Rosa Buist-Brown (Burnham) Junior Disco 2, Caitlin Adams (West Melton) Sushi 3, Rebecca Wardle (Hokitika) Dingmac Disco King 4, Holly Crean (Mt Selfe) Ellen Vanin Untouchable 5, Grace Manera (West Melton) Tallyho Scoundrel 6.

Canterbury Saddlery Pony Mini Prix: Makenzie Causer (Christchurch) She’s a Cracker 1, Annabel Francis (Darfield) Guthrie 2, Sophie Geddes (Tai Tapu) Te Ngaio Raggamuffin 3, Kirk Magner (West Coast) Awatuna Louis Vivant 4, Brianna Bailey (North Canterbury) KFL Zanzibar 5, Holly Crean (Mt Selfe) Code Spree 6.

FMG Young Rider: Steffi Whittaker (Springston) Eros K 1, Jaimee Bird (Ashburton) Double J Wilma 2, Lucinda Askin (Ashburton) Portofino 3, Makenzie Causer (Christchurch) Elleway GNZ 4, Kimberley Bird (Ashburton) Cera Cassina 5, Brodie Roberts (Rangiora) Playmaker 6.

Dunstan Horsefeeds & Equifibre Pro Am: Kirsty Sharapoff (West Melton) Shoot the Breeze 1, Louise Marriot (Rangiora) Concur 2, Kylie Ross (North Canterbury) Applaud 3, Angela Frewer (Leithfield) Donala Dundee 4, Tamara Silcock (Nelson) Steal Magnolia 5, Larissa Srhoy (Loburn) Rockquest 6.

Dunstan Horsefeeds & Equifibre Junior Rider: Tayler Nalder (Cust) Icebreaker ll 1, Rohan Tennekoon (West Melton) Waitangi Casalla 2, Rohan Tennekoon (West Melton) Elysium GNZ 3, Steffi Whittaker (Springston) Tribute OL 4, Sophie Townsend (West Melton) Kingslea Kiwi 5, Grace Manera (West Melton) Vittoria 6.

Caledonian Holdings Amateur Rider: Georgia Reid (Blenheim) Double J Escape 1, Courtney Thompson (West Coast) Arovet Li 2, Helen Ensor (Blenheim) Zactac Picalino 3, Lauren Buckley (Queenstown) Icey Storm 4, Candace Kingsbury (Ashburton) Miss Serendipity ll 5, Kareen Klinac (Cust) Eerie Lass 6.

Purpine Shavings 7 year old: Emma Power (Christchurch) Flirtini 1, Georgina Palmer (Christchurch) Bravados NZPH 2, Harry Feast (West Melton) Bonjour SPH 3.

Mitavite 6 year old: Molly Buist-Brown (Burnham) Vali 1=, Kaitlin Feast (West Melton) Double J Barman 1=, Annabel Francis (Darfield) Catapult Xtreme 1=.

East Coast Performance Horses 5 year old: Courtney Townsend (West Melton) Adele 1.

FEI World Jumping Challenge South Island Round 1: Steffi Whittaker (Springston) Ngahiwi Cruise 1, Jaimee Bird (Ashburton) Double J Wilma 2, Louise Marriot (Rangiora) Concur 3, Nicole White (Invercargill) Lil LeRoux 4, Olivia Harkerss (Leeston) Lacona Ammoe 5, Lauren Buckley (Queenstown) Icey Storm 6.