Dressage @ Hickstead & The Royal International Horse Show
20-26th July – Hickstead Show Ground, West Sussex
Wow, Wow, Wow. The first wow is for Andrew Gould’s success in the 5 Year Old Championship, the second wow is for the hospitality the BHS showed Puffa’s Equitation Winners and the third is a massive wowwee for Edward Gal and Moorland Totilas’ performances in the Grand Prix and Kur!!
Hickstead is without doubt one of my favorite equestrian venues, the atmosphere is always electric, the sun is (normally) shining and you always get to see some of the worlds best on their top horses battling it out for decent prize money and world recognition. This year was no exception!!
Naturally I was drawn to the dressage this year, with our second year designing the programme for the Dressage at Hickstead Masters and Andrew competing I was keen to get a good seat and watch some World Class dressage, I was not disappointed. Andrew rode Katie Price’s horse, Jordan’s Andre beautifully and finished fourth in the 5 Year Old National British Young Horse Championship, no small feat when you know that this was only the fourth show that Andrew has competed the horse at. Well done Andrew!
The stories, rumours and gossip surrounding Dutch rider Edward Gal’s horse, Moorlands Totilas, was nearly too much to bear and I just had to see this black marvel for myself. When you know that Edward and Totilas beat Anky at the Dutch Open Championships and all the judges on the circuit are excited to have the opportunity to judge and see the horse for themselves, you know there has to be something special and mystical about it. I sat patiently through the Grand Prix and watched some wonderful combinations perform foot-perfect and impressive dressage, but I, like many of the people around me, were really waiting for one man and his horse.
When the moment came, a stillness fell around the arena and Edward (ever the showman) entered the grandstand at an amazing extended trot, the gasps started! Like many of the people who watched these two perform, I gasped, ahhed, ohhed and wowed at what I saw, and also like many of the people who watched I was left (almost) speechless. Before I gush like a love struck teenager about this horse I must add that I have always been a bit of a fan of Edward and I do like a nice dressage horses (like many who are reading this I am sure). He was in a word MAGNIFICENT. He is a stallion and only nine (imagine what he will be like in a few years) and there is no denying he made some mistakes and Edward had to work hard to contain him, but Blimey he can move. I have never (and I am sure many will agree) seen so many 10s in one test, and I have certainly never seen a horse score 3s and 4s and then in the next movement score three 10s! It was incredible the shoulder movement this horse has is out for this world. Well if this is the future of dressage (god help us) it is incredibly exciting, but don’t take my word for it, watch the videos below and see what you think!
Moving on from Totilas (I could go on forever) the rest of the show was great. Andrew and Polly Gould had kindly invited Adam and I to join them to watch the Dressage Gala Evening on the Saturday, which was lovely of them. The show was great and our tables had a blast, it is always so nice to socialise with everyone and not have to worry about work, though we obviously all talked horses all evening…
Shaking of my heavy head from one too many Pimms the night before, we had to jump out of bed early to get to Hickstead on the Sunday to meet with the lucky Puffa and BHS winners of the wonderful Equitation Competition. We had arranged for the two winners Sam Gillespie and Laura Johnston to spend the morning in the BHS Executive Private Box as part of their prize from Puffa. We asked Andrew Gould to join us in the box and present the two young winners with their trophies. BHS Chairman, Patrick Print was very welcoming and joined Andrew and Puffa’s Sales Director, Sue Taylor in presenting the trophies and congratulating the winners on their success. Everyone at the BHS was incredibly supportive and welcoming, I know the winners and all their families all had a wonderful time and felt very spoilt in the luxury of the private box!
Sue Taylor (Puffa Sales Director), Laura Johnston (17yrs and under Equitation winner), Andrew Gould (International Dressage Rider), Sam Gillespie (13yrs and under Equitation winner) and Patrick Print (Chairman of the BHS).
I just want to share this picture with you, Sue’s son Jono took it of a eager spectator in the adjacent box! He watched each round, and seemed to enjoy watching the horses, we spent ages watching him watching the horses, rather than watching the horses ourselves…
This year’s RIHS and Dressage Masters did not disappoint, we all had a wonderful time, witnessed some amazing riding and horses, made some new friends, enjoyed the Pimms and sunshine and are already looking forward to next year.
Helen Stock