Beverley Smit and Byzantium won their first advanced 100 class by a margin of 6% at Berkshire Riding Centre.
Beverley has owned the 11-year-old gelding by Ibsen out of a half-Arab mare since he was 18 months old, but nearly had him put down as a six-year-old due to chronic problems with spavins.
“We decided to put him in a field for a year and he hasn’t looked back since,” said Beverley. “He’s a willing horse, which makes him such fun to train.”
The elementary qualifier was dominated by Lori Traies and her nine-year-old Trakehner/Dutch Warmblood Kadenza, who was bred by Graham Dalton.
Tanya Nicol and Enniskeane earned the highest score of the show with 72.96% in the elementary 50, beating Lori and Kadenza into second.
Young rider Emmeline Butt, just out of ponies, and the stallion Doreste were second in the medium 75 and went on to victory in the advanced medium, beating Beverley Smit and Byzantium.
For full report see Horse & Hound issue dated 2 November.
