We always love watching the fast and furious 128cm showjumping classes and London International Horse Show’s Equine Rescue Services mini stakes on Sunday afternoon lived up to all our expectations. Eleven pint-sized ponies and their talented young jockeys flew over the 1.10m fences in breathtaking style and it was 12-year-old Cate Kerr with her lovely dun pony Dunbarover IV who triumphed after a nail-biting five-way jump-off.
“This has been an amazing year,” said Cate, who also took the 128cm title with the whizzy Dunbarover during a winning spree at Horse of the Year Show in October. “It’s amazing – winning HOYS and winning London is just a dream come true.”
As you can see from the video below, this pair have formed a great partnership and won at London Horse Show with a double clear in a time of 30.76sec.
“I found it a bit nerve-racking but I tried to focus on doing the same as I did at HOYS,” she said. “He’s a machine – all the buttons are there, you just have to press the right ones and he goes!
“This is more than the best Christmas present,” added Cate, who has a great string of 128cm ponies to ride and is just moving up to 138cm, too.
The talented rider’s school allows Cate to ride her ponies instead of sports lessons and she has ambitions to follow in the footsteps of London Horse Show’s winning five-star riders such as John Whitaker and Scott Brash.
Cate and Dunbarover went on to finish third in Monday’s mini major when teamed up alongside William Funnell.
Second place in Sunday’s class went to Hollie Gerken with the speedy little Black Jack III in a time of 31.09sec while Nya Harriman took third on April Star, less than a second slower.
The fourth of the double clears came from Ella Spencer riding Murphy Spartacus.
The fastest of the five jump-off contenders was actually Emily Gulliver riding Peppino Il Grande but with one rail on the floor they had to settle for fifth place.
You might also be interested in:
‘It’s always special winning in front of your home crowd’: Scott Brash lands GB’s seventh success at London Horse Show
Young Brit takes World Cup qualifier at London International – 20 years after his father won this class
There’s a new Whitaker on the block… Jack, 20, wins at London International: ‘This is a very big deal for me’
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