THERE was a mother-daughter one-two in the 85cm amateur showjumping qualifier at Codham Park Equestrian Centre, Essex, on 10 October, when Jessica Simpson pipped her mother Lorna to victory by 0.16sec.
Agricultural contractor Jessica was riding her mother’s 13-year-old gelding Lightwood Leonardo (pictured), while Lorna was riding her own 16-year-old Zilver Bling, who took the 95cm amateur title at Aintree in 2019.
“My mean little girl beat me!” said Lorna, who both owns and looks after “Leo” as Jessica works long hours.
“She leaves at 8am and comes home at 8pm, so I look after him and ride him,” Lorna said. “She got in at 8.30pm on Saturday and said she was too tired as she’s in the middle of the harvest. She asked if she could get her entry fee back. I said, ‘No you can’t, I’ll call you at 6am and if you still can’t come, then don’t,’ but she decided to go.
“I gave it my best shot but she did such a tight turn into the double, I couldn’t beat her.”
The trip to Aintree for the Dodson & Horrell National Amateur &Veteran Championships (9–14 November) will be a family affair as Lorna’s sister Rachel Chisnell has also qualified two horses, while Lorna will also be campaigning Ruby VII.
“We’ve just got to organise getting five horses there now,” said Lorna, who is based in Clacton-on-Sea.
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Phoebe Jefferies won the 1.10m qualifier with the sole double clear on her gelding Zipwire.
“Exactly the same thing happened when I qualified last year,” said Phoebe, who has stepped “Zippy” up to some 1.20m classes this year.
The first-year small-model design student bought the eight-year-old son of Zip Phin from Teza Englefield as a four-year-old.
“She called me up and said she’d found a horse I’d like. I wasn’t even in the market for one, but I really liked him. He’s such a trier,” she said. “I’m not riding him in the week at the moment as I am at university, and he still manages to jump for me.”
Catch up with more showjumping action in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 21 October
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