Charlotte Dujardin will return to the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) this week (3 to 6 October) aiming to take a championship title for the fourth year in a row.
The Dressage Future Elite Championship, in conjunction with British Dressage, is for horses aged between eight and 10 and will feature eight combinations who will each perform an intermediate I freestyle test to music.
Charlotte took the title with Hawtins Delicato in 2016 on 78.62%, Mount St John Freestyle in 2017 on 84.91% and Florentina VI in 2018 on 79.12%.
A spokesman for the event said: “This year Charlotte is back with another star in the making, Mount St John Valencia, the mare with whom she won the inter I freestyle at the national championships this month.”
The combinations battling Charlotte for the title are:
Katie Bailey with Hannah Dovey’s Eagle Nouvelle
Kate Cowell with Patricia Andrews’ Dramatic Conquest
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Dylan Deutrom with William Deans’ San Marco
Lara Edwards with her own and Laura Milner’s Jazzed Up
Emily Harris with Fay Thomas’s Freya FST
Abi Lyle with Fenella Ross’s Farrell
Jayne Turney with Shirley Rixon’s Penhaligon’s Jupiter
The championship takes place on Thursday (3 October) evening in the Andrews Bowen international arena.
The spokesman said Thursday is “all about dressage at HOYS” and fans can enjoy a dressage masterclass by Olympic rider Emile Faurie on Thursday afternoon ahead of the championship.
“For the masterclass I will be bringing three young horses from Germany from the Performance Sales International who I work for; they will demonstrate exactly what it is we look for in a world-class dressage horse and I will talk through how we start them out in their training,” said Emile.
“In the second half Tom Goode will demonstrate the higher level movements and show the levels of progression as the horse develops towards grand prix.”
Emile will also host a ‘Let’s Talk Dressage’ expert talk at the HOYS live zone in the retail village at 5.30pm.
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
