A four-year-old came to the fore in The Centre Line National Dressage Championships preliminary gold final on the final day of the 2022 LeMieux National Dressage Championships.
The young prospect in question was Lucie Stokoe’s chestnut gelding Nicolaas B who was steered to victory by New Zealand rider Sarah Wilkinson. They scored 76.04% for their efforts, which meant Jayne Turney and Shirley Rixon’s Penhaligon Freigeist took second on 73.51%.
By Ibiza, “Eddie” was bought from Holland mid-way through his two-year-old year. Sarah backed and started him herself from her yard near Cirencester.
“This year we’ve aimed at young horse classes alongside prelim and novice, and he’s been amazing,” said Sarah, who won at the nationals last year aboard Koko II. “He’s never put a foot wrong all year. He’s so easy in every way.
“He kept a great rhythm today. We also had the young horse class today and I was a bit gutted as we got quite a bad mark. He has a great walk, but all three paces are fabulous; he just needs to build strength now. He’s 17.2hh and is quite gangly so he just needs to grow into himself. His temperament is to die for; he’s like an old man in a young body. I think he’ll be quite phenomenal.”
Eddie, who was attending his first stay away show, was bought from a video:
“He’s grown a lot since he arrived,” Sarah added. “I thought he was quite a big boy, especially if he was going to be challenging!
“We were trying to think of a name for him when he arrived, and as he had a ginger forelock we thought he looked a bit like Ed Sheeran, so Eddie stuck.
“It’s so relaxed here at Somerford, and classes like the National Dressage Championships preliminary gold are great for these young horses.”
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