Sadie Smith and her own nine-year-old mare Swanmore Dantina (Dante Weltino x Charatan W) continued their unbeaten 2024 streak to win the Stuebben inter II title on 74.15% at the 2024 LeMieux National Dressage Championships.
Micheal Eilberg and MSJ Dante VX ran them close, finishing on 73.5%, with Alexander Harrison-West and his pocket-rocket Kickback third on 69.74%.
“It’s amazing, I really wanted to win that,” beamed Sadie after the prizegiving. “It’s the first national title I’ve won above small tour and I knew it was a strong class.
“I was so pleased with the test, it’s probably some of the best work we’ve done.”
The pair had numerous highlights – their extensions across all three paces were exceptional, scoring a nine for their extended trot, eights across the board for their extended canter and an average of eight for their extended walk.
Therein lies Swanmore Dantina’s main strength – she’s remarkably well-rounded. The only time her scores dropped below a seven more than once was in their piaffe passage work, which will improve as she becomes stronger.
“I’ve been really trying with the piaffe,” Sadie added. “I’ve only done three inter II tests before coming here. She lacked a bit of confidence in it before, and I’ve not ridden much at the higher levels either, so we’re sort of learning it together.
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“She’s starting to really get going in the piaffe, and I was chuffed with that. In time I’ll get more power and strength in the passage and make that more expressive, at the moment she’s still a bit green, but we’re getting there.
“I’m taking my time with her and it’s paying off because every time I go out it’s better and better. Her temperament is what makes her special. She’s not a massive mover, but she has nice paces and has learnt to do everything in a nice, correct way which means I can start to add the power in over time.
“She’s well up for it as well, which is nice. You could quite easily try to do too much too quick with her, so I’ve got to be careful not to do too much – that’s fairer for her.”
Being on the cusp of grand prix – and with such a special mare – Sadie’s career looks set to really take off in the near future. But she’s keeping her feet firmly on the ground, and said she’d wait for her former boss Carl Hester’s seal of approval before making that step up.
“It would be amazing to have a horse at grand prix, that’s what you’re always dreaming of but I’m just going to keep training over winter and I’ll just do one when he says I can.
“I’m now based by myself and when I was working for him I obviously had that constant support when I was riding. Now I have to trust my instincts a little bit, and it’s all still quite new – so I always go back to him for advice.
“But it was nice today, I had by friend Dannie Morgan helping me warmup, and it’s nice that we’re able to support each other.”
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).
