A tiny rider who said she knew five strides out she had cleared the last fence punched the air in delight as she secured her Hickstead ticket.
Nine-year-old Bella Dunseath finished third in the winter 128cm second round at Onley on 24 February with Cwmdistaw Hermione – whom she had carefully rehabbed after the mare had surgery on both hind legs last summer.
“It was an awesome weekend,” mum Rose Squibb-Williams told H&H. “Then we saw that picture and thought ‘This is too good’! It’s brilliant.
“I hadn’t realised she’d done that, then she said ‘I did my air punch’. I said ‘You’d better not have done’! But she said ‘Five strides out, I knew she was going to clear it’. And she was right, so hats off to her.”
Rose said Bella had done a similar salute at the Blue Chip Winter Showjumping Championships last year but not since.
“I thought ‘Brilliant, she’s taking it seriously now, we’re starting a new chapter’,” Rose said. “But she’s having fun and I like that as it should be fun at her age. Her pony is lovely and doesn’t care so go for it.”
The family bought “Chilli” at the start of last year as a six-year-old; Rose said she “didn’t love her” at first as she thought the mare lacked spark, but then she and Bella jumped “clear after clear”.
Then last summer, Chilli went lame, and was diagnosed with palmar annular ligament syndrome in both hind legs.
“Essentially, the ligament is too tight and compressing the tendons, so she had surgery in both legs,” Rose said, adding that Chilli was not convinced by walking in hand, or box rest, so Bella did all the rehab walking herself under saddle as the pony recovered.
“It was amazing when she started jumping again but terrifying,” Rose said. “When we bought her, Bella didn’t want to think about selling her so I said we could keep her for ever, and it was devastating to think she potentially couldn’t do what she wanted to. But I think having the summer off probably did her the world of good.”
Rose added that the top four qualify for the winter 128cm final at the Royal International Horse Show and as Bella and Chilli were among the only four combinations to jump clear in the first round, Bella knew she had secured her place.
“It’s absolutely a dream come true for her, which I’m sure everyone says,” said Rose. “But she totally believed in herself. She woke up that morning and said ‘I think I will qualify today’. I’m the one in the corner saying ‘Probably not, be realistic’, as the pony is relatively novice but she completely believed she could do it, it was amazing.”
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