Dannie Morgan dominated the Baileys Horse Feeds novice freestyle gold at the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships, taking the top two spots in emphatic fashion.
Dannie took the win on a huge 78.7% riding his own five-year-old Fever Tree, a Foundation x Dayano son he says is “the best horse I’ve ever sat on”.
“He was bred by a friend of mine, and he is my dream horse – I love everything about him,” said Dannie. “From the day he was born I thought, ‘Oh my god, I need that horse’, and then I backed him at three and just had to have him, so I bought him. I still have to pinch myself – it’s not every day you find a horse like this and I feel very lucky. He’s the best horse I’ve ever sat on, and I think he has the potential to be a top horse.”
Dannie’s win with the aptly nicknamed “Gordon” was all the more impressive as it came following a last-minute switch to his freestyle music, and he credits Equidance for making the late change.
“He had different music for regionals, which was elegant and soft, but one of the judges commented that he could have more powerful music. So I was listening to music, and there is an old Disney film called Dinosaur, which has a really cool soundtrack. So we switched his canter music to that and it really suits him.”
Dannie’s second placed horse was Karen Vere-Hodge’s Monsieur Frederique, a Franklin five-year-old who posted 75.65%. Dannie will ride a total of five horses at this year’s Winter Dressage Championships.
Mark Forrest became the first winner of this year’s Winter Dressage Championships, when he topped the Horsehage prelim gold riding Rosie Moreton Deakin’s Ivicii RMD. The pair scored 76.72% to win with a 1.5% margin over second-placed Kirstie Clarke and Nureno.
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“He concentrated and tried to stay with me the whole time,” said Mark of the five-year-old by Asgards Ibiza. “He has an outstanding canter and a super work ethic – the whole package. And when it counts he really knuckles down and gets on with it.”
Ivicii was highly successful in young horse classes last year, finishing reserve champion in the four-year-olds at the National Dressage Championships in September, and winning at the NEXGEN finals too. Mark explained that they only contested the regionals as “a trip out for him”, and hadn’t expected him to win both a regional and now national title.
Mother-daughter duo see their efforts pay off
George Chalmers-Gray claimed the first title of the Petplan Equine Area Festival Championships, scooping medium bronze honours with her mother Rebecca’s petite mare Jekaterina. It was an emotional victory for the mother-daughter duo, and Rebecca explained that the journey they’ve had with the nine-year-old – whom she bought aged four from the Netherlands – has had “some serious ups and downs”.
“There’s been a lot of times when she wouldn’t go up the centre line, and we live in Perthshire in Scotland so getting out is quite tricky,” Rebecca explained.
Rebecca and George both train with Harry Payne and Rebecca credits him for pushing them to aim Jekaterina for the championships.
“It’s his faith that has pushed us through because we weren’t even going to go to the regionals, and he said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous’,” said Rebecca.
George added: “The stabling and travelling is still a bit tricky, but she seems to have turned a corner and is now going up the centre line and doing the job. She’s lovely at home, a really nice person, and she’s lovely to train. She’s really quick – you teach her something and the next day she’s like, ‘I’ve got this’.
“She had already done the elementary test and warming up for the medium I felt she was actually a bit tired. We travelled down from Perthshire yesterday and I think she was just running out of energy a bit, but she was went up the centre line and it was lovely, really smooth. We had one little blip in a downward transition but other than that she was lovely. All we ever hope for is a smooth test without any drama, and she did that.”
As well as their Area Festival medium title, George and Jekaterina also finished second in the Equi-Trek elementary silver championship, scoring 70.63% to sit just behind winners Virginie De Senneville and Claire Wyatt’s Fire Kracka.
Virginie de Senneville and Fire Kracka, elementary silver winners at the 2023 Winter Dressage Championships
“He’s improved so much [since last year],” said Virginie. “He loves to learn and the takes on information really well. He has a lovely temper and personality, and always wants to give his best. For a stallion he’s amazing, and he’s always ever so focused as soon as I get on.
“He does go a bit shy in the ring – our warm up here was beautiful but the test itself we took one step at a time, just trying to keep the connection and do our best.”
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