Margaret Jones didn’t let a storm and a rain-soaked warm-up stop her from achieving her dream of winning a sash at the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships, and she came away with the spoils in the Petplan Equine advanced medium bronze.
Riding her own Dimagic, Margaret was the only rider in the field to break the 70% marker – meaning she has achieved another of her specific goals for the week, which was to score a personal best.
“It’s amazing what your mindset can do; your frame of mind can actually make you believe you can win it,” she marvelled. “I know you’ve got to deal with whatever things are thrown your way on the day, but I told myself I was going to win this. The weather wasn’t going to beat me. And I can’t quite believe it.”
Her Dimaggio son is 17 now, and it’s been a long journey for the pair, with Margaret having picked him out and bought him as a foal because she used to ride his dam, Wenecia.
“We’ve had some breaks – I was working in showjumping for a bit and I was just a happy hacker for nearly two years. I train with Rui Campeão and he has changed my mindset and self belief and brought us both to believing we can do this. My goal is to do a PSG by the end of the year.”
‘Shockingly wonderful’ gelding ends the Winter Dressage Championships on a high
Ros Collins and Filligran at the Winter Dressage Championships 2023
For Ros Collins, a third-place finish in the Magic PSG gold with her “superstar” gelding Filligran proved the stuff of dreams – until the 10-year-old gelding went even further and won the Superlex inter I silver championship on the final day of the show.
“We’d already achieved more than we ever expected this week,” said an emotional Ros. “On Wednesday I could’ve burst into tears when I finished my test because he was just so on my side.
“He is a little bit tired today, but he still gives it his all and is a real friend when you’re riding him. I was really thrilled with the pirouettes – he was really sitting. Since the regionals in February I’ve learnt a lot, and worked on the rein-back, pirouettes and extensions and they all came off exactly as I wanted today.”
Ros has only been riding Hassa Mohammed’s Furstenball gelding for six months, and says the pair of them are “still learning together”.
“I’m beyond lucky to be involved with him. He’s the dream horse,” she added. “He’s beautiful to look at and he’s the same on the inside, which is shockingly wonderful. He’s just so earnest and what you see is what you get, which is very rare.”
One to watch: ‘She could be a very talented grand prix horse’
Tom Goode and Margot at the Winter Dressage Championships 2023
Tom Goode thinks the seven-year-old Morricone daughter Margot has all it takes to be a top grand prix horse, and she certainly showed she’s on the right path with victory in the Horselight medium gold, traditionally one of the hottest classes at the Winter Dressage Championships.
“She went in there and gave me a really great feeling,” said Tom, who is based in Oxfordshire with Emile Faurie. “We’ve had her since she was four; she came to the yard to be sold but her now-owner Caroline Rake saw me riding her and fell in love.
“Margot is such a loving character and a real pleasure to train. She shows a lot of talent for the higher, more collected work. I think she could be a really talented grand prix horse.”
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