Demonstration at the British Dressage Championships,Stoneleigh
27th September 2003
I was kindly invited by the EVS to go along and watch a demonstration of vaulting at the British Dressage Championships at Stoneleigh. What they hadn’t warned me was they had also invited Mary MacGillivray to watch which meant putting her up for the weekend and helping her out with the red wine (well, the bit that was left after a small accident on my sofa – thanks Mary!!).
My first thought was, it’s bound to rain! But we were very lucky. It was a beautiful, bright, warm day, perfect conditions for a demo without being too hot.
We arrived in plenty of time to watch some of the dressage and to see the EVS warming up and an extra surprise in the form of ex-British Champion, Hannah MacGillivray, who had been persuaded to don a leotard once more and stand in for Ricky who wasn’t able to make it.
When the squad lined up it was wonderful to see vaulters from so many groups all pulling together to represent British Vaulting at such a prestigious event, along with Aska who was over from Japan for more training: Warwick, Wittering, Windrush, EVS, Venus, Hannah & Aska!
What a brilliant turn out! They all looked very smart as they entered the arena and bowed to the huge crowd.
Julie had also brought one of her newcomers, a young boy named Dan, who the crowd loved to bits and clapped every time he was on board – watch out Phil & Ricky, I see even more competition on its way, but he’s only six so you might be OK for year or two!
The demo went really well and all the vaulters helped to show the sport at its best. The vaulters ended the demo with some tumbling on the way out of the arena, and Hannah’s back flip was superb!
A final mention to that real expert of vaulting; Bowler. He was so kind with the new vaulters and really looked after them throughout. Such experience in large crowds is invaluable, even Carl Hester told Julie what a wonderful horse he is!
Thanks again for the invitation, it was a great day out, just wish I’d had some more money to spend on those lovely pictures on sale!
Catherine Else
National Judge
