HORSE OF THE YEAR: Top rider aims for spot in Olympics

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 13:30

 Raglan's Jody Hartstone won the highest national dressage title in spectacular style at Taupo at the weekend and immediately set her sights on the Horse of the Year Show in Hastings next week.

The 35-year-old fulltime equestrian took out the New Zealand dressage championship title at grand prix level, also winning the Tironui Trophy and the Burkner Medal, as well as the award for the best performed stallion.

She intends to ride Whisper V at the HOY show from Tuesday next week, where she hopes to gain a qualifying score for the London Olympic Games or World Equestrian Games.

While Hartstone is no stranger to winning national titles, this is her first on her newest imported stallion, Whisper V, recently arrived from Australia where he was well proven as a top level competitive horse.

It was a well deserved quinella for Hawera dairy farmer Robert Steele and his horses, Countryman and Gospel, in the horse grand prix at the Carterton Showjumping and Show Hunter Championships on Sunday.

Steele was one of 19 combinations to start in the grand prix, with five going through to the jump-off.

First out was long time campaigner Maurice Beatson (Dannevirke) who has five horses in the class, and two in the jump-off. On My Gollywog, who is coming back from a break, he picked up four faults, stopping the clock in 54.78.

Next out was Steele on Countryman who went clear in 54.44, followed by Beatson on Jedi Warrior who notched the fastest time of the class in 51.08 but paid for it with a rail.

Australian rider Billy Raymont, who is riding horses for the injured Anna Trent (Hawke's Bay) left everything intact but picked up a single time fault, with Steele last to go on Gospel and again managed all clear in 58.44.

Raymont took third spot with Beatson fourth and fifth.

In the pony grand prix Luke Dee (Gisborne) won on Condoleezza and was fifth on Wild Thing, with Henry Booth (Carterton) second on his strawberry road Woodmount Splash.