Hazlegrove riders are NSEA National County Champions

Last Friday, four of our Hazlegrove riders headed up to Buckingham to compete in the NSEA (National Schools Equestrian Association) National Finals. 

The children had qualified for this event by winning the Somerset County Finals back in October.  After great success in the evening warm up class, with all four riders having good clear rounds and Josh finishing 2nd and Emily 7th, we settled down for the night.  The next morning we were up bright and early ready for the Championship class that started at 8am. 

There were 22 schools teams (all with 4 riders) all of whom had won their county finals and were representing their respective counties.  We were drawn 9th to go as a team and In the outside ring we finished on a  team score of 4 faults which set us up nicely for the next  round.  Heading into the very challenging final round with nervous anticipation, Hazlegrove certainly showed the rest how to do it and rode superbly - with three team members all jumping clear in very quick times.  After a few hours of nervously watching the other teams jump it was announced that we had won - National Champions and we now go forward to represent England in the NSEA Nations Cup in October.  

A wonderful achievement by our riders, especially as we had the youngest team by far. Well done everyone!

Click here to see the photos in Flickr