Scottish Riding Clubs Caledonian Championship
24 & 25 September 2005 at Scone Palace, Perth

Saturday - Open Show jumping
by Elana Chilton, Chef d'Quipe

After a week of heavy rain, the day was bright and clear for the Show-Jumping phase of the Caledonia Championships.  Ayr put forward two Open teams – Open A (Adam Pawson - Goldbert; Fiona Alexander – Blossom Hill; Denise Wilson – Springwater Flyboy and Lucy Reid – Duniden Alice) and Open B (Romy Chassels – Kirkton Colour Code, Kara Craig – Sir Andromedor, Elana Chilton – Absolute Pride; and Rachael Rodman – Jaffa.

An up-to height track and slippy ground conditions were the cause of many problems and those without studs tended to struggle.  9 teams set out to contest for the honours.  Open A finished the first round on a total of 24, with Adam producing a good round on Goldbert to finish on 4 faults, Denise producing a cracking clear on Springwater Flyboy and Fiona who was having her first outing in a couple of months, clocked up a few faults on Blossom Hill.  Lucy Reid’s horse Duniden Alice was having an off day and did not complete the first round.  Open B finished the first round on a score of 0 - the only team in the competition to do so – with Kara, Elana and Rachael producing great clear rounds and Romy unlucky to dislodge two poles for 8 faults.

The second round saw a course change and the fences raised to produce even fewer clears.  This was no problem for Denise though and again returned home with a score of 0.  Adam had a couple of stops with Goldbert, Fiona’s horse disliking the ground conditions decided to retire and Lucy was eliminated for 3 stops.

This meant that unfortunately the Open A team did not complete although Denise on her 2 double clears was forward to the individual jump off.

Open B team rose to the challenge and first in was Romy who was caught out at fence 3, a  double, where she incurred two stops. Kara finished on 4 faults when missing her stride at fence 5 and Elana similarly missing her stride at fence 3 clipping both parts of the double to finish on 8 faults.  Rachael again returned a foot perfect clear with Jaffa. This resulted in Open B team finishing on a score of 12 over the 2 rounds, which was good enough to win the competition by a massive 12 points.  Well done Ayr!!!!!!!

It wasn’t over yet however as Denise and Rachael were still to jump off against the clock for individual places.  Denise, first to go, came home with 4 faults which was good enough for 5th place and Jaffa produced yet another clear in a very fast time to win overall. Well done Rachael and Jaffa!!!!

Saturday - Novice Show Jumping & Equitation Jumping
by Kerrie & Elana

The novice team ran with only 3 members as my horse was injured and we couldn’t find a willing volunteer to replace me. The first round went without any problems with Jill on Blind Date, Caroline on Alfie and Brian on Classified all going clear. We then had to move arenas and walk another course for the second round. Brian had a couple of fences down to finish on 8. Jill had another excellent clear round. Caroline unfortunately got slightly lost between fences 6 and 7 went the long way round and incurred 4 faults. Stephen was videoing her round, and I’m sure Caroline will never be allowed to forget her slight mishap when she hears the comment “shoot the jockey” from an expert standing in the sidelines!! So we finished on a total of 12, which earned us 4th equal with Peebles. A very respectable result, out of 22 teams.
Jill then went into the jump-off for the individual placing. Her round was clear with a couple of brilliant tight turns earning her 3rd.

The equitation team were also only running with 3 members. Poor Jill had to walk yet another course. She completed a lovely round with one fence down. Kara on Sir Andromedor and Caroline were in the other arena, and both did lovely clear rounds.

After such a good day for our teams, we then had a big problem when the secretary asked to speak to the team chef. It turned out that as we had swapped a couple of people, after the declaration date of 20th September our novice and equitation teams were disqualified under Championship rules. I have to apologise to all our members, but in particular the teams, for making such a huge error. My only experience of running these teams was at Eglinton Park this year, which was run under Area qualifier rules, and substitutions were allowed on the day. Let’s hope that next year the competition is run under rules which are easier for us all to comply with!!

Sunday - Dressage Results
report by Kara

Success again for Ayr at the Caledonian Championships.  Ayr B team came sixth in a huge field of Scottish Riding Clubs.  Not only was their team success but the Pairs and Individuals also did the Club proud.

Three pairs went forward for this ever increasingly poplular discipline.  Jane and Susan again demonstrated their talent to work as a pair to take first place with 67.91%.  Their score sheet showed very encouraging coments from the judge and they gained a '9' for being 'tummy to tummy' throughout the test.  Newcomers to Pairs Dressage Irene and Elanor started the day off rather nervously but in the end got 3rd place.  Mugs and Julia were 5th.

The individuals also preformed very well.  Jill Offer and 5yo Blind Date performed superbly to get 68.3% in a very strong P18 class which left them in 5th place.  Kara and Ned were also 5th in their N24 arena.  Mugs (P12) and Leigh (P10) got 6th place in their arenas, as did Elizabeth who was trying her first elementary test.  Fiona, who has had time off due to an injured shoulder, also performed well to get 8th place in the Novice 25 class.  Julia and Steel got 10th for their P12 test. 

The day was a huge success with everyone doing very well.  At the end of the weekend with both Showjumping and Dressage placing counting towards a final two result, Ayr ended as runners up to Strathmore.  This is a great result for all that took part. 

Many thanks must go to the two team organisers, Elana and Mugs.  Thanks must also go to everyone that represented the Club, either on horseback or those that helped on the day stewarding, taking photos (Martin Pawson), clearing up, and generally keeping the riders informed.

WELL DONE AYR!!

Dressage Team 1
P12	Julia Kerr	Steel
N24	Jill Offer	Blind Date
N25	Adam Pawson	Goldbert
E51	Rachael Rodman	Jaffa
Dressage Team 2
P12	Mugs Montgomerie	Hank
N24	Kara Craig	Sir Andromedor
N25	Fiona Alexander	Blossom Hill
E51	Elizabeth Muirhead	Time to Rise
Pairs
	Jane Kennedy        Susan Ward	Lawyers Silk Aspen
	Irene Gillispie Elanor Pottinger	Greyoaks Morning Mystery Lowland Special Edition
	Julia Kerr Mugs Montgomerie	Steel Hank
Individuals
P10	Leigh Harkins	Nepos
P18	Jill Offer	Blind Date
P18	Fiona Alexander	Blossom Hill
N32	Leigh Harkins	Nepos
N32	Kara Craig	Sir Andromedor
E51	Elizabeth Muirhead	Time to Rise