Amanda Pottinger Impresses International Judges at Puhinui Horse Trials
The tense atmosphere at the Puhinui International Horse Trials venue proved perfect for some and too much for others today.
In each of the seven classes, including the premiere Honda New Zealand CCI3*, the leaders shone with sparkling performances while others were left reflecting on the challenges of dressage.
Current National Three Day champ, Amanda Pottinger, had a fantastic start to the weekend aboard her 10-year-old thoroughbred Just Kidding.
Pottinger outshone the field, producing an elegant and energetic test to take the lead in the Honda New Zealand CCI3*.
Pottinger, who sits on 47.5 points, says her method of warm up consists of a morning gallop before her test to “get him to breathe.”
“He severely holds his breath when you are working him in because he gets so nervous. You can’t put your legs on so I go out in the morning in a jump saddle and just gallop,” says Pottinger.
An unconventional method that obviously worked today.
In second sits Diane Gilder on her Australian Thoroughbred Your Attorney with 48.9 points.
“I missed Puhinui last year because my horse had a pulled muscle so it’s good to be back riding this year,” says Gilder.
Local favourite Donna Edwards-Smith had a relatively lively Mr Hokey Pokey whose super canter work obviously impressed the judges as the combination are in third position. Edwards-Smith is keen to improve on this placing.
“It’s a challenging track out there but the questions are fair. Mr Hokey Pokey may be small but this will be to his advantage if the weather is wet as forecast,” says Edwards-Smith.
Young rider, 19-year-old Renee Faulkner, started off well however, as the test progressed RubinStar HH began to anticipate movements which lead to some tension in the canter.
“He did some really nice work but was just a bit naughty in the canter after his walk,” says Faulkner.
It’s a tight race at the top of the leader board for the iSpyHorses CCI2* with Kerikeri’s Megan Finlayson and Greensleeves leading by a slim margin.
Finlayson sits on 47.3 points, closely followed by Abby Lawrence and Ashleigh McKinstry, both on 47.9, to end the dressage day.
Lawrence was delighted with how Charlton Yamani performed today. She says he handled the atmosphere well despite a few inexperienced moments.
“He is still relatively inexperienced at two-star level so keeping him confident is the biggest goal tomorrow. In saying that however, I’m not here to make up the numbers,” says Lawrence.
Madison Crowe sits in fourth position with crowd favourite Waitangi Pinterest.
Despite Crowe’s uncharacteristically tense CCI2* test on Waitangi Pinterest, Crowe leads the strong field of horses in Veterinary Associates CCI1* on Lucius GNZ with 44.6 points, a point ahead of Angela Lloyd and Lyrical.
Sarah Young and Leo Degas had a successful start to the competition as they hold a strong lead over Lucy Turner in the Honda New Zealand CCI2* Young Rider.
Young sits on 46.6 points ahead of Turner’s 52.2 points.
Cross country commences at 8:30 tomorrow morning at Auckland’s Puhinui Reserve, Wiri.
Copyright J.Evans
www.ispyhorses.com