From sobbing support crews to surprise wins: emotions run high at the winter dressage championships

Alexis Knight and her seven-year-old mare Mila won the PDS Saddles elementary freestyle silver at the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships, scoring 73.14%. Alicia Prim and Sapphire Blue were second on 72.95% while Christine Daniels and Darbey Ramblin were third on 70.7%.

Mila was full of energy during the prizegiving – flying around hot on the heels of third-placed Darbey Ramblin.

“Phew, glad I survived that – but she did look quite impressive, didn’t she?” laughed Alexis. “She can be a bit hot and is either brilliant or really tricky. But today she was with me – she was in front of me, in the connection – and it all felt lovely.

“We had one big mistake when we fluffed a simple change, but we kept going. The rest of the quality was so good that we got away with it. I’m so proud of her – I can’t believe it.”

Mila picked up several eights – for her medium trot, free walk, and even for her simple change in the other direction.

“She’s a real quality horse,” Alexis added. “Honestly, she’s far too good for me as an amateur. I bought her as a four-year-old and produced her myself, but I’ve had so much help along the way.”

Dannie Morgan – a dominant winner in the morning’s earlier class – helped Alexis in the warm-up, and she credits him with “turning them up a few notches”.

Their freestyle music also topped the artistic scores, with eights for interpretation and choreography.

“It’s from Eye of Melian, who I’d never heard of, but Kelly Jewell from Equidance found it. It’s absolutely stunning and suits Mila so well. I like emotive music – this is really orchestral, really emotional.

“In fact, when I came out, my whole support team was sobbing. It was really, really special.”

Winter Area Festival Championships: Rider battling illness claims unexpected win

Emily Nicol and her Irish Sport Horse, Adamo Cavaliere, delivered a flowing, harmonious test to win the elementary bronze at the Petplan Winter Area Festival Championships with a score of 67.97%. Laura Spencer-Jones (Komatsu RNIII) and Rosie Jones (Jive II) shared second place, both scoring 65.63%.

“That was completely unexpected,” said Emily, standing with Adamo Cavaliere in a sunlit spot after the prizegiving – the eight-year-old mare looking as if she wore her sash and rug every weekend.

“I didn’t have a great week in the buildup – I was really ill, and my colleague was away, so I was running the yard alone and just trying to get through life.

“I did as much as I could, and managed to squeeze in a lesson with Hannah Biggs last Friday, which was so helpful. I love her as a trainer.

“But we gave it our best, and this was such a lovely surprise. She’s the easiest horse I’ve ever worked with – so consistent, with such a good brain. I bought her as a four-year-old to event, but when I decided not to go down that path, we found she could actually move really well, so we stuck with it.

“It’s taken time – she was very weak at the start – but now I think she’s capable of some pretty cool things. I’d love to make it to small tour.”

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