Three young equestrians from Taunton School recently took part in the prestigious National Schools Equestrian Association’s Eventers Challenge at the internationally-renowned Hickstead in West Sussex, one of the most famous show-jumping venues in the world.
Emily Miller, Fliss Gostling and Cecilia Fawden had to qualify for the event at King Sedgmoor Equestrian Centre back in January, where all three girls did exceptionally well individually and won the team event, qualifying as a group for the 80cm class at Hickstead.
With the onset of lockdown, the championships were initially postponed but the girls continued to train throughout to keep their horses as fit as possible.
As the lockdown started to ease, the event was re-scheduled for late August, much to the excitement of the three students.
Year 7 student Emily and her horse Jessy took part in the 70cm show-jumping and the 80cm arena eventing, in which she finished 28th out of 96 competitors. Arena eventing is a mix of showjumping and cross country with 20 fences to clear.
Year 10 student Fliss and her horse Ted managed a hugely impressive 6th place in both the 80cm and 90cm arena eventing classes.
Cecilia from Year 11 also entered both the 80cm and 90cm classes with her horse Knockbawn Jack.
Kate Walters, Head of Horse Riding at Taunton School says, “The fact that they qualified at all is excellent – it’s an incredibly high standard of competition and a professional venue so really intimidating for both horse and rider.’
The school is already making plans to enter the event next year with even more riders.