A force to be reckoned with

At the start of the half-term break, the Eastbourne College Equestrian Team achieved their best ever set of results at the NSEA National Championships held at Addington Manor this. One of the organisers commented on how Eastbourne College had certainly become a force to be reckoned with.

Twelve riders represented the College having competed at a variety of shows throughout the year to qualify for the championships, and several had also qualified as individuals. The teams competed in both Show Jumping and Jumping with Style (Arena Eventing) at a variety of heights and showed a great amount of consistency and determination.

In Show Jumping, all teams jump a full course in the outdoor arena and the top eight teams go through to a final jump off, later the same day which involved completing the fastest possible clear round over a shorter course. 

In addition to the team competition, the College had two individuals in the top ten. Rosie Kelly went on to finish 8th overall, but with a nail-biting and thrilling performance, Nick Crowther finished in the top spot. 

The Eastbourne College equestrian team's efforts in gaining top three finishes at national level in four of the six disciplines entered was not matched by another school.  The improvement across the whole team (listed below) in the last year has been phenomenal and they should be immensely proud of not only qualifying for the National Championships but of course, their performance across all disciplines and heights. 

Equestrian team: Nicol Bassett, Imogen Carr, Lauren Carr, Nick Crowther, Amelia Dipper, Harriet Dipper, Serena Flower, Charlie Hamilton, Rosie Kelly, Charlie Pincus, India Piper-Dadswell, Will Reeves.

Finally, a huge thanks must go to the College equestrian trainer, Judi Piper-Dadswell, who prepared the team so thoroughly for the qualifiers, and of course for the championships. It was very common for riders to comment during course walks, "this looks fine, we've done this with Judi".  Such thorough preparation undoubtedly gave them a great deal of confidence.