GMS Equestrian Team

Sunday 19th January 2014  saw the first outing of 2014 for the GMS equestrian team.

Very early the GMS equestrian team headed off to Bury Farm Equestrian Centre for the National Schools County Championship Qualifier in show jumping. The first jump was shortly after 9am. Mollie Coker-Harris finished on 8 faults, a very credible result. She was followed by Lottie Hughes, who succeeded in riding a brilliant clear.

In another round, Millie was unlucky when she hit the final pole as she finished accruing 4 faults.  Hannah, another GMS team member,  was the last competitor to ride; she only accrued 8 faults on her young, inexperienced horse. The session ran for four half-hours and had over 133 competitors in 28 different teams, so Great Marlow finishing on 12 faults was a great start.

Lily Arnold (Year 7) was performing in her first competition on her new horse. Unfortunately, she was held up for a long time due to a rider fall, which, sadly, unsettled Czar, her horse, so much that he didn’t want to complete the whole course. The occasion was great opportunity for so young a rider and has given Lily valuable experience for the next time.

Seven hours later, Mollie rode fantastic round despite having an injured hand: she just rolled a couple of poles. Overall, Millie performed so well she was just outside being placed; individually she  was seventh. One small mistake, in an otherwise perfect round, meant Lottie had 4 faults. Hannah was the last to ride, on a horse that she had never sat on before!  It was a perfect round until the last jump when her horse knocked the pole off.

There were over 100 competitors and 30 teams, GMS are proud they finished tenth.  The competition was tough: all who took part should be proud of their achievement as each and every GMS competitor performed brilliantly.

The organisers and GMS say “Well done” to all the girls, and send a big thank you to the wonderful, supportive parents.

The next competition  Jumping with Style, (JWS) is at Bury Farm on the  21st February.
If you would like to be involved in the GMS Equestrian Team please contact Becky Simons on beckstersimons@yahoo.co.uk