There was hard-fought competition across the classes when Bishop Burton College near Beverley hosted the International Youth Championships at the weekend.
The event, sponsored by Baileys Horse Feeds, had been long-awaited after the first event scheduled for 2020 had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus.
The honours in the Under19s CCI-L YR2* team event went to the South West, finishing on 118.5 penalties, despite two retirements and a withdrawal in the team over the weekend. Second on 146.6 were Central, with South East in third on 163.8. Top rider in the team event was Phoebe Hughes on Top Biats who added just 0.4 show jumping time penalties to her dressage score.
In the Under 21 CCI-L YR2* individuals, the honours went to Xanthe De Wesselow riding CDS Rock Away Beach, finishing on her dressage score of 28.6. Second went to Lara Chapple on Slaneyside Cooley, also completing on her dressage score of 30.6, while Mahony Knight riding Inca VI was third. The cross-country course designed in Bishop Burton’s rolling parkland by Joe Weller with significant investment in new fences, set some tough challenges, with seven eliminations and one retirement during the phase for the 25 individual riders competing.
The most significant change to the event was the introduction of the BE90Ou18 Championships, in which all eight regions had full teams of ten, with the top three ending within ten penalties. The winners were the Central team, finishing on 134.3, with the East Midlands on 139.3 and the North on 143.2.
Competition was even closer in the BE100Ou18s, with just three penalties separating the top three teams of East Midlands, East and Central.
The five days of competition began with an opening ceremony featuring a liberty performance by Ben Atkinson of Atkinson Action Horses. More than 260 competitors took part in the event which culminated in the prize giving on Sunday.
“Our Equine Centre is one of the best in the country, with outstanding facilities and expert coaches, which allows us to host a number of high-profile equestrian events throughout the year. The competitors were able to benefit from the excellent range of facilities we have available and even engaged with our learning experiences the colleges could offer, such as a Science Lab equine limb dissection, physiotherapy and stretching for horses, laser shooting and animal management tours and feeding sessions. “
Bishop Burton College offers a wide range of courses including Further Education courses from entry level to level 3 and Higher Education courses from Foundation degree to Masters. The College also has students based out in industry as apprentices.
