Finishing the School Year in Style

The Hurst Equestrian Team had a busy final few months of the school academic year, attending several important events and championships.

After success in numerous qualifying competitions, many Hurst students were able to compete in the NSEA Championships held at Hickstead in late May. Hurst riders had qualified for the seven championship classes, both team and individual. The event started with the Inter-Country Dressage Finals on the Saturday, where Hurst had qualified a team and an individual. All students rode well, however they were sadly out of the placings. Well done to Danielle I, Darcy G, Florence MC, and Louise MS for representing West Sussex as a team, and to Olivia S for representing West Sussex as an individual in the dressage Inter-County Finals.

On Sunday, Rosie C represented West Sussex in the 70cm Show jumping. She jumped a very competitive round, but unfortunately had one fence down in the jump off. This left her as the fastest four faulter, but out of the placings. Well done Rosie for qualifying and going for it in the ring!

Louise MS came back to Hickstead for round-two following her dressage test, and competed in the 90cm Eventers Challenge Championship. She jumped a fabulous clear, but was over the optimum time, which resulted in her being pushed out of the placings.

On the final day of the competition Emma Goodwin represented West Sussex in the 90cm Inter-County Showjumping, flying round the course to finish 8^th. Well done Emma!

A big congratulations to all the Hurst riders who had qualified for the championships and represented the College (and West Sussex!) so well.

Alongside the championship classes, there were also classes to qualify for the NSEA Championships which will be held in October at Addington Manor. Hurst riders did very well in these classes, with the 80cm team finishing on a score of zero, winning their class and qualifying - well done Florence MC, Olivia S, Darcy G, and Lucy S! Florence did a fantastic clear round, coming 4th place and qualifying her for the championships as an individual.

On Sunday, the 15^th of June, eleven Hurst Equestrian students travelled to Felbridge for a qualifying competition for Grass Roots Show Jumping, Jumping with Style, and Show Jumping. Young Hurst riders saw great success in the Grass Roots competitions, with the 40cm team coming 2^nd and qualifying  for the finals held at Hickstead in August. This was a big achievement for team member Willow I, who was riding her pony Daisey at their first show together. Sienna P also did well individually, picking up a 7^th place rosette and only missing out on qualifying for the finals by one placing. Well done Willow and Sienna for these great results.

In the following class there was more success, with the 50cm team coming 3^rd and getting another qualification. Well done Willow, Sienna, and Hettie MC. Sienna also managed to pick up her fourth rosette of the day by finishing 3^rd individually, and Hettie was 5^th, with both girls qualifying for the final in August.

The last Grass Roots success of the day went to Hettie, who finished 8^th individually in the 60cm class with a lovely clear round. It is wonderful to see our young riders succeeding in these competitions. We look forward to the finals in August!

Older students also saw success late in the day, with Emma G winning the 1m Showjumping class and Olivia S finishing 4^th, qualifying them both as individuals for the NSEA Championships held at Addington in October.

The final compeition of the academic year was the Hurst College National Schools Jumping Championships, an annual competition held at Hickstead Showground, sponsored by Hurst College. The show attracts competitors from across the country and gives students the rare opportunity to compete in Hickstead’s prestigious International Arena.

The day started with the Junior riders competing in ring 3 for the opportunity to progress to the second round in the international arena. Every rider who jumped clear goes forward to the individual final, and the top 10 teams go through to the team final. The students rode well and comfortably qualified for the main ring, with the team finishing on a score of zero. The team went on to do very well in the second round, with Rosie C and Olivia S both doing lovely rounds to finish with four faults, and Emma G and Darcy G both jumping clear! With the drop score taken off, this left the team on a score of four faults and they finished in 3^rd place, well done team! Emma G was fast enough with her round to finish 11^th individually out of 74 riders.

The Senior Team also had great success in the qualifying round over a big and technical course. The Hurst team was the only senior team to finish on a score of Zero in the preliminary round. A hugely impressive result over such a tricky course.  Having won this class this previous year, the team was looking to defend their title, but sadly it was not to be. All riders collected faults through the course, resulting in the team finishing in 7^th place in the competitive class. The challenging nature of the course was demonstrated by the fact that even the wining team finished on a score of 4.

Well done to all Hurst Equestrian students for representing the school so well at these events, through achieving rosettes and qualifications, and also through their behaviour outside of the ring.