Crowning Glory for Emily King

Having travelled to Bramham International Horse Trials for many years to watch and support her mum, Mary, 2018 was the time to shine for Emily King when taking the British Horse Feeds Under 25 CCl3* National Championship.

Emily led from start to finish on Jane Del Missier’s Dargun, after a stunning dressage performance, clear cross-country and expertly crafted show jumping round.

Riding with poise and steely confidence, Emily’s clear over Di Boddy’s technical and up to height track saw her finish on the 25.5 score she posted for her dressage on Friday.

Dargun, a 10-year-old by Valliant, showed no signs of fatigue from Saturday’s superb effort across the country – in fact Emily reported he was positively frisky on his leg stretch that morning before the final horse inspection.

As she entered the ring, she knew she couldn’t afford a single pole down as French rider Thibault Fournier had gone clear with Siniani de Lathus to climb to second from third place and pile on the pressure.

It was a heart stopping moment when the duo rattled the first fence but it stayed in place and afterwards they gave every rail space to leave them all standing to finish on the dressage score she posted on Friday, the only rider to do so in the section.

Emily’s boyfriend Sam Ecroyd ended up third with Vicki Irlam’s Master Douglas who rose from fifth to third with a clear on a final score of 32.1.

A delighted Emily said: “He felt amazing.  When I got on him in the warm-up he was bucking and squealing — it helps him with his spring and attention if he’s a bit jolly.

“He jumped well in the warm-up and carried that through into the ring. The crowd helps him rather than distracting him and the fences were quite spooky here, which helps too. He jumped consistently and was very focused so I couldn’t be happier with him.”

Added Will I’Anson of British Horse Feeds: “We have had a fantastic time at Bramham, from watching the trot-up at the Fibre-Beet Inspection Area, to those tackling the Speedi-Beet Double Feat on cross-country day, then the Speedi-Beet HOYS Grade C in the show [amazon_textlink asin=’0946284946′ text=’jumping’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’evehoruk-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’995f12e2-6d61-11e8-99ec-19354cda9784′] and finally presenting the top prize to Emily in the British Horse Feeds Under 25 National Championships.

“The whole event has been superb and we would like to thank the team at Bramham International for hosting such a magnificent event in Yorkshire.”