Equine Students Shine at Horse Trials

Equine students showcased their skills as the British Eventing Horse Trials returned to a specialist equestrian college in Warwickshire.

The prestigious competition which took place at Moreton Morrell College, part of WCG and Warwickshire College and University Centre, is an annual event in the British eventing calendar and sees top riders compete across showjumping, dressage and cross country.

This year’s event saw over 500 entries across the two days and competition featured two British Olympians Oliver Townend, Kitty King and Mary King alongside three students from the college.

Level 3 Equine Management students Molly Morrison and Sophie Widern, and Faith Penn, who is studying for her BSc in Equine Therapy and Rehabilitation, all competed in the eventing weekend.

Faith who only began eventing last year, came top out of 32 riders in the BE90 category alongside her horse Erwlas Jump for Gold. 

Sophie and her horse Dodington, who were competing for the first time at Moreton Morrell, came fifth in the BE100 Open category, with Molly drawing on her two years of eventing experience to take home the bronze in the BE90 Under 18 category with her horse Knockateemore Patch. 

Moreton Morrell College has worked closely with British Eventing for over 20 years and is a highly regarded centre for excellence in equine teaching, training and care.

The event organisers ran classes of BE90, BE 100 and novice levels split into a total of 15 sections across the two days, with success for British Olympians Kitty King and Oliver Townsend. 

Although the event is open to the general public, riders’ friends and families were lively spectators alongside the 100 volunteers and 20 staff and students working across the college site.  

Molly, 17 from Towcester, said: “I have competed since I was 13 but only began eventing for the last two years when I arrived for my course at Moreton Morrell College.

“My studies have really complimented my eventing in enabling me to understand my horse better, both in and outside of competition, and I am delighted to end the season with a 3rd place finish.”

Sophie, 17 from Wiltshire, said:

“Although it was my first time competing at Moreton Morrell, it was great to compete in familiar grounds with a really well-run course.

“The theory element has been my favourite part of the Equine Management course so and I have learnt lot from my tutors that I can apply to my work in both the yard and the eventing arena.”

Moreton Morrell College is home to a wide range of further and higher education equine courses, with expertise areas ranging from therapy and rehabilitation to science and performance coaching.

To find out more about FE and HE equine courses available at WCG.