The inaugural Event Rider Masters (ERM) leg 1, was held at Chatsworth International Horse Trials amid an array of equestrian sporting action last weekend.
The new CIC*** programme will run over a series of six legs with a total of 10 countries competing. The riders have been selected from the Top 40 FEI ranked riders and include three-time World No.1 William Fox-Pitt, Rolex Grand Slam winner Pippa Funnell, Zara Tindell, Kitty King, Emily King and leading contender for the ERM title, Oliver Townend.
The series concludes during the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials on the 10th & 11th September. Each leg of the series will hold a prize fund of £50,000, the overall winner of the Event Rider Masters series for 2016 will take home an additional £30,000.
French dominated the top five ERM positions at Chatsworth International Horse Trials. Astier Nicolas (FRA) riding Piaf De B’Neville, took first place riding away with £16,000 from the total prize fund of £50,000.
Thibaut Vallette (FRA) finished in second, a mere 0.9 points behind the winner, Astier Nicolas. Gemma Tattersall, riding Quicklook V, finished in fourth place making her the only GBR rider to finish within the top six placings.
Finishing in sixth was Australian combination, Christopher Burton and horse TS Jamaimo. Burton was the only rider to finish the Ian Stark designed cross country course within the allocated time.
Emily King endured another cross country fall riding Charlemagne. The 2007 Gelding, stable name Charlie, finished on a personal best of 42.8 following the dressage and produced a beautiful clear round of jumping.
Emily comments via her Facebook page “Uuuurrggg SUUCH a shame. After performing his PB in the Event Rider Masters dressage & jumping a super clear SJ, Charlie for some reason misread the corner in the water & knuckled into it… Causing me to ping off into the water! So soo annoying. #livetofightanotherday ? .
Kitty King riding Ceylor LAN finished the first day’s Dressage with an impressive score of 32.9, resulting in a commanding overnight lead. Sunday started with a successful round of showjumping for the Wiltshire based rider, however due to complications in the cross country starting box, she was knocked down the leaderboard, finishing in 17th place.
Kitty comments via her Facebook Page “Ceylor LAN gave me a wonderful ride xc, unfortunately he got upset by being left on his own at the start, so we had too many time faults. ?”
Top riders William Fox-Pitt, Nicola Wilson and Laura Collett all withdrew after the Dressage.
The second leg of the series will take place, next month (10th & 11th June), during Bramham International Horse Trials.
For the full Event Rider Masters schedule please visit eventridermasters.tv/2016
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.