A host of equestrian stars performed at a unique event at Quob Stables in Durley on Wednesday evening to raise money for animal charity, Brooke.
The evening kicked off with a demo from one of Britain’s leading lady dressage riders, Hannah Biggs, who bought along one of her younger horses, as well as an established horse of hers.
The audience then saw three pairs of riders perform a Pas de Deux, which was to be judged in a ‘strictly’ style, by Advanced riders, Bobby Hayler, Yasmin Dadkhah and Zoe Colegate, who gave their feedback via BBC South Today’s Chrissy Sturt, who acted as the commentator for the night.
The first pair were Mat Baker and Emily Bailey who are based in Swanmore at Ben St John James and Roland Tong’s yard, and received an eight from the judges. The second pair were National and International dressage riders Jezz Palmer and Lucy Pye of JLP Dressage in Curdridge, who despite some technical faults, scored a fantastic 10 from the judges for their test.
The final and winning pair were native pony pair, Sam Mc Ewan and Connemara stallion Prince Nestor and Christina Dodd on Dales stallion, Samuel. Despite the fact that the pair had only managed to practise together once, the stallions did a fantastic test to the fitting music of Michael Jackson’s Black or White.
The evening concluded with a demo from advanced rider Sarah Sjoholm-Patience and raised over £1000 for the Brooke.
Quob Stables would like to thank everyone who attended, as well as the evening’s fantastic sponsors: The Balanced Rider, NatWest Business and Quob Stables Equine Spa.
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.