Heat One
The novice class kicked off with a
fast paced start. Seven teams entered this round and Blur of the Moment looked
to be the favourite to win after their convincing win at Fonmon Castle in Round
One.
With a stand-in horse rider, Blur of
the Moment were fist to hit the track and did so at a very
conservative pace
with Dan Hallam even getting the chance to mime reading a book as he went
round. They managed to set a steady time of 67.59s. Predator also had a good
morning session, using Dan Hallam from Blur of the Moment as a stand-in for
their boarder. They managed to set a time of 57.92s.
Ambush, however, seemed to be
struggling as a unit and were unable to complete a run in the morning due to
some issues with their horse. Despite their communication issue, there were
some very convincing shows of speed from this team.
Consider it Dun were up next and as
this was their first competition as a full team, Rosie Barber and her horse
Levi felt they had something to prove. They shot out of the starting area and
flew around the course, not acting like a Novice team at all. Their horse, Levi,
is a similar build to that of Amba from Do or Die in the Elite class – i.e.
they both like speed! It was an amazing sight to see this little 14’1 power
house run and they managed to set a time of 58.67s in the morning session.
Halter Ego were next with Tom Kilroy
(from Do or Die) as boarder, and they looked up for the challenge of this
course and rider Laura Rose felt safe in the knowledge that they could hit the
track at any speed with an Elite boarder behind them. And they did just that!
Tom looked unusually unsteady behind the team but at the end of the morning session,
they had set a time of 54.51s.
Sunny side Up were back and it was brilliant
to see this all-girl team back in action. They were unable to practice much
over the winter and the team struggled to get round the course because of this.
But improvements in Sarah Hill’s board riding could definitely be seen, and
both audience and competitors spurred them on around the course. Unfortunately
though, no time was recorded in the morning session.
UK Boarder Force were last to run and,
shooting out in their purple colours, this team showed a real fast-paced attack
on the course, but unfortunately they missed a couple of gates and were only
able to score a 88.49s.
In the afternoon session of Heat One,
the novice teams faced the same issues that the Elite did with a drizzle of
rain on the grass making the ground more slippery, dwindling the amount of grip
in the arena. But all the teams pushed hard, as all of them wanted to take home
the trophy.
Ambush managed to set down a good
paced time and kept themselves in the fight with a 61.89s run, but they still
looked like they were holding back and having some slight issues. We at
Horseboarder Magazine definitely think this is a team to keep your eyes on
because when things click for them, they will be a force to be reckoned with.
Blur of the Moment changed their
stand-in rider and despite a big crash on their first run after boarder Dan Hallam
got more speed than he bargained for, they managed to set a 59.73s time. They
all hoped that they had done enough until Katie Bourn, Blurs usual rider,
returned for the second day.
Next to race was Predator, with Dan Hallam
standing in as boarder. He managed to beat his own team’s time and set a 55.93s
for Predator. Straight after them, Consider it Dun came flying out with horse Levi
attacking the ground and boarder Rich showing some real skill around the course.
They managed to sneak just in front of Predator with 55.62s.
Halter Ego also had a fantastic run,
setting a 53.30s time with Laura Rose seemingly paying no attention to her
boarder at all and just going as fast as she could, hoping Tom would simply stay
on. Not a bad tactic, it seems!
Sunny Side Up fought valiantly and it
was clear that they were improving with each with run, but unfortunately no
time was recorded for them in the afternoon of Heat One either. Apparently someone’s
eggs were scrambled, not fried.
Last to run were UK Boarder Force, and
what a run it was! They showed their physical prowess and smashed all the previous
times with 52.72s. Natalie Free and horse Cabbage, seemed to storm around the
course and not once did she look back to see if her boarder was ok. Olli showed
some intense boarding skill and the team earned themselves the top spot for the
end of day one. They even left some Elite teams worrying about how fast this
team would be when they qualify for their class.
So, the end of Heat One the rankings
were as follows: UK Boarder Force, Halter Ego, Consider it Dun, Predator, Blur
of the Moment and Ambush.
Heat Two
Both Ambush and Halter Ego failed to
record a time in either the morning or afternoon sessions of Heat Two. But Blur
of the Moment continued to improve on their times set in Heat One. They scored
56.39s in the morning and 53.94 in the afternoon.
Predator continued their steady
streak, recording a time for each run. The fastest in the morning was 57.47s
and even better in the afternoon with 55.34s. Consider it Dun also continued to
make progress, recording 58.77s in the morning and 55.95s in the afternoon.
Sunny Side Up started to find their
stride and only missed one run out of the four. Their fastest was in the
afternoon with 88.18s which was a great improvement on their morning time of
93.66s. It was really great to see this team’s hard work and perseverance pay
off for them, so well done guys – great job!
But out in front, completely smashing
not only their own time but everyone else’s as well was UK Boarder Force. They
had a great time of 57.03s in the morning but annihilated that in the afternoon
with 52.28s. Clearly this is a team to watch out for. The Elite’s definitely
better look out!
So, as I’m sure it’s not surprising,
here are the results after the end of Heat Two and the winners of Round Two:
1st – UK Boarder Force
2nd – Predator
3rd – Consider it Dun
4th – Blur of the Moment
5th – Halter Ego
6th – Ambush
7th – Sunny Side Up
Our Novice teams are doing absolutely
brilliantly so far this season, so make sure you catch them in action this bank
holiday weekend for Round Four at the Hampshire Country Fair on the 4th
and 5th May. Good luck to you all!
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