Bryanston Success in the International Arena at Hickstead

The team consisted of Francesca G riding on Tallula, Archie L on I'm Blushing and Safia W on Moonbeg Boy.

Fifty-five school teams competed against each other in the 1.05m preliminary round. With only three teams clear and nine teams on four faults (Bryanston being one of those), a jump off between the teams with four faults would decide the 10 teams to make it through to the main arena.

Safia was chosen to jump off and her fantastic 'jump-off skills' put her in the lead to take Bryanston into the finals.

The finals are held in the amazing International Arena at Hickstead, which hosts the famous Derby Bank and Devils Dyke that are jumped by professionals. It was an atmosphere you could cut with a knife. The Bryanston team were up against a strong field in the finals, including Millfield, Marlborough College, Mayfield, Pangbourne, Akeley Wood, Newbridge College, Felsted and Monk's Walk.

Riders in the 10 teams jump out of sequence making this a more exciting competition. Each of the Bryanston riders rode brilliantly over the tricky 1.10m track to take them into fourth place overall.

Francesca G also competed in a fantastic jump off with her horse Tallula, taking her into second place individually. An amazing achievement for someone who has only had the horse a few weeks. Francesca’s round can be viewed on YouTube here.

This is a fantastic result for Bryanston with the team moving up three places up from last year. To cap it all off, Francesca and Archie rode for the Portman Pony Club at 1.15m on their other horses Mr De 11 and Skymond, and won!

This measures the dedication of our pupils who work hard with their horses under direction not only from their trainers/coaches here at Bryanston, but also at home.

Well done to everyone! A fantastic day was had by all and it was one to be remembered.

You can watch Francesca's and Safia's rounds below: