Equestrian: Young pony rider wins national title

Tauranga rider Isabella Chatfield and Prima Bella won a national title recently.

Isabella Chatfield from Bethlehem Collage made history at the recent annual Bates NZ Dressage Championships held in Fielding.

For the first time Dressage NZ hosted an international event for 16 years and under pony riders along with the Young Rider and Open FEI competitors.

The FEI CDI-P event allowed New Zealand pony riders to ride an international test to gain an Equestrian Federation world ranking and national ranking.

Chatfield, 13, was the youngest competitor and did exceedingly well to win both the qualifying and championship tests on her pony Prima Bella against other talented riders.

She was scored by judges from around the world, including Germany, Holland, Columbia, Australia, France and New Zealand.

It was history made for New Zealand and an exciting time for Chatfield to be the first winner.

She went on to compete in the NZ National Championships against adults and achieved a national title in the Reserve Champion Amateur L2 on her other pony AD Dennache.