Pahiatua celebrates double dressage titles

The small northern Wairarapa township of Pahiatua had plenty to celebrate at this year's Horse of the Year show at Hastings which finished over the weekend.
Two of the major dressage titles came their way, former Olympian Kallista Field winning the Advanced Horse of the Year title with Waikiwi and Sue Hobson the Kelt Capital Horse of the Year level four title with Aristoc.
Field kept her composure amidst stiff competition with Waikiwi rising to the occasion and offering spectators a mix of consistency and flamboyance.
With scores of 68.66 per cent in the musical freestyle and 66.94pc in the Inter 1 test Field and Waikiwi opened a good lead on their opposition and they never looked like being overhauled.
Field is one of New Zealand's most successful dressage exponents and last won the advanced title at Horse of the Year in 2001 on Lots of Fun.
She also finished fourth in this year's advanced competition on Salutation who was just a few percentage marks behind Waikiwi all the way through., while fifth was Masterton's Kate Klingender.
For Hobson and Aristoc their winning of the level four Horse of the Year title follows on from similar results in the level four national championships and both the Zilco Musical and NRM National Accumulator competitions.
A polished expressive musical freestyle test was the secret to Hobson and Aristoc's latest success with their score of 71.11 per cent putting them well ahead of the field.
Another Wairarapa rider to hit the high spots at Hastings was Emma Williams of Masterton who rode Cricklewood Ace into second place in the prestigious show jumping Young Rider of the Year event.
Williams and Cricklewood Ace went clear but picked up a time fault and that was just enough for Aucklander Rachel McGregor on Premium Kabo Benny Boy to snatch the opportunity for victory. She was the only one of the 22 entrants to go clear within the required time.
In fact, only McGregor and Williams managed to have clear rounds, the third place-getter Heather Horrocks of Wanganui having four faults.
Yesterday saw Anna Stephen of Martinborough grab the limelight for Wairarapa. She rode Constantine to victory in the New Zealand Speed Horse of the Year event, heading off South Australian Wendy Schafeffer on Koyuna Sun Storm and Jacqui Wright from Tuakau on Cheekie Boy.