Dressage championships coming to Taupo

Ottilie Upshall, left, and Debbie Barke will be competing in the North Island Dressage and Championships, hosted by Dressage Bay of Plenty next month. PHOTO/FILE

Ottilie Upshall and Debbie Barke will be competing in the North Island Dressage and Championships, hosted by Dressage Bay of Plenty next month.

Taupo will host the 2016 Boeckmann North Island Dressage and Para Equestrian Championships next month.

More than 200 dressage combinations from all over the North Island will travel to the Fiber Fresh National Equestrian Centre for the event on October 22-24.

Classes will range from Level 1 to Grand Prix, as well as the Para Equestrian discipline.
There are amateur divisions at the first three levels to encourage participation by competitors new to the sport, and the programme also includes awards for Champion Rider Under 21, a Level 1 and 2 Pony Championship, Hanoverian Society Award, TiES (Thoroughbreds in Equestrian Sport) award, the McDreamy Trophy awarded to the best performed Bay of Plenty rider and an Area Teams Championship.

Classes will include the National Super 5, the Zilco Freestyle to Music which is a qualifier for the Horse of the Year Show, and the Young Dressage Horse classes for 4, 5 and 6 year old horses.

Dressage Bay of Plenty organising committee member Ottilie Upshall said the event was being held on the same weekend the association's regular annual show was held.

"For about eight years we have been having the regional championship show, but this is the first time this group has hosted the North Island Championships at our venue," she said.

"It's a little bit bigger than what we normally do at our own show, although that's quite big anyway. But there are a few extra events that are required for a North Island championship."

Kallista Field, who competed at the Sydney Olympics, is among the top riders expected, as well as Taranaki's Vanessa Way, a New Zealand Grand Prix and North Island champion, along with many of her students.

Up and comer Melissa Galloway from Marlborough has also entered. Among the locals hoping to do well are Upshall and Barke.

Individual and team titles will be up for grabs.

"The Bay of Plenty have a lot of members but at the moment the strongest area would be Taranaki," said Upshall.

2016 Boeckmann North Island Dressage and Para Equestrian Championships

Highlights:
Saturday - Level 4 and Level 5 Freestyle to Music, FEI inter B and Grand Prix classes, Young Dressage Horse classes.
Sunday afternoon - Advanced and Grand Prix Freestyle to Music.
Monday - Advanced and Grand Prix Special Super 5 classes, prizegiving.
Spectators are welcome.