Dannevirke and Districts Pony Club Sweepstakes

Placegetters in the 70cm AM5: 1 Rebecca Anderson, 2 Charlotte Lovelock, 3 Maurice Beatson (receiving his prize from Sue Castles).

Dannevirke and Districts Pony Club used the Covid alert level challenges to their advantage. On the weekend of October 16 and 17, the pony club hosted a unique event catering for a vast majority of our equestrian showjumping community.

With the recent cancellations of many A&P shows and therefore many equestrian events, there were limited opportunities for members and the community to get their horses and ponies out and jump.

Georgie Hogan on Libby jumping the Liverpool.

At a recent club meeting, it was decided to run a sweepstakes showjumping weekend that would provide an opportunity for the members to ride in a low-key but competitive environment, and also to fundraise.

The A&P showgrounds are looking superb and as a community, we are so lucky to have such a great venue in our small town. The oval was prepared on Friday by the pony club kids during the school holiday. Two showjumping courses were built and the preparation was done for the upcoming weekend.

Dannevirke put on great weather and residents and visitors alike enjoyed an awesome weekend.

The highlights of the weekend were definitely the opportunity for our members to compete against Olympian Maurice Beatson. Beatson arrived on Saturday with several horses. He used the day as a training opportunity for his young horses. DDPC members were able to compete equally against Beatson, sometimes even beating him to the prizemoney and lollies on offer.

The jumps went a bit higher on Sunday and this bought some repeat competitors and new ones too, including another local expert, Logan Massie, a current world cup competitor.

Again our locals got to line up for prizes with professional showjump riders - a real buzz for our competitors.

It was a successful weekend, which DDPC hopes will be able to repeat annually.

As with every event, these things cannot happen without our great community of volunteers. Jan von Dadelszen, Lyn Barnett, Gay Castles and Sue Castles were the officials.

■ Results: Saturday: 30cm A1 1 Taylah Ireland King; 40cm A1 1 Lean MacNamara; 50cm A1 1= Natalie Ireland King, Olivia Lovelock, Ruby McKenzie, Meagan Stevenson; 60cm A1 1= Georgie Hogan, 1= Leah MacNamara, 1= Sasha MacNamara, 1= Ruby McKenzie, 1= Meagan Stevenson, 1= Jeanette Williams; 70cm AM5 1 Rebecca Anderson, 2 Charlotte Lovelock, 3 Maurice Beatson, 4 Georgie Hogan, 5 Korah Castles, 6 Jeanette Williams, 7th Olivia Lovelock, 8th Philipa Horton; 70cm A2 1 Sasha MacNamara, 2 Georgia Wade, 3 Georgie Whyte, 4 Philipa Horton, 5 Maurice Beatson, 6 Natalie Ireland-King, 7th Eve Hunter; 80cm AM5 1 Georgie Whyte, 2 Charlotte Lovelock, 3 Robyn Brooke, 4 Lilly Reynolds; 80cm A2 1 Sasha MacNamara, 2 Regan Calder, 3 Lean MacNamara, 4 Regan Calder, 5 Korah Castles; 90cm AM5 1 Erin Trent, 2 Anya Wade, 3 Bayly Castles, 4 Bayly Castles, 5 Tessa Moffett; 90cm A1 1 Anya Wade, 2 Tessa Moffett, 3 Sara Hilhorst Sunday: 90cm AM5 1 Bayly Castles & Ellie, 2 Regan Calder & Sniper 3 Tanesha Thompson & Chester, 4 Jacqui Symes & Harry; 90cm A2 1 Regan Calder & Marco, 2 Leah Adams & Takapari Twister, 3 Jacqui Sympes & Harry, 4 Georgia Halpin & Hot in the City, 5 Logan Massie & Zara; 1m AM5 1 John Maclennan & Claude, 2 Jacqui Symes & Harry, 3 Tessa Moffet & A Kind of Magic, 4 Tanesha Thompson & Chester, 5 Bayly Castles & Tommy 6 Matilda Burne & Capleton de la Tour, 7th Sally Peffers & Gem; 1m A2 1 Rebecca Greaves & Titoki, 2 Regan Calder & Tudor, 3 Logan Massie & Johnnie, 4 Alexa Dodson & Heidi, 5 Regan Calder & Emily; 1.05 AM5 1 Regan Calder & Emily, 2 Logan Massie & Johnnie, 3 John Maclennan & Claude, 4 Tanesha Thompson & Braveheart, 5 Matilda Burne & Capleton de la Tour; 1.10 AM5 1 Tanesha Thompson & Braveheart, 2 Jacqui Symes & Sienna, 3 Louise Bowie & Kiwi Embrace, 4 Rebecca Greaves & Titoki 5 Bayly Castles & Tommy; 1.10 A2, 1 Sally Peffers & Jasper, 2 Louise Bowie & Kiwi Embrace; 1.20m AM 5 1 Milly Waldin & Jackie, 2 Sally Peffers & Jasper, 3 Milly Waldin & Cory.