EQUESTRIAN - Weathering the storm but riders overcome their trial

Competitors and organisers of Eventing Northland's Autumn horse trial were greeted by chaos, at Barge Showgrounds on Saturday morning, after Friday night's storm.
"The showjumping course, built by Anne Deane on Friday, had just three jumps still standing and there was absolute carnage on other parts of the course as well," event organiser Jan Wood said.
While rebuilding the course went smoothly, the organisers then had to pin down the dressage arena once again, but without too much delay the weekend's competition got under way.
The organisers had taken a leap of faith by trusting the weather forecast that the storm wouldn't linger.
"We ignored all the threats of terrible weather on Friday and also ignored the phone calls from down the line asking if we were still running the event," Wood said.
The competition turned out well with the ground at the Maunu venue able to absorb the rain and there were no weather-related incidents throughout the weekend.
There were several different classes of competition but perhaps the class that drew most attention was the final of the Horseworld Young/Junior Rider Series.
The competition was started at the association's spring trial in October and completed yesterday, with Waitamata's Nicola Kelsey the winner, riding Last Boy Scout. Another Auckland rider Claudia Lyons, on Sunkissed, finished second in the accumulative points event with Kerikeri's Nicola Felton third on Hey Jude.
Paparoa's Laura Newman-Dempster, riding Westhay Abbakid, beat Kelsey to win in the Horseworld Novice Young Rider class, while Felton won the Pre-Novice Young Rider class, with Lyons second.
In the Dunstan Open Novice Class, Whangarei's Denise Lincoln, riding Waitangi Skype was first, ahead of Kaitaia's Jo Shepherd da Silva on Dunstan Rubicon. The Waitangi Sporthorses Intermediate class saw Lincoln triumph again - this time on Lutzen, ahead of Kate Wood on Scarlett O'Hara.