Silver rides novice to junior title

Kuranui College student Francesca Silver and her young charge Case in Point combined to win eventing's New Zealand Junior Rider championship at the recent Central Districts horse trials.
They finished with their dressage score of 41.7 after going clear in cross country and show jumping to head off Morgan Mackie on Banjo (42.5) and Stephenie Collins on Waitangi Stringshot (48.2).
The win was unexpected for the 17-year-old Silver, who lives southeast of Martinborough in the Ruakakoputuna Valley, as it came in only her second novice outing on Case In Point, with the first being at Tauherenikau the previous weekend.
There they also went clear in both the cross-country and show jumping disciplines to place third overall.
Case In Point, or Kees, is a 7-year-old Holsteiner/TB cross and started with Silver as an unbroken 5-year-old. He was initially bred by Rosemary McLeod for her daughter Miranda Harrington as a potential show jumper but with the latter now based in Holland he sat around on Stuart McLeod's farm until the Silvers purchased him after a chance meeting with Stuart McLeod in the local supermarket.
Francesca Silver had passed by Kees' paddock every day on the school bus and had often commented how lovely he was.
The training regime has not been without its hassles, with Kees having a "lot of attitude" at times, but he has improved as he matures and it seems likely the best is still to come.
Riding horses has long been a passion for Francesca Silver. She started as a 5-year-old and has attended South Wairarapa Pony Club since she was 8.
SWPC head coach Stephen Field has had a huge influence in her career, while recently she has had training sessions on Kees with former Olympian Tinks Pottinger.
Silver represented Wairarapa-Wellington at the national pony club dressage championships in 2009 and was part of the regional squad which placed second at the NZPCA horse trial championships that year. This year she was in the Wairarapa-Wellington pony club team that finished fourth at the Horse of the Year Show.