Thrilling weekend of dressage at Team Quest Championships

The much-anticipated Kent & Masters Team Quest Championships returned to Bury Farm EC in Buckinghamshire, for a thrilling weekend of dressage (28 – 29 October) – and H&C were there to catch all the action.

Fun with friends

Team Quest is the most popular event in the British Dressage calendar and is a great opportunity for riders of all ages and abilities to take part in team competitions.

The series was introduced as an antidote to the stuffy image often associated with dressage.

“Team Quest is a way of having fun with your friends,” explained Winnie Murphy head of communications at British Dressage. “It takes a bit of the seriousness out of dressage. There’s a great atmosphere, and you can let your hair down, but when you get in between those whiteboards it’s still pretty competitive.”

Bling factor

Both the Open and Under 18s sections featured over 20 teams, with riders completing two tests over the weekend to contribute to the total scores and championship results.

Taking home the spoils in the Open section were It’s All About The Bling, with Annette Guler, Annie Frampton-Hobbs, Jacqueline Warren-George and Moira Bonner all sporting sparkly gilets.

The team lead from day one and finished their competition on a combined score of 416.97, which put them almost 5% ahead of their nearest rivals the Cheshire Chicks. Could B Rounder were just behind them to take third place.

Close battle

“We can’t believe it,” said Moira from It’s All About The Bling. “We came here last year and came sixth and looked at the winners and said ‘we want to do that’. And we’ve done it. It still hasn’t sunk in.”

There was a close battle in the Under 18s section, but it was the Cookie Monsters who came out on top. Only 0.35% split the top three teams, with WMDG Bluebirds Team 5 taking second place and the Pocket Rockets in third.

Winners Hannah Ullrich, Libby Cooper, Morven Easton and Niamh Murray travelled over nine hours from Ayrshire in Scotland to attend the championships – and it was certainly worth their while.

Proud mum

Proud mum Ann Ullrich praised the quartet’s success on Facebook: “The Cookie Monsters are still in shock and so are the grums (groom mums). We are so proud of our kids and their fab achievement.

“Thank you to Bury Farm and BD we all had a fab weekend and also well done to It’s All About the Bling.”

Jenny Rudall was there to catch all the action, with help from guest presenter Kelly Seager who won this year’s Blue Chip All Star Academy. Don’t miss the show to find out how she got on…

Rudall’s Round-Up: BD Team Quest premieres tonight on Sky 253 at 8.30pm, or you can watch online via H&C Play or Amazon Video. The show will then be available on Catch Up.